My Story

            I joined the ranks of the New York State Police on October 19, 1981. Ironically this was predicted (some six years earlier) by my mother, eight months before she died.  Upon joining the department, one takes an oath that he/she, “… will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of New York,” and will uphold the laws of the State and will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of a New York State Trooper according to the best of their ability. They are also told that they will do nothing to bring embarrassment or discredit to the job or to New York State; and that any such action could result in termination. In return the new recruit Troopers are promised many things by the State. Things such as salary, vacation, health insurance and many other benefits. They are also advised of the benefits if they are injured on the job and cannot return to duty, and the death benefit if they are killed in the line of duty. Important benefits to have considering the constant dangers associated with the job.  When I joined; my class (the 147th, 148th and 149th sessions) were promised that if we were injured in the line of duty (or even not on-duty if we had more than five years on the job), and unable to return to full and strenuous duty we would receive a benefit (lifetime) of one half of our final average salary. The State lied.

I served the State faithfully for twelve years on active duty. I was assigned to Troop D for my entire career. Besides my duties as a State Trooper, I was also a forensic evidence technician (one of the State’s first), a trained hostage negotiator and a certified Field Training Officer. After eleven and a half years as a Trooper I was promoted to the rank of Investigator.

On October 12th, 1993, while conducting a Troop-wide investigation into a kidnapping/suspected homicide of a twelve-year-old girl, I was involved in an on-duty accident (in my assigned vehicle) with a tractor-trailer. The tractor-trailer had run a red light and made a left turn into the path of my vehicle, and I struck his rear tractor wheel. My head struck something inside the vehicle as I had a small contusion on the left side of my forehead and my head was thrown back over the headrest by the deploying airbag. I was taken to the emergency room by ambulance, treated and released as they could not diagnose any fractures or any other significant injuries. No X-rays or MRIs were taken.

The following day my forehead was swollen up from one side to the other. I also had a severe headache. I went to the doctor, and he said these were common following an accident such as mine and the symptoms should go away after a short time. But they did not go away. In fact, they got worse. I started having headaches every day, I was forgetting things constantly (mostly misplacing things and not being able to recall where I put them), I was easily distracted, I developed severe insomnia, and I had uncontrollable bursts of anger.     Over the course of the next three years my symptoms continued and, in many cases, got worse. During this time, I saw over twenty different doctors. All but two of them said I was not fit for duty at the time of their exam. Some of these doctors were seen at the request of my primary care physician while others were seen at the request of either the State Police, the State Insurance Fund (Worker’s Comp) or the State Retirement System (NYS Comptroller). The general consensus was that I had tension headaches and attention and concentration difficulties probably brought on by a concussion but certainly directly related to the accident. My personal physicians all concluded that I had post-concussion syndrome.

I was forced to file for my disability retirement, Workers Compensation and Social Security disability as I could not determine if or when I would ever be able to, successfully, return to duty. Twice, I tried to return to work. The first time was shortly after the accident when I returned on my own. The second time I was ordered back to work by the Major of Troop D. Both times I had to return to sick leave as I was unable to perform my duties, as required, in a safe and satisfactory manner. This second time, the Major brought me up on charges for failure to obey a direct order, until he was reminded by my union rep that I had obeyed the order and returned to work.

On March 7, 1996, the NY State Police put me on Leave Without Pay, which is generally a punitive measure. This basically made me an indentured servant of the state as I could not get any other work or file for unemployment for fear of being terminated. Then on March 7, 1997, the New York State Police terminated me from State service as I “…continue to be unfit for full and strenuous duty.” This is a determination generally made by the Division Physician based on ALL the evidence provided.  In April of 1997 the Social Security Department determined that I was totally disabled for a period of three years following my accident.  In December of 1998 the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board decided that I had a 49% permanent partial disability.

In the meantime, the Comptrollers’ office denied my request for a State Police Disability Retirement on April 11, 1996, stating I “…was not permanently incapacitated for the performance of duties as Investigator.” This decision was appealed immediately. Then in February of 2000 my appeal was denied for the same reason even though during the hearing, I presented, as witnesses, a doctor and a psychologist (both of whom had seen me numerous times) and they both testified that I was permanently incapacitated from performing my duties as an Investigator. The Retirement System presented no evidence that any of their three witnesses said I was capable of returning to work. In fact, one of their doctors said that if he were to examine me again (some six and a half years after the accident) and I still presented the same symptoms he would say I was still unfit for duty.

Hence, I determined I would not get a fair shake following their rules, so I had to find an alternative action. With so much attention, in recent years, being paid to the Constitution and the rights of Americans I thought perhaps I would find an answer there. It came to me that throughout this entire ordeal I had been denied my due process rights by The State Police, The Workers’ Compensation Board and The Comptrollers’ office. These due process rights are guaranteed by both the U.S. and N.Y. State Constitutions.

The State Police violated my rights because I was never given a hearing by the Superintendent, prior to being terminated, as mandated by Article 11, section 215, subsection 3 of the NYS Executive law – “3. The sworn members of the New York State Police shall be appointed by the superintendent and permanent appointees may be removed by the superintendent only after a hearing.”

The Workers’ Compensation Board violated my rights by not permitting me proper legal representation when the Judge, at a hearing in 2011, refused to allow my attorney to argue against a motion filed by the State Insurance Fund. Their motion challenged the decision rendered in December of 1998. His words which I will remember to this day were, in essence that the State Insurance Fund is entitled to additional deficiency compensation and “...I will hear no arguments against it.”  Normally a party only has thirty days to challenge a Workers’ Comp decision which they failed to do thirteen years prior.

Finally, the biggest violator of due process rights is the Comptrollers’ office who has been empowered by the courts. Time after time the state courts have decided the Comptroller is the sole proprietor of the Retirement system and he has the unilateral right to make any decision he sees fit to protect it. Unlike any other legal proceeding which is generally decided by a preponderance of the evidence, the Comptroller can decide a case on the word of one doctor (who, of course, is paid by the Comptrollers’ office to render a favorable opinion) despite overwhelming opposition to his decision. Or as in my case, deciding against me despite no evidence being presented against me. One of the most important tenets of Due Process is that the adjudicating official or body, be impartial. This is hardly the case with the State Retirement System and the Comptrollers’ Office.   

The Comptrollers’ office claims that I failed to prove I was permanently incapacitated from performing the duties of a State Police Investigator. However, once the State Police terminated me, doesn’t that permanently incapacitate me? Also, despite the Comptrollers’ position that they do not have to accept the findings (49% permanent partial disability) of the Workers’ Comp Board, doesn’t that finding essentially exclude me from any police officer job in NY State? Especially since most (or all) police departments require mandatory Workers Comp coverage for the members of their departments; how would they ever be able to cover me based on the Comp Board findings.

The bottom line is, I was unjustly and unlawfully denied my State Police disability retirement and I intend to fight to get it back. I was denied my right to due process and the State should be held accountable for it. It should be noted, even NY State’s Health Department website recognizes that concussions (even minor ones) can lead to permanent disability.

If you would like to read an unabridged version of my story, please read the post Betrayed. Thanks for reading and please see my GoFundMe link at the bottom of the blog.

Thanks again. – Bill