In the last six weeks, over 150 Minneapolis police officers have started the process of filing disability claims.

Meuser, Yackley, and Rowland, P.A. has represented thousands of individuals with their workplace disability and injury claims and specializes in supporting public employees and law enforcement officers eligible for PERA benefits due to physical and mental disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Today Founder Ron Meuser, Jr. issued the following statement:

Since 1990, Meuser, Yackley & Rowland, P.A. has been helping injured people throughout Minnesota obtain the best possible results for their claims. Our reputation rests on the satisfaction of our clients. Below is a moving testimonial from a recently retired police officer. For more written and video testimonials, visit our website. If you are a client with Meuser, Yackley & Rowland, P.A. and would like to leave a review, please click here.

Police officers pay into the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA). PERA offers a number of benefits to police officers who pay into PERA, one of which is a regular retirement pension. Under PERA once an officer reaches age 55 with at least 20 years of service they are eligible for a full pension which is 60% of their high five. While an officer can consider an early retirement starting at age 50 there can be significant penalties or other limitations on the benefits they would receive. In short, whether an officer works for Minneapolis, St. Paul or another department, retiring under PERA is simply not an option for many of Minnesota’s police officers.

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: