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Arbitration Hearing For Former Firefighter

The Jamestown Fire Depa P-J file photo

A state Supreme Court judge in Chautauqua County has ruled in favor of a former Jamestown firefighter who is seeking benefits as the result of injuries he claims he suffered on the job.

Judge Lynn W. Keane, in a June 26 ruling, granted a petition by Ryan Waid compelling the city of Jamestown into arbitration over the denial of General Municipal Law 207-a benefits, which provide pay equal to salary for those injured while on the job. In an amended notice posted Friday, the city said it is appealing the ruling to the Fourth Department Appellate Division in Rochester.

Waid filed a lawsuit in February both seeking arbitration and to prevent the city from holding an administrative hearing at City Hall he said was not part of the collective bargaining agreement. Keane granted the motion and application, ordering the city to hold an arbitration hearing.

The former member of the Jamestown Fire Department, in a series of lawsuits filed over the last couple of years, claims he was injured fighting fires May 12, 2015, and May 24, 2017. The city denied Waid’s request for 207-a benefits in November 2017. That denial was later overturned when Waid took the city to arbitration.

While out of work and receiving benefits, Waid’s certification as an emergency medical technician expired. Because city firefighters are required to be EMTs, the city contended Waid no longer met the stipulations outlined in his job description.

Waid’s employment — and thus access to 207-a benefits — was terminated on Jan. 25, 2019.

“Respondents terminated both my employment and the GML section 207-a benefits and status, purportedly for allowing my EMT certification to expire, even though at no time since June 2017 was I medically cleared to lift more than 10 pounds nor would respondents permit me to participate in on-the-job EMT training activities,” Waid said in an affidavit attached to the February petition. “Said termination of my employment was done without any due process hearing. Respondents at that time also terminated my GML 207-a benefits, claiming that I somehow voluntarily waived them without conducting an arbitration pursuant to respondents’ policy for administration of 207-a.”

Waid said he was notified in July 2019 that he had be deemed “permanently incapacitated in the performance of my duties.” He was approved for performance of duty disability retirement — allowing him to receive 50% of his previous earnings.

To supplement the remainder of his previous income, Waid again sought 207-a benefits from the city.

The city asked Waid to be examined by a doctor, which took place Jan. 8, 2020. The results were then sent to Waid in a letter from Sam Salemme, then-deputy chief of the Jamestown Fire Department.

“Enclosed is a copy of (the doctor’s) report finding that you do not currently suffer from an ongoing work related disability stemming from either the May 12, 2015, or May 24, 2017, injuries,” Salemme said in the letter. “He noted that you are not under current active care beyond checking in by telephone with a chiropractor associated with the UB Neurosurgery and had no appointments scheduled with an orthopedist, neurologist or pain management specialist as of the date of his examination. He found there is no objective evidence of any disability causally related to either injury to support the subjective complaints. He found no objective evidence of any impairment that would prevent you from performing your job as a firefighter.”

Waid is being represented by attorney Diane Perri Roberts.

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