PERA Police and Fire Plan Duty Disability Age and Service Limitations

I met with a firefighter recently who had just had her 55th birthday. Over the last few years, she had been having increasing difficulty performing her normal firefighting duties due to the worsening effects of several on-duty injuries she had sustained over the years. Even though her injuries, in my opinion, clearly meet the PERA Police and Fire Plan Duty Disability requirements, because she was over the age of 55, and had in excess of 20 years of PERA-covered service, she will not be eligible for Duty Disability benefits.

PERA Police and Fire Plan Duty Disability benefits are tax-free disability benefits, payable at a base rate of 60% of a disabled firefighter or police officer’s average high five salary for five years, or through age 55, whichever is longer. PERA Police and Fire Regular Disability benefits are disability benefits payable at a base rate of 45% of a disabled firefighter or police officer’s average high five salary for five years, or though age 55, whichever is longer.

Among other requirements and limitations, Minnesota police officers and firefighters, who have more than 20 years of service must apply for Duty Disability benefits before age 55. Police officers and firefighters who have more than 15 years of service must apply for Regular Disability benefits before age 55. In other words, a police officer or firefighter who is over the age of 55 can still apply for Duty Disability if he or she has less than 20 years of service, or Regular Disability if he or she has less than 15 years of service.

After age 55, in most cases, the actual amount of the benefit for PERA Duty Disability benefits and a regular PERA Retirement pension is the same. However, Duty Disability benefits are non-taxable, while Retirement benefits are taxable. The tax advantages of a Duty Disability benefit versus a Retirement benefit can be worth tens of thousands of dollars over the course of several years.

Minnesota Police Officers and Firefighters who are ineligible for Duty Disability benefits due to the age and service limitation requirements, are still eligible for Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465, if they otherwise meet the duty disability criterion. This benefit requires that the employer continue health insurance coverage for the disabled police officer or firefighter through age 65. In other words, even if you can’t apply for a Duty Disability benefit because you’re over age 55, you may still be eligible Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage.

In the case of the firefighter I mentioned above, ultimately I believe we'll be able to assist her in procuring Health Care Continuation benefits, in addition to workers' compensation benefits, even though she cannot apply for PERA Duty Disability benefits. 

The moral of the story is, if you are a Minnesota police officer or firefighter and you are considering retiring from service due to the effects of an in-the-line-of-duty injury, don’t wait until you hit age 55 to evaluate your potential PERA Duty Disability claim! 

Meuser & Associate proudly represents dozens of police officers and firefighters throughout the state of Minnesota. We’ve successfully procured PERA Duty Disability benefits and Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage benefits for dozens of police officers, corrections officers, and firefighters.

Here are a few examples of our recent successes:

• We secured Permanent and Total PERA Duty Disability benefits and Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage benefits on behalf of a firefighter who was over the age of 55, but had less than 20 years of service, after he sustained a career-ending low back injury. 
• We were awarded Duty Disability benefits and Continuation of Health Insurance Coverage benefits for a firefighter who sustained a low back injury which required surgery. We also secured a large workers’ compensation settlement on his behalf. 
• We were able to secure an award of PERA Duty Disability Benefits and Continuation of Health Insurance benefits for a police officer who was over the age of 55, but had less than 20 years of service, when he sustained disabling knee injuries while attempting to stop a fleeing suspect.
• We were awarded PERA Duty Disability Benefits and Continuation of Health Insurance Benefits on behalf of a disabled police officer who injured her back when she was involved in a motor vehicle collision while responding to a call for back up for a police pursuit. 
• We secured Duty Disability Benefits and Continued Health Insurance benefits on behalf of a police officer who had developed post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of his involvement in several shooting incidents. 

PERA Duty Disability and Health Care Continuation benefits can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you are a Minnesota police officer or firefighter, and you are concerned about your ability to continue doing your job because of the effects of a work-related injury, you should strongly consider consulting with a PERA disability lawyer to learn more about your options and your rights. A mistake can literally cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Click here to learn more about PERA Duty Disability benefits.

To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with Jen Yackley or Ron Meuser, call Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email.

Pain and Suffering and MN Workers' Compensation

How much will my employer have to pay me for the pain and suffering I’ve had to endure because of my work injury? 

Nothing, unfortunately. 

While Minnesota workers’ compensation provides a variety of benefits, including medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, and rehabilitation benefits, intangible losses, such as pain and suffering or loss of enjoyment of life, are not covered by workers’ comp.

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, meaning that it is not necessary for an injured worker to prove that his or her employer was at fault for her injuries in order to recover workers’ compensation benefits.

Basically, when Minnesota workers’ compensation laws were developed, they were based on a trade-off theory. An injured worker receives compensation for injuries he or she sustains at work regardless of fault, but the nature and extent of benefits is limited to those specific types of benefits set forth in the Chapter 176 of the Minnesota Statutes – or the Workers’ Compensation Act. An injured worker gives up the right to sue his or her employer for tort damages, including intangible losses such as pain and suffering.

In the vast majority of cases, work injuries aren’t really anyone’s fault per se. They most often occur due to an accident – where no one is at fault. Even where an on-the-job injury does occur as a result of an employer’s fault or negligence or the fault or negligence of a co-worker, the injured worker is still limited to the remedies available under the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act.

On the flip-side, a worker who sustains injuries as the result of an accident, where no one is at fault, is still eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Even where the employee’s injuries are due to his or her own negligence, in most cases, that worker is covered by workers’ compensation.

Is this always fair? Certainly not. There are cases that involve egregious conduct on the part of an employer or a co-worker. There are cases that involve terrible pain and suffering where the compensation available under the Workers’ Compensation Act is truly inadequate.

We do see cases where the workers’ compensation benefits are truly inadequate to compensate an injured worker for his or her losses. However, the workers’ compensation system provides no-fault insurance for nearly all workers in the State of Minnesota for on-the-job injuries without requiring the injured worker to sue his or her employer, and without requiring the injured worker to prove that his or her employer was at fault for his or her injuries.

Even though pain and suffering is not covered, workers’ compensation in Minnesota does provide a variety of benefits, including medical expense benefits, wage loss benefits, vocational rehabilitation benefits, and permanent partial disability benefits.

Moreover, in cases where an employee’s injuries are due to the fault of a third-party, other than the employer or a co-worker, that injured worker may be able to bring a civil liability claim against the at-fault party in addition to a claim for Minnesota workers’ compensation benefits.

For a free, no-obligation consultation to learn more about your Minnesota workers’ compensation rights, contact Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email to speak with one of our attorneys. 

What is a Stipulation Status Conference? MN Workers' Compensation Proceedings

My workers’ compensation case settled. I received Notice of a Stipulation Status Conference from the Office of Administrative Hearings. What is this? 

A Stipulation Status Conference is an informal conference scheduled by the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) to determine or confirm the status of a pending dispute. Once OAH has been notified that a workers’ compensation case has settled, the case is scheduled for a Stipulation Status Conference several weeks later.

The purpose of the Stipulation Status Conference is essentially to ensure that a Stipulation for Settlement is filed with the Court in a timely manner once a case has settled. In some cases, there are numerous issues that must be resolved even after a tentative agreement is reached. For example, medical providers must often be negotiated with concerning resolution of their outstanding bills. If there are many medical providers, or intervenors, it can take additional time to resolve all of the outstanding medical expenses. In other cases, it can take time to procure additional documentation or information before a settlement can be finalized. In these instances, if a settlement is taking longer than anticipated to finalize, the purpose of the Stipulation Status Conference is to ensure that the parties are moving things in the right direction, and to offer the assistance of the Court in resolving outstanding matters.

Rarely, after a tentative settlement has been reached, one or more of the parties decides to back out of the settlement. During a Stipulation Status Conference, the Court will place the matter back on the trial calendar if a tentative settlement falls apart.

As a rule, our clients do not need to attend Stipulation Status Conferences. Most often, they are cancelled prior to the date of the conference, once the appropriate paperwork has been filed. If a Stipulation Status Conference does take place, and you are represented by Meuser & Associate, Ron or Jen will attend on your behalf.

If you are not represented, or if you are represented by another Minnesota workers’ compensation attorney, you should either plan to attend, or ask your attorney whether you need to attend or not. For a free, no-obligation workers’ compensation legal consultation, contact Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email.

MN Work Comp Court of Appeals Win Secured by Meuser & Associate

We recently received the MN Work Comp Court of Appeals decision on a hard-fought case involving a Minnesota metro firefighter. The self-insured employer mounted a very aggressive defense on his case. We won over $100,000.00 on behalf of our client as the result of a hearing held in March 2012. The self-insured employer then appealed the decision. Oral arguments at the Court of Appeals were heard in October 2012, and the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals issued its decision affirming the decision of the lower court in January 2013. You can read the entire decision in Vanderbeek vs. City of St. Paul.

This case involved a variety of complex issues, including:

1) credibility issues,
2) whether the employee retired from the labor market,
3) whether the employee was entitled to permanent partial disability,
4) whether the employee was required to conduct job search to establish his eligibility for temporary partial disability benefits, and
5) whether his back condition was related to his work injury or a pre-existing condition.

Meuser & Associate proudly represents injured firefighters throughout the state of Minnesota for workers' compensation and PERA duty disability claims. Sometimes, employers pay injured firefighters the workers' compensation benefits they are owed, and sometimes they don't. In our opinion, the self-insured employer in this case should have paid benefits from day one, but it took a trial, and a Court of Appeals decision to get this injured firefighter the benefits he was owed.

For a free, no-obligation consultation, contact Meuser & Associate at 877-746-5680 or click here to send us an email.