Laserfiche WebLink
Ram.sex. She mlkect v,'~th him and .stated that if ne is not fully disabled, mc t~enefl~ will not De tulix <br />paid. He answered t~at he v`'as mrmg ali the work out and' that he would keep her posted of <br />situation, which he did not. <br /> <br />Boardmember Pearson inquired if it is the doctor who determines if someone is eligible for <br />Worker's Compensation. <br /> <br />Mrs. Helling replied it is the doctor and also the individual assigned to the Worker's Compensation <br />case. Further the City has just been advised that Mr. Guimont's Worker's Compensation benefits <br />have been discontinued by the carrier effective May 1, 1991. She added that Mr. Guimont had an <br />opportunity tochallenge the decision which he did not. She stated he received compensation until <br />August 1, 1991 and the consequence of that is he has been overpaid. <br /> <br />Boardmember Sharp asked if the money is reclaimed. <br /> <br />Mrs. Helling stated she is not involved in that part of it and therefore couldn't answer that <br />question. <br /> <br />Mr. McKnight stated the Board should keep in mind that at the time of Mr. Guimont's accident, the <br />fire fighters were under the impression that they would be compensated in a fashion to still be able <br />to survive. Mr. Guimont has children, a house, etc. Mr. Guimont was in the dark about his <br />financial support from the Cit,,,. Due to his accident, the benefit plan is nov,, going in the righ~ <br />direction and thanks to Chief Griffin and others, the fire fighters have better benefits nov,,. If the.'.' <br />didn't no one c0uldafford to be a volunteer fire fighter and t~e that chance. <br /> <br />Mrs. Helling stated that Worker's Compensation, based on a salaried fire fighter's income, would <br />not have provided replacement income to several of the fire fighters while in Jay's case, his income <br />was provided. <br /> <br />Boardmember Sharp questioned why this issue is in front of the Fire Board for review. <br /> <br />Mrs. Helling replied that City Council has asked this be reviewed by thc Board to make a <br />recon'n'nendation to City Council. <br /> <br />Boardmember Kapler stated he read the case last night and he feels he is a little biased. He's not <br />sure if going by what the insurance companies say is the fight way to go. He stated the fire <br />fighters were blind Sided with the benefit package. He added that he feels he does not have enough <br />information in :front of him to be able to make a recommendation as to the right thing to do. He <br />doesn't know for sure if Mr. Guimont is asking for payment until Ma>,, 199t or a continuation of <br />benefit payment. <br /> <br /> 5/L,'s. Helling stated that as to what Mr. Guimont is asking, under an.',' provisions of any policy, all <br /> r,..noney would iiave stopped as of Ma,,, 1, 1991. <br />/7~o~a'rdmember Sharp stated that regarding qualifvin~ under the present prom-am, he feels Mr. <br /> Guimont is not: however, he reiterated that the 5~re' fighters were not aware of ~/hat was available. <br />~,,~stated that Mr. Guimont is as 'l. dn~ for the ney` pro~o'mm to ~et dollars ahead. <br /> Personnel Coordinator McAlonev commented that the reason for Mrs. Helling reviewing the <br /> income Tax Return is so it didn't become public information. <br /> <br />Councilmcmber Cich stated that Mrs. Helling was asked to review the returns as she is the mos~ <br />qualified person to do so. He stated it was unfortunate what happened to lX, h'. Guimont: however, <br />it did "v`,ake everybody up" with regard to benefits. <br /> <br />Ms. McAloney stated that in fairness to everyone, the information regarding the benefits wasn't <br />readily available. <br /> <br />Fire Board/August 28. 199I <br /> Page 3 of ~ <br /> <br /> <br />