Benefits Claims By Some Los Angeles Firefighters Questioned
By Associated Press - December 15, 2004LOS ANGELES (AP) _ County firefighters have filed workers' compensation claims a year before they retire to pad their benefits and collect salaries without working, according to a newspaper report Sunday.
An average of 85 percent of Los Angeles County firefighters who received disability retirement benefits from 2001 to 2003 claimed an injury a year before they were scheduled to retire, taking a one-year leave of absence while collecting all of their salary, the Los Angeles Daily News reported, citing a county memo.
During that year, the firefighters received their salary tax-free and were later able to apply for job-related disability retirement, the paper said.
The claims have cost county taxpayers as annual benefits have more than doubled in six years from $23 million to $50 million this year, according to the newspaper.
County officials questioned how a large number of employees could become disabled a year before their retirement.
"I think these figures are disturbing," said Richard Doyle, director of Los Angeles County District Attorney's fraud and corruption unit. "But we have to remember the nature of the job that firemen and police officers do. Does this mean 85 percent are committing fraud? No. But an incidence that high does demand review and investigation."
Dave Gillotte, president of the 3,000-member Los Angeles County Fire Fighters Local 1014, said the claims are legitimate.
"Firefighters and sheriff's deputies are out there performing physically demanding jobs ... and the injuries are very real," Gillotte said.
The California 1937 Retirement Act allows employees to set their retirement dates to coincide with the expiration of their workers' compensation benefits.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last week ordered an investigation into the matter. State lawmakers scheduled a hearing on Jan. 24 to determine whether the practice was widespread. | 
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