Workers Compensation

The Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court has upheld the denial of an “accidental disability pension” to a firefighter because his injury was not the result of “an undesigned or unexpected traumatic event.” Firefighter EMT John Karolinski suffered a rotator cuff injury on an EMS run.

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A firefighter who was severely burned trying to rescue a man in 2006, has settled two lawsuits she filed against the fire department for $1 million. Cindy Schuenke has reached a settlement with the Community Fire Protection District in St. Louis County over her injuries and subsequent termination.

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A Denver firefighter who was placed on light duty and later granted a disability pension following an injury to his hand, has filed suit against the city and IAFF Local 858 claiming they conspired to violate his rights. David Perez filed suit earlier this year in Denver County District Court. The city removed the case to US District Court.

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The Louisiana Court of Appeals has reversed a worker’s compensation decision that denied a firefighter benefits for cancer. James Schexnayder, a firefighter in Jefferson Parish, was diagnosed with lymphoma on May 28, 2020.

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The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court has held that a fire captain cannot recover for injuries he sustained that he claims were due to the incompetence of a probationary firefighter. The lawsuit was brought by Captain Robert Eckert of the Camden Fire Department.

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The widow of a retired FDNY firefighter who died of cancer in 2018 has failed in her suit to recover from the World Trade Center Volunteer Fund or workers compensation. Maria Fierro-Switzer filed suit arguing that despite being retired, her husband should be eligible since he volunteered to assist in recovery efforts at Ground Zero.

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The Supreme Court of Idaho has upheld the constitutionality of the state’s cancer presumption law for firefighters, in a challenge brought by a city contesting a firefighter’s right to workers’ comp benefits for leukemia. Captain Richard Nelson served as a firefighter in Pocatello

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The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court has ruled that a firefighter-recruit injured during training is entitled to the same disability compensation reserved for firefighters “injured in the performance of his or her duties.” The case involves a recruit with the Norwich Fire Department, Dennis Smith.

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The Kansas Court of Appeals has upheld a workers’ comp claim brought by a firefighter alleging hearing loss. Patrick O'Neal was a firefighter with the Hutchinson Fire Department. O'Neal filed a workers’ comp claim alleging permanent bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.

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An Illinois firefighter who was catastrophically injured in 2016 during a live fire training exercise, has lost his appeal to get health insurance benefits that are available to firefighters injured when responding to actual emergencies. Sean T. Heneghan was a firefighter for the City of Evanston.

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The Louisiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that the City of Kenner’s Civil Service Board wrongfully denied the appeal of an assistant chief who was forced to retire in 2018. The case was brought by Michael Voltolina, who was involuntarily retired after he was off on sick leave for one-year

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A Georgia fire lieutenant who was injured in the line of duty, has filed suit claiming her employer defrauded her out of disability pension benefits by changing the rules after she was injured. Lieutenant Bridgit Christensen filed suit against the City of Decatur in federal court.

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A Louisiana firefighter suffering from work-related hearing loss has lost his workers compensation claim because it was not the result of a “single traumatic accident.” James J. Hartman, Jr., a firefighter with the St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, was diagnosed in 2017 with 42.2% binaural hearing loss.

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The Arizona Court of Appeals has denied a claim by a Flagstaff firefighter that his testicular cancer should be treated as a job-related illness under the state’s cancer presumption law. Wesley Forbach was diagnosed with left side testicular cancer in April 2018.

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