The attorneys at Meuser Law Office, P.A. have represented hundreds of police officers and firefighters in Minnesota workers’ compensation and PERA/MSRS disability claims over the years. Unfortunately, there are times when the injury is career-ending and the individual is left wondering what to do next. Oftentimes the police officer or firefighter is too young to retire or do not know what to do once their career in law enforcement and/or firefighting is over. Most have no other experience and the only career path they wanted was to be a cop or firefighter. Our good friend and former client, Chuck Gollop, found himself in that very situation. We recently reached out to Chuck and asked him to share his story with us and how he turned his career-ending injury into the next phase of his life. Here is Chuck’s story:

As of January 1, 2019, a new law has gone into effect that may drastically change the way work-related PTSD claims are handled in Minnesota. For PTSD injuries that occur on or after January 1, 2019, there is now a presumption for first responders that their PTSD is work-related. A first responder’s PTSD still must meet the criteria set forth in the DSM-V and be diagnosed by a doctor of psychology or a medical doctor working in a related field. The covered “first responder” positions include:

In cases where Minnesota police officers or firefighters are injured in the line of duty through the fault of a third-party, typically a suspect or the driver of another vehicle, then he or she has a separate cause of action against the negligent person, outside of PERA/MSRS benefits and workers’ compensation benefits. In those cases, sometimes defendants try to argue to the jury that the officer or firefighter did not truly sustain any economic damage because he or she has been adequately compensated for his or her loss by PERA or MSRS Duty Disability benefits.

Police officers or firefighters who sustain injuries in the line of duty with a third-party civil claim component to their claims, may be faced with the question if PERA and MSRS Duty Disability benefits should be offset from their wage loss recovery. Typically, workers who sustain injuries arising out of the course and scope of his or her employment may not bring a claim for negligence, meaning he or she may only have a claim for limited benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act paid by the entity’s insurer or the entity itself if the City is self-insured for the purposes of workers’ compensation. If an injured worker is a police officer or a firefighter, and the injury is sustained while performing inherently dangerous duties specific to the public service position then he or she may also have a PERA or MSRS Duty Disability claim for benefits. If someone can demonstrate that a person or business other than the employer is the cause of the injury, then the claimant may bring a claim as against that the person responsible who acted carelessly or unreasonably. At Meuser Law Office, P.A. we have brought claims on behalf of firefighters who have been injured by negligent construction of buildings, police officers who have been injured in motor vehicle collisions, and police officers injured by suspects resisting arrest.