AT THIS point, Boston taxpayers should understand that they will be given no quarter by Firefighters Local 718. Residents appalled by abuses of accidental disability retirement by firefighters must look to lawmakers, law enforcement, and even private investigators for any hope of rescue from practices that drain city coffers and undermine public safety.
The latest flare-up over pensions would be comical if it weren't so seamy. An Internet video shows firefighter Albert Arroyo striking poses that accentuate various muscle groups at a May bodybuilding competition. The muscular Arroyo is "ripped," in weight-lifting parlance. But it is the taxpayers who are at risk of being ripped off by Arroyo's claim to a back injury. Only six weeks earlier, Arroyo's physician had recommended to city officials that Arroyo be granted disability retirement on grounds that he is "totally and permanently disabled."
The road to a disability pension in the Fire Department can be a long one, which suits firefighters just fine. They collect full wages, tax free, while out on injured leave, awaiting a decision from the city's five-member Retirement Board. If the disability pension is granted, the payout drops back to 72 percent, also tax free. But in addition to long, the road may also be crooked. Federal agents are currently investigating scores of active and retired firefighters as part of an inquiry into questionable disability claims.
Much of that investigation focuses on firefighters who receive enhanced pensions by claiming that their career-ending injuries occurred while filling in for higher-ranking, higher-paid officers. A Globe investigation earlier this year identified more than 100 such cases over a six-year period, with a potential cost to taxpayers of $25 million.
Part of the problem is rooted in an ill-conceived state law. Mayor Menino should be leading the charge to change the provision that allows the dollar value of disability pensions to be based on a firefighter's pay "on the date such injury was sustained," instead of on the average annual salary for the 12-month period preceding the injury. The current law is an invitation to bogus claims. But no such effort to have the Legislature change the law is under way in the Menino administration.
Who are these doctors?
The role of doctors in granting questionable disabilities is another area in need of greater attention. Since it is common for a few chiropractors or doctors to be found responsible for a disproportionate share of auto insurance fraud cases or improperly prescribed narcotics, it may also be the case that a few so-called Dr. Summeroffs are responsible for a large share of accidental disability cases in the Fire Department.
The name of Arroyo's physician has been blacked out in personnel records for issues related to patient privacy. But Dr. Michael Hamrock, the Fire Department's in-house physician, has found Arroyo fit to return to his position as a fire prevention inspector. And Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser has challenged Arroyo's disability claim and ordered him back to work.
Connections between doctors and firefighters could be fruitful areas of inquiry for both federal agents and investigators from the state Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.
Meanwhile, not much heavy lifting appears to be taking place at the five-member Boston Retirement Board. It largely passes along accidental disability retirement claims and medical records to the state PERAC board where a three-member panel of medical specialists reviews the original findings of physicians and examines the applicants. The Retirement Board does conduct hearings and votes on the disability pension request after reviewing the recommendations of the PERAC doctors. Yet the Retirement Board cannot readily provide records on the outcomes of such cases.
The Retirement Board's annual reports contain investment data on the portfolio it maintains for 14,000 retirees and 20,000 active public employees. Transparency demands similar information be kept on the types, numbers, and outcomes of board votes. Additionally, the board and its staffers should be examining and adopting best practices in fraud prevention.
A problem with deep roots
The problem, however, will never be solved without deep-rooted changes in the culture of the Fire Department. Lax management has plagued the department for decades due, in large measure, to the fact that firefighters and their higher-ranking uniformed supervisors are members of the same union. It is simply not a culture in which supervisors are likely to challenge a fellow union member's accidental disability claim. Or it hasn't been until recently, when Menino appointed Fire Commissioner Fraser, an outsider. That is a key improvement. In years past, it is likely that Arroyo would have slipped by.
The Police Department, in contrast, has been home to civilian personnel and occupational health managers for many years. Police officers who fake or exaggerate injuries, therefore, can expect managers to testify against them at Retirement Board hearings and turn the matter over to the department's public corruption squad.
Menino and Fraser are trying to build civilian management capacity in the Fire Department. But it may be necessary, in the meantime, to hire private investigators to determine if permanently disabled firefighters are working at other physically demanding jobs.
Bostonians know that firefighters will make extraordinary sacrifices. But they still need assurances that the department is on the up-and-up.
