Police Disability & Firefighter Disability
Every day, firefighters and police officers protect the towns and cities in which we live and work. But what happens when they get hurt?
The government has benefits available to these public servants that are injured while performing their duties in addition to worker’s compensation, but the process can often be discouraging.
Firefighter Disability 207-a
Firefighters are able to petition for General Municipal Law Section 207-a payments after being injured in the line of duty. These benefits supplement those provided by workers’ compensation, but municipalities frequently deny valid claims because the system is skewed in their favor.
what happens when you enter a claim and have been denied?
Hinman, Howard & Kattell attorneys understand the evidence that will be necessary to overturn a denial of your 207-a benefits after you have been injured.
Under General Municipal Law 207-a, benefits are available to pay firefighters their full salary when injured while performing their duties.
While all municipalities have different procedures to apply for benefits under 207-a, a judge will ultimately provide an opinion on whether to grant or deny 207-a benefits. If denied, our team may be able to assist you in overturning the denial by bringing a lawsuit under Article 78 in a New York court.
Police Disability 207-c
There are benefits available pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 207-c, that are meant to compensate specified municipal employees such as police officers, corrections officers, deputy sheriffs, and probation officers for injuries incurred in the performance of duty.
Benefits under Section §207-c are generally more generous than those available under regular Workers Compensation.
Approved employees are paid the full amount of their regular salary or wages until the related disability has ceased, and the municipality is liable for all medical treatment and hospital care necessitated by the injury or illness.
In sum, an employee who is injured at work may qualify for benefits under both Workers Compensation and Section 207-c. You should contact your HH&K team if you think you may be entitled to either of these benefits. The time limits and process requirements vary so you should seek advice as soon as possible.
After your claims…
There might come a time that the municipality will push to have a firefighter receiving 207-a benefits or an officer receiving 207-c benefits to apply for New York State Disability Retirement. Doing so may or may not be in the injured employee’s best interest. Our attorneys can advise and guide you through this process to ensure that the correct decisions are made for your own circumstances.
In addition to handling all issues surrounding General Municipal Law Section 207-a and 207-c for firefighters, police officers and other law enforcement personnel, we also work with our experienced employment attorneys to give our clients complete legal representation. We have saved countless hours of needless aggravation by objectively analyzing our clients’ potential claims and giving them the benefit of our experience.