Disability Benefits for First Responders
If you are a first responder and have become ill or injured because of your occupation, it is important to know that you have rights. You may be entitled to disability benefits if you are deemed disabled because of your work as a police officer, firefighter or paramedic. Our firm understands that being unable to work can have a serious effect on your life. We will do everything in our power to represent you if you are denied disability benefits or you are in a dispute with a carrier. We recognize how your job helps our community. When you are denied what you are entitled to, it is our job to zealously represent you. For a free consultation with an effective attorney, contact Lloyd J. Eisenberg & Associates.
Are you in this situation?
You may be entitled to disability retirement benefits if you are permanently disabled from performing the material duties of protecting and serving the public. If your disability is service connected, you are likely entitled to a higher benefit. Disabling heart conditions are generally presumed to have been caused by the stress of your job and support a claim for disability retirement. If you are a firefighter and suffer from lung disease, the condition is also generally presumed to have been caused by your exposures on the job and supports a claim for disability retirement. You need an effective and experienced attorney when your rights to disability retirement are denied.
Your Rights to Disability Retirement Benefits
Your pension plan permits you to seek disability retirement if you suffer a disability, which permanently prevents you from doing your job. If your disability is service connected, benefits are tax-free. To commence a claim, your medical records documenting your disability are submitted to The Medical Advisory Board to determine whether you are disabled. The Medical Advisory Board is required to submit the written findings to the Disability Review Board, which then determines whether you are disabled and whether your disability was suffered in the line of duty. If the answer is in the affirmative, the Disability Review Board grants disability retirement. If the Disability Review Board denies your claim for disability, you are then entitled to a full evidentiary hearing before a hearing examiner. You need an experienced attorney to guide you through this process. This right to a hearing preserves your Constitutional Right to Due Process. When this Constitutional Right to Due Process was denied to one of your fellow officers, I fought the denial in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals in Annapolis and forced the Disability Review Board to follow its own rules of procedure and provide an evidentiary hearing.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If you are hurt in the line of duty, you are entitled to worker’s compensation benefits:
- Lost Wages
- Medical Treatment
- Vocational Rehabilitation
- Compensation for Permanent Impairment
We will fight for every dollar of every benefit to which you are entitled. If a hearing is necessary, Lloyd J. Eisenberg will prepare you and be by your side throughout every proceeding.
Contact Our Firm
For more than 30 years, he has represented hundreds of injured workers before workers compensation commissions of Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia. We recognize the sacrifice our first responders make to keep us safe every day. We are grateful to those who are on the frontline, helping those who would be lost otherwise. First responders that are seriously injured, to the point of disability, deserve the benefits they have been promised. When this is in dispute, we are there to protect them. When you need a law firm that is as dedicated to your needs as you are to ours, please contact our firm. We are ready to serve you.
