NEW JERSEY COPS ■ AUGUST 2014
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The case for ‘Accidental’ disability pensions
The laws governing disability pension benefits currently provide for disability pensions
benefiting members who have been victimized
by traumatic incidents or who fall victim to disabling medical issues of non-traumatic origin.
Importantly, members contribute 10 percent of
their salaries each and every year to fund the
Stuart pension system. An injured member can apply
Alterman for a disability pension upon qualification and
be awarded same, either at an Accidental/Traumatic level or an ordinary/medical level. Members can be
awarded an ordinary disability and/or medical pension,
requiring members to show they are totally and permanently
disabled from the performance of their ordinary duties; such
an award is not dependent on the cause of the injury, regardless of the source of their disability. However, a separate award
exists for Accidental/Traumatic Disability Pensions.
Police and Fire members work in a unique area of employment completely unlike other jobs. The uniqueness subjects
each member to significantly increased risks of either physical
and/or mental injury. The pension system is rightfully built to
accommodate for those members victimized by either physical and/or mental injury occurring during the performance of
their duties. Applying for, and achieving, an Accidental Disability Pension can be particularly difficult, due to additional
burdens of proving the work-related nature of the cause and
due to the filing-time limitations of such claims. The application to receive Accidental/Traumatic Disability Retirement
Benefits must be filed within five years of the original traumatic
event (the date of the cause of the injury). In contrast, no time
limitations exist for an award of an ordinary and/or medical
pension.
An exception exists for filing outside of the five-year jurisdictional window for an Accidental Disability pension. That
exception is called “delayed manifestation.” The Board of
Trustees of the pension system may consider an application
filed after the five-year period if it can be demonstrated that the
filing was not accomplished within the five-year period due to
a delayed manifestation of the disability beyond the control of
the member. This delayed manifestation exception exists for
both physical and mental injuries; it requires that the petitioner before the Board of Trustees (or before the Office of
Administrative Law in an appeal) show that the symptoms of
the physical or psychological disability did not manifest immediately after the actual traumatic event that caused the injury.
The five-year period begins when the petitioner knew (or reasonably should have known) of the disability, the metric usually being the manifestation of physical or psychological
symptoms. Hypothetically, if a member has a knee or leg injury
that becomes progressively worse and meets the legal criteria
after the five-year window, but relates back to the original
injury, the member can achieve an accidental disability pension based upon the delayed manifestation exception. Similarly, the same criteria exists for a psychological injury. A
member afflicted by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may not
manifest symptoms immediately following a traumatic event,
and the exception would apply to these forms of disability.
In order to achieve a mental accidental disability pension,
the disability must result from “direct personal experience of
a te