Mad dash for pension trough
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THE FRENZY is akin to the running of the brides at Filene’s Basement, but the payoff is a fattened pension instead of a discounted wedding dress. That describes the mad rush of Boston firefighters with disability claims who scampered to file for retirement before a new pension law goes into effect today.
In June, the Legislature and Governor Patrick axed the so-called king-for-a-day provision that allows firefighters to bump up their tax-free disability pensions by claiming they were injured while filling in for superior officers at higher pay grades. There’s nothing funny about the dangers faced by firefighters on the job. But there is plenty of funny business in the Boston Fire Department when it comes to accidental disability claims. Enough, in fact, to prompt an FBI investigation.
Last year, a Globe review found that 102 Boston firefighters had boosted their tax-free disability pensions by claiming career-ending injuries while acting “out of grade.’’ And this week, 33 firefighters made haste for the Boston Retirement Board, including 24 who claimed they sustained their injuries while filling in for superiors.
Pension schemers on the Boston Fire Department became state symbols of waste and abuse. Their now-outlawed practices won’t be mourned by anyone except those who equate public service with personal gain. The legislative conference committee on pension reform deserves special recognition for insisting that a firefighter’s disability pension be based on the average salary from 12 months prior to the injury, not the day of occurrence. The panel of medical reviewers for the state retirement system should be similarly exacting when reviewing the claims of firefighters. Anyone trying to slip in under the wire may also be trying to slip one past the public.
