Orlando Firefighters will share $600,000

[Guest guest]

Firefighters will share $600,000

Orlando agrees to the settlement after 3 years of fighting in court and City

Hall.

By Mark Schlueb | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted December 29, 2004

Orlando firefighters -- some with serious medical problems -- will split

nearly $600,000 within the next two weeks, ending more than three years of

fighting in court and City Hall.

The city's settlement with the 28 current and former firefighters closes

what those involved describe as the most bitter chapter in the Orlando Fire

Department's 120-year history.

" It brings closure, " said Mike Morton, a former firefighter who suffers from

hepatitis C that he thinks he contracted during 26 years on the job. " It's

been a long time coming. "

More than three years ago, Morton and more than two dozen other firefighters

filed a class-action lawsuit against the city and then-Mayor Glenda Hood,

claiming that doctors at the employee clinic never told them about abnormal

test results.

Some of those symptoms pointed to serious maladies, including potentially

fatal hepatitis, heart and lung ailments. Firefighters said they could have

sought early treatment if the city clinic had shared their test results

right away.

The lawsuit was eventually thrown out before it could be heard by a jury.

The judge said their allegations amounted to medical malpractice rather than

the conspiracy they alleged.

That didn't end the fight, though. The labor union that represents Orlando

firefighters filed a grievance over the city's failure to meet safety

guidelines, a complaint that covered many of the same issues raised in the

lawsuit. Just before it was scheduled to go before an independent

arbitrator, the city offered to settle.

Under the agreement, the city will:

Pay $600,000 to the firefighters.

Hire a staff doctor for the Fire Department to ensure they receive quality

medical care in the future.

Hire an outside agency to administer workers compensation claims filed by

firefighters. The controversy surrounding the lawsuit eventually became so

heated that union leaders said they no longer trusted the city staffers who

had handled injury claims.

The city has already closed the clinic that was the source of the

accusations. Employee health care is now handled by Florida Hospital.

Firefighters also now receive annual tests for hepatitis and tuberculosis, a

concession that city officials had refused to fund for years.

The settlement was approved by the City Council more than seven months ago,

but languished until last week.

Union officials had to decide how to divide the money among the 28

firefighters involved. The firefighters will receive between $2,500 and

$100,000 each, depending on the severity of their illness and whether

they've received any other compensation from the city in the past.

Half of the firefighters will be paid $7,500 or less. Two -- Morton and Bob

Flamily, who has terminal hepatitis-related liver damage -- will each

receive $100,000.

" I don't think anybody in that group is getting as much as they deserve, but

that's what we had to work with, " union president Steve Clelland said. " The

union's goal was to see that this never happens again. "

The payouts were also delayed because one of the attorneys who represented

the firefighters in their class-action suit filed a lien seeking a cut of

the settlement.

Winter Park attorney Mark Morsch said he lifted the lien two weeks ago

because he didn't want to hold up the payments. Morsch said he and attorney

Geoff Bichler lost money on the case, but they were glad the firefighters

were receiving some compensation.

" Had we not stuck our necks out, I don't believe there would have been a

settlement, " Morsch said. " It cost us a lot, both out of pocket and in

reputation. "

Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@... or 407-420-5417

[Guest guest]

Firefighters will share $600,000

Orlando agrees to the settlement after 3 years of fighting in court and City

Hall.

By Mark Schlueb | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted December 29, 2004

Orlando firefighters -- some with serious medical problems -- will split

nearly $600,000 within the next two weeks, ending more than three years of

fighting in court and City Hall.

The city's settlement with the 28 current and former firefighters closes

what those involved describe as the most bitter chapter in the Orlando Fire

Department's 120-year history.

" It brings closure, " said Mike Morton, a former firefighter who suffers from

hepatitis C that he thinks he contracted during 26 years on the job. " It's

been a long time coming. "

More than three years ago, Morton and more than two dozen other firefighters

filed a class-action lawsuit against the city and then-Mayor Glenda Hood,

claiming that doctors at the employee clinic never told them about abnormal

test results.

Some of those symptoms pointed to serious maladies, including potentially

fatal hepatitis, heart and lung ailments. Firefighters said they could have

sought early treatment if the city clinic had shared their test results

right away.

The lawsuit was eventually thrown out before it could be heard by a jury.

The judge said their allegations amounted to medical malpractice rather than

the conspiracy they alleged.

That didn't end the fight, though. The labor union that represents Orlando

firefighters filed a grievance over the city's failure to meet safety

guidelines, a complaint that covered many of the same issues raised in the

lawsuit. Just before it was scheduled to go before an independent

arbitrator, the city offered to settle.

Under the agreement, the city will:

Pay $600,000 to the firefighters.

Hire a staff doctor for the Fire Department to ensure they receive quality

medical care in the future.

Hire an outside agency to administer workers compensation claims filed by

firefighters. The controversy surrounding the lawsuit eventually became so

heated that union leaders said they no longer trusted the city staffers who

had handled injury claims.

The city has already closed the clinic that was the source of the

accusations. Employee health care is now handled by Florida Hospital.

Firefighters also now receive annual tests for hepatitis and tuberculosis, a

concession that city officials had refused to fund for years.

The settlement was approved by the City Council more than seven months ago,

but languished until last week.

Union officials had to decide how to divide the money among the 28

firefighters involved. The firefighters will receive between $2,500 and

$100,000 each, depending on the severity of their illness and whether

they've received any other compensation from the city in the past.

Half of the firefighters will be paid $7,500 or less. Two -- Morton and Bob

Flamily, who has terminal hepatitis-related liver damage -- will each

receive $100,000.

" I don't think anybody in that group is getting as much as they deserve, but

that's what we had to work with, " union president Steve Clelland said. " The

union's goal was to see that this never happens again. "

The payouts were also delayed because one of the attorneys who represented

the firefighters in their class-action suit filed a lien seeking a cut of

the settlement.

Winter Park attorney Mark Morsch said he lifted the lien two weeks ago

because he didn't want to hold up the payments. Morsch said he and attorney

Geoff Bichler lost money on the case, but they were glad the firefighters

were receiving some compensation.

" Had we not stuck our necks out, I don't believe there would have been a

settlement, " Morsch said. " It cost us a lot, both out of pocket and in

reputation. "

Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@... or 407-420-5417