http://www.suntimes.com/news/b...tore-disability.html



While on safari in Africa, disabled Chicago police officer Charles T. Siedlecki bagged his share of big-game trophies and was famously pictured with one of them on the cover of this newspaper last year.

But on Tuesday, it was Siedlecki who found himself in the crosshairs of city officials at a meeting of the Chicago Police pension fund.

So, this guy gets hurt on the job in 1992, starts receiving disability pay, goes to college and becomes a lawyer in 1997 and was STILL GETTING DISABILITY PAY!!!!

Isn't America great.

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
So, this guy gets hurt on the job in 1992, starts receiving disability pay, goes to college and becomes a lawyer in 1997 and was STILL GETTING DISABILITY PAY!!!!

Isn't America great.

Aren't municipal union contracts great? For the union members, anyway.

George

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
So, this guy gets hurt on the job in 1992, starts receiving disability pay, goes to college and becomes a lawyer in 1997 and was STILL GETTING DISABILITY PAY!!!!

Isn't America great.

Aren't municipal union contracts great? For the union members, anyway.

George

Post number #13,000 . WOW!

Yes, virtually all private disability contracts do not work this way. I have one from a major carrier that I originally purchased in 1996. it is perhaps the best contract available. My benefit would be reduced by any income that I earned for my own work.

No wonder we are broke in the USA.

George:

The military has a lot of this too. I know a guy who has a 100% disability from Vietnam who works full time at our local college and serves on one of our local governing bodies. I recently read a story about a soldier who claimed and was granted PTSD benefits because he was trapped in an elevator in Turkey for several hours.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
So, this guy gets hurt on the job in 1992, starts receiving disability pay, goes to college and becomes a lawyer in 1997 and was STILL GETTING DISABILITY PAY!!!!

Isn't America great.

Aren't municipal union contracts great? For the union members, anyway.

George

Apparently so!!

Would it have been better had he sat on street corners selling pencils? Is it a bad thing that he went out and improved his lot in life? Got an education and did well in his new profession?

Many law enforcement agencies don't do 'light duty' assignments thing for injured officers as it as that is often found to cause problems too (people getting street cop pay doing clerk work).

I don't know if the guy was milking his injury and his union contract or not. But I do suspect he was targeted because he was 'a trophy hunter'. I wonder if he had been into travel and did things like climb the pyramids or attand rave parties if he would have been targeted.

The "system" is as much to blame as the "disabled" cop in this story. Because some sawbones says I'm unable to work, I need to stay home and wait to die? What a crock!

When their welfare state is caught up in its own lunacy, they want it both ways.

Sorry, doesn't work that way.

It doesn't bother me so much that the guy was getting his disability pay while going to college. The problem for me is that he has been getting that pay since he graduated law school and became a lawyer in 1997.

His disability payments should have stopped when he graduated since he is able to work as a lawyer.

So, was he injured on the job??

quote:

Originally posted by cjfoster:
It doesn't bother me so much that the guy was getting his disability pay while going to college. The problem for me is that he has been getting that pay since he graduated law school and became a lawyer in 1997.

His disability payments should have stopped when he graduated since he is able to work as a lawyer.

I hear you.

But I say, blame the game, not the player.

If your government refuses to let you work, and in fact wants to keep paying you even while forcing you not to work, what the Hell are you supposed to do?

Until they're embarrassed by their own stupid rules, they're more than happy to keep the game going.

It is not as bad as the time I was paired up with a guy on a municipal golf course with another single. As the round progressed, we had the normal BS session about work, etc. Dallas cop on disability leave due to a back injury. Back injury and playing golf??

just another example of a deadbeat sucking on the public tit... disabled??? WHAT A JOKE!

quote:

Originally posted by DCS Member:
It is not as bad as the time I was paired up with a guy on a municipal golf course with another single. As the round progressed, we had the normal BS session about work, etc. Dallas cop on disability leave due to a back injury. Back injury and playing golf??

A client once sued me for a motor vehicle accident - he was on a whitewater rafting fishing trip, paid for by the winnings from a permanent incapacitation lawsuit from another motor vehicle accident. He was uninjured in my case (my assessment) but I kept the other info up my sleeve till the insurer paid him out... lest the guy pursue me legally in other ways.
Cretin!!!

This man has no self respect. He says it is to get his good name restored that he wasn't doing anything wrong. Just refuse the pension when he is able to earn a good living. It is not the system or anything else other than a greedy individual.

But I say, blame the game, not the player.

If your government refuses to let you work, and in fact wants to keep paying you even while forcing you not to work, what the Hell are you supposed to do?

I couldnt diagree more. This is exactly what wrong with america. Lack of ethics, moral code and personel responsibility.
If he had any ethics he would started refusing his disability checks as soon as he started working in his new proffesion.
As long as the people have this kind of self entitled attitude the goverment will never change.

Disability during education was fine. Staying on disability after earning good wages? WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

The system is wrong and the man was wrong for playing it.

Pride is what is missing here, honor and self respect.

.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
Disability during education was fine. Staying on disability after earning good wages? WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

The system is wrong and the man was wrong for playing it.

Pride is what is missing here, honor and self respect.

.

Good point. I know an officer that is in a wheelchair for life after sustaining a gunshot wound about five years into his "career." After receiving the maximum retirement allowable for an on-duty injury (50% of his base salary, tax-free for life), it took him a few years to find employment that paid a liveable wage. Now that he's earning it, maybe you could tell this man how wrong he is to still be accepting those city checks from the injury he received back in 1979? Considering the rate of inflation, I doubt they pay for much more than maintenance on his wheelchair, but what the heck? He's just ripping off taxpayers like you right?

Worker's compensation fraud is wrong no matter who does it, public or private employee. That said, legitimate injuries incurred in the line of duty while serving the public's good require that those who were permanently harmed receive fair compensation. It doesn't matter if the injured party was a serving member of the military or a public safety employee. We have no idea what kind of injury(s) this retired officer sustained, what limitations he has to live with, or what kind of sacrifices he's had to make on our behalf. Suggesting that those we owe such debts to don't have, "pride, honor" or deserve "self-respect" isn't just shortsighted, it displays an appalling lack of gratitude.

Given that this was the pension fund board, I doubt this is workers compensation benefits. In most states, this would have stopped indemnity benefits under workers comp immediately.

Public safety employees obtain service related injury retirement compensation from their pension systems, not regular (state) "worker's compensation insurance." They are also ineligible to obtain Social Security benefits for injuries incurred while employed as a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic.

In any case, the benefits for legitimate injuries sustained while on duty ("IOD") are there for a reason. Qualified people wouldn't apply for these positions or make a career in such fields if they believed permanent injuries would only leave them with Social Security or a minor "worker's compensation" benefit.

Had a case here before I became mayor, Chief of police fell off his chair on comp and sued chair company. Got 150k... His file before he retired was around 2.5 inches thick. I believe he was off more then he worked.

Mike