Judge Rejects PTSD Claim From Nightclub First Responder
Monday, January 15, 2018 | 0
A Florida workers’ compensation judge has ruled against providing benefits to an Orlando police officer who responded to the Pulse Nightclub shooting that killed 49 people.
Compensation Judge Neal Pitts ruled against the claim from former officer Gerry Realin, WKMG News 6 reported. Realin’s attorney, Geoff Bichler, had asked for $25,000 for Realin, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after removing bodies from the nightclub following the shooting on June 12, 2016.
Florida law covers first responders only for medical benefits for mental injuries and prohibits payment of wage-loss benefits unless a physical injury requiring medical treatment is present. Bichler argued that Realin qualified for lost wages because the physical injury of hypertension accompanied his PTSD.
But Pitts ruled that Realin had not proven that he suffered a hypertension condition or injury on June 12, 2016, as a result of the shooting incident, according to WKMG, which obtained a copy of the ruling late Thursday.
The judge wrote that the ruling was made “in part because there was no blood pressure reading taken on June 12, 2016.”
Bichler said previously that he would appeal if the judge ruled against Realin.
Realin received an early retirement that will pay him 80% of his salary for life.
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