From the NY Post:A "disabled" city firefighter is still battling blazes while he rakes in a taxpayer-funded pension.
Retired FDNY Lt. John Brown, who left the department after 9/11 with a tax-free $82,000 disability pension, has responded to hundreds of fires in his Long Island hometown since leaving the FDNY, The Post has learned.
Brown, 53, a 24-year veteran assigned to Ladder Co. 165 in St. Albans, Queens, was awarded a three-quarter disability pension in September 2002 after the FDNY determined he had developed reactive airway disease, an asthma-like condition, after toiling at Ground Zero.
Yet Brown has been found fit to serve as a New Hyde Park fire commissioner and firefighter, a Post probe found.
Brown joins other city firefighters revealed by The Post to be performing Herculean feats after retiring with three-quarter disability pensions -- including a former lieutenant who now competes in triathlons and long-distance runs and another ex-firefighter who takes part in martial-arts bouts.
22 comments:
I don't see anything wrong with this. He didn't voluntarily resign from FDNY with a disability pension, but instead was forced out because FDNY determined he had diminished lung capacity.
So what if he decides to help his community and fight fires on his free time?
"Brown said he hadn't wanted to retire and was actually on a list to be promoted to captain. But a series of FDNY breathing tests showed he had diminished lung capacity.
"My hand was being forced because they would not return me to full-time duty," he said. "
Uh huh.
"Gets thousands of dollars in pension-like benefits from New Hyde Park on top of his FDNY disability pension.
Unlike the FDNY, however, New Hyde Park's doctors cleared Brown as fit to fight fires.
"For years and years, Brown has been cheating the system. I call it fraud," Vaglica said. "If he's fit for duty here in New Hyde Park, he's fit for duty in New York City."
Anon 1 - he went through an application process and swore he couldnt meet the qualifications for duty in NYC.
Then he applied to fight fires in New Hyde Park. Do their fires require more lax firefighting qualifications?
Prosecute him for fraud or others in the Dept for granting full or partial disabilities who are found today performing tasks, duties that the disability was granted for. It maybe that the individual simply has recovered to a greater physical ability and his disability can be removed and downgraded to retirement status and pay.
In the private sector there are many instances of folks in physical positions who selectively go on disability on a seasonal basis generally using their back as the problem. Since this is difficult to ascertain by medical Doctors the disability is granted. Larger firms employ investigators to observe individuals at their residences found at one firm located near the shore that most of the individuals found to be seasonally on disability by June 1 were filmed physically pulling their boats in and out of the water, repairing docks, hauling large 5 gal canisters of fuel etc all exceeding the type work they performed on the job.
The firm turn over this evidence to the insurance company providing the disability and to New York State that directs workplace disability and Federal government (OSHA).
A (former) FDNY member committing fraud? Well, I never!
For those of you who want to charge Mr. Brown with fraud, please take the time to read the article. He was deemed unfit for duty in NY, when they found out in New Hyde Park, they took him off duty, but he was deemed fit by a doctor in Nassau and he resumed duty. Where's the fraud? Maybe NY should get their acts together. Always out to screw the little guy for trying to make an honest living, we all should be as diligent going after the corrupt people that speak for us.
I'm sure he put in a lot of overtime that last year before "discovering" his condition. And what a coincidence, they use your previous years income as the basis of your pension! What luck!!!!
Read the article.
He didn't WANT to collect disability. In fact, he wanted to continue working and stay with the FDNY.
The city found him unfit to serve as a firefighter anymore and forced him out on disability. How is this his fault?
If you have to blame anyone, blame the people who found him to be disabled.
I hope all of you keep sitting behind your desks (if any of you trashing this guy are even employed). He wanted to stay on the job, but was made to leave. The city pushed guys like him out after 9/11 to avoid any more tragedies. He loved his job and continues to do it (although not nearly with the same excitement) in Long Island.
All of you need to grow the fuck up and worry about some real problems.
Always out to screw the little guy for trying to make an honest living,
He didn't WANT to collect disability. In fact, he wanted to continue working and stay with the FDNY.
Please show me an honest member of the FDNY. If they weren't so busy robbing the stores in the shopping concourse of the WTC, there would have been a lot less deaths. FACT.
Ok, let's conclude that bureaucratic issues on this example a firefighter and disability should be addressed by rules that are uniform for disability and what that allows in NYS.
There must be a valid medical standard or benchmark to be declared to receive disability and the consequences of receiving it in NYS, period.
Lying,they're usually caught with stolen property in their boots......
Should have to pay back the disability pension.
I wonder if the same doctor who found him fit to still work could have found him fit to stay at the NYFD?
what a thief
Ask him what happened to his first wife?
True. He’s far worse than just a pension crook
Wow...did you defend him like this when his wife disappeared???
If this is fraud he should be held accountable. But what are the chances? He's seemingly gotten away with far worse than fraud. The disappearance of his first wife is very suspicious. I hope her family gets justice one day.
Where’s Norine, John???
WHERE IS NORINE, JOHN?
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