Rhode Island Supreme Court Catches Up With Cop, Firefighter Disability Claims

Rhode Island state and local government have grappled with police and firefighter disability pensions for many years. Now, as RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay explains, two recent Rhode Island Supreme Court have gone against police and firefighters. (Advance copy of commentary scheduled to air Monday.)

In two recent cases, Rhode Island’s highest court has decided against cops and firefighters who were collecting disability pensions for injuries they suffered on the job. In the first one, the court decided the state Retirement Board was entitled to question the pension granted to a former Cranston police officer who objected after his payments were reduced by the state.

This matter involved John Grasso, a former cop who is now a Providence lawyer. The opinion stated that the purpose of disability for police and firefighters is to make them whole for job-related injuries. In an opinion authored by Justice William Robinson, III, the court stated that the intent of the law wasn’t to give a first responder a pension for life if he or she finds another career and earns as much or more money that the pension amount.

The second case involved what many taxpayers would view as a scam. It involved a Providence firefighter, John Sauro, who received a disability pension after a shoulder injury. His hurt his shoulder in 1999 while carrying a man down a flight of stairs. He retired on accidental disability a year later.

Then, in 2011, Sauro was caught on camera by WPRI-Channel 12 vigorously lifting weights at a gym. That led Providence city government to question Sauro’s status and revoke his $3,900 monthly pension.

Read more: http://ripr.org/post/ri-supreme-court-catches-cop-firefighter-disability-claims