Section 143.073 of the Texas Local Government Code (TLGC) permits a firefighter or police officer a leave-of-absence for an illness or injury related to the person's line of duty with full pay for a period up to one year if necessary. Section 143.073 also allows an injured police officer or firefighter to request from the City Council an extension of the injury leave-of-absence for full or reduced pay upon the expiration of the one year period.
On March 3, 2015, City Council adopted Resolution No. 4420-03-2015 (City Resolution) which states in pertinent part:
"On a going-forward basis, in lieu of individual extension requests that can be granted by the City Council under Section 143.073 of the TLGC, fire fighters and police officers with medically-documented job-related illnesses or injuries will be granted up to two years of occupational leave per each job-related illness or injury (commensurate with the injury or illness and as medically necessary and related to the compensable illness or injury) which may be used intermittently.
The only exception to the two-year limitation shall be in situations where, at the time the two-year period ends, the fire fighter or police officer has not yet reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) as provided for under Section 408.104 of the Texas Labor Code which is currently limited to spinal surgery. In these instances, occupational leave will be available until MMI is reached."
Police Officer Deena Evans was injured in the line of duty on February 28, 2014. Although Officer Evans reached MMI on March 16, 2016, Officer Evans remains off work under a physician's care for the injury and has not returned to full duty.
Pursuant to the City Resolution, Officer Evans would be ineligible for an extension of Occupational Injury Leave having reached MMI on March 16, 2016. However, during the course of treatment, disputed issues arose between Officer Evans and the City's third party administrator over the compensability of Officer Evans' injury. This dispute resulted in a five-month delay in necessary treatment for Officer Evans.
It is recommended that the City Council approve a five-month extension of Occupational Injury Leave in the amount of $39,912.50 for the period May 17, 2016 through October 16, 2016. This period coincides with the five-month delay in Officer Evans' treatment and will enable additional treatment and physical therapy. If the request is denied, Officer Evans will be able to maintain full pay by use of accumulated leave benefits. As of June 3, 2016, Officer Evans had the following paid leave available: 8.00 hours of personal holiday, 112.00 hours of holiday accrual, 318.00 hours of vacation, 293.00 hours of sick leave and 12.75 hours of leave adjusted vacation for a total of 743.75 hours of available leave. This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity. |
