If you are wondering why more police officers in Minneapolis are sporting moustaches this month, some shifts on the Minneapolis Police Department are raising money for Soldier’s 6. Soldier’s 6 is a Minnesota non-profit organization that provides Veterans and police officers who suffer from service-related Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with service dogs. For people suffering from PTSD, service dogs give them more than comfort, they may save their lives. Soldier’s 6 chose its name because the service dog is the Veteran or officer’s battle buddy who has their “6” or back. PTSD service dogs may be trained to wake a veteran or police officer from a nightmare, remind them to take medication, physically interrupt a panic attack, and relieve stress and anxiety that escalate PTSD symptoms. Check out www.soldiers6.com to make donations and support this important organization.

Meuser Law Office, P.A., was honored to be invited again this year to present at the annual Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) steward training that took place on Wednesday, October 8, 2018, in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. Meuser Law Office, P.A. is proud to be a sponsor of this event.

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.

Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature took a huge step, and passed legislation creating a workers’ compensation statutory presumption of PTSD for our state’s first responders. In other words, for certain workers in the state of Minnesota, including police officers, firefighters, corrections officers, and others defined as “first responders,” a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder is to be presumed to be work-related. The goal of this bill, authorized by Representative Nick Zerwas (R), and which had almost unanimous support in the legislature, was to eliminate barriers to quick, effective medical care for our State’s first responders suffering from PTSD.