Police Disability and Liability

PERSONAL INJURY AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ATTORNEYS IN ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS

DEDICATED PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS REPRESENTING POLICE OFFICERS IN COOK, LAKE, DUPAGE, KANE, AND WILL COUNTIES AND FEDERAL COURTS

Many police officer and other government-related positions place employees in a significant amount of danger, sometimes resulting in disability or death. These injuries can be related to car accidents, physical attacks, stress, exposure to harmful substances, and other incidents. Some injuries do not even “show up,” until years later–sometimes even after retirement. For these positions, there are often disability benefits (ordinary and duty-related), as well as occupational disease benefits (for other issues, such as officers that have served at least 10 years and suffer from a heart attack or other disabling heart disease) available to these employees. While workers’ compensation may cover medical expenses in certain municipalities, disability benefits can provide you and your family with benefits and additional health insurance protection.

Chicago Police Officers are not able to avail themselves of the benefits of Workers Compensation and must file for Duty Disability before the Retirement Board of the Policeman’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago.  Under the Pension Code, 40 ILCS 5/5-154, an active policemen who becomes disabled in the performance of an act of duty, has a right to receive duty disability benefits during any period of such disability for which he/she did not receive salary, equal to 75% of his/her salary. However if the disability resulted from any physical defect or mental disorder or any disease which existed at the time the injury was sustained, the duty disability benefit is then 50%.

At the Law Office of Martin L. Glink, we provide personalized, high quality legal representation in protecting the rights of injured police officers who are injured or disabled. Aggressively fighting to protect people with over 50 years combined experience, we understand what it takes to ensure that your rights are protected and that justice is served. This includes recovering workers’ compensation and duty disability and other benefits for current or previous officers and firefighters in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, and Will Counties. We also have been successful in representing duty disabled police officers on appeals arising from erroneous decisions of the Retirement Board of the Policeman’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago.

ILLINOIS WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ACT

Under the law, police officers who work in municipalities of under 500,000 people can elect to provide and pay compensation for accidental injuries sustained by any employee arising out of and in the course of employment, relieving themselves of liability under certain circumstances.

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES DISABILITY ACT

Under Illinois’ Public Employee Disability Act, eligible employees include part- or full-time State correctional officers (or any other employee of the Department of Corrections), employees of the Prisoner Review Board, Department of Human Services working within a penal institution or State mental health or developmental disabilities facility (under certain circumstances), and any full-time law enforcement officer to firefighter employed by the state, local government, or state-supported facility, such as a college or university (5 ILCS 345/0.01).

Whenever any of these employees suffer an injury in the line of duty which causes them to be unable to perform their duties, they must still be paid (and continue to be paid) by the employing public entity on the same basis as they were prior to the injury and without deducting any time from sick or vacation leave for up to one year in relation to the injury. However, injuries to employees of mental health facilities must be the direct or indirect result of violence by inmates of the institution in order to qualify.

PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEE DISABILITY ACT

Under the law, an employer who employs a full-time law enforcement, correctional or correctional probation officer, or firefighter who suffers a catastrophic injury or is killed in the line of duty must pay for the entire premium of the relevant health insurance plan for the injured employee. For the purposes of this law, those covered as “firefighters” include licensed emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who are members of the public fire department (820 ILCS 320/).

In addition, the employee’s spouse and child(ren) must also be covered until they reach the age of majority (or until age 25 if the child continues to be a dependent or is a student), even if the injured employee subsequently passes away.

THE LAW OFFICE OF MARTIN L. GLINK

If your loved one has suffered from an injury on the job, contact our firm at (847) 394-4900 or online for a free consultation with one of our attorneys. You may be entitled to filing a workers’ compensation claim, a third party-party liability lawsuit (against any third party that may have caused the injury, such as a negligent driver), and other claims, depending upon your profession and the injury. You can also learn more about our firm here. We are here to listen and help.

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