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City on hold over ex-fire inspector

Pension board trustees say they need more information before making a decision on his disability status.

By SHANNON TAN
Published October 12, 2005

LARGO - Former fire inspector Steven C. Strong might be able to return to work if the city makes accommodations for his disability, a doctor indicated Tuesday.

That message, however, consisted of only one word, "Yes," written on a fax, hardly the basis for any action that could affect Strong's career and livelihood.

So trustees of the city's police and fire pension board agreed at Tuesday's meeting that they need more information from the city, Strong and the doctor before making a decision on Strong's pension status.

Strong, 39, left his job in Largo on a disability pension in 2000. He had injured his right knee four years earlier when he slipped in water and fell as he got out of a Largo Fire Rescue truck. That year, he was awarded a tax-free disability pension that pays $1,481.81 a month.

After leaving Largo, Strong went on to work for fire departments in St. Petersburg and Dunedin. In April, he was hired as the assistant fire marshal in Clearwater, where he makes $64,000 a year. When Largo officials heard he was working for another city, they offered him his old job back.

The position that human resources director Susan Sinz offered was a full-time regular firefighter's job with a permanent assignment to the fire prevention division as an inspector.

Strong had until July 25 to respond to the city's job offer, but he didn't. His attorney, John H. Thompson IV, said Strong did not reply because he wanted to get the results of an independent medical exam first.

Strong is one of eight former public safety employees on disability being evaluated by trustees of Largo's police and fire pension board. The city did not ask the trustees to re-examine Strong's case. Trustees regularly review the status of former employees on disability pension, said Scott Christiansen, an attorney for the board of trustees.

Jonathan Ellis, administrator of the police and fire pension board, said at Tuesday's meeting that the doctor initially found that Strong could not perform the job.

But city officials told Ellis they were willing to make special accommodations for Strong, such as relaxing the physical requirements of his job.

Sinz said the city was waiting for a doctor to specify what those accommodations should be.

Strong attended Tuesday's meeting but did not take part in the discussion. Outside the meeting, his attorney declined to comment on the proceedings, but he has said in the past that Strong is entitled to the pension and that he thinks doctors don't think Strong can do the job that Largo has offered.

Ellis has written to Dr. Richard Liles asking him whether Strong can return to work with reasonable accommodations. Liles did not reply until Tuesday, and then he simply wrote, "Yes," in a fax to Ellis, Ellis said.

"He felt Mr. Strong would be able to go to work under those accommodations," Ellis said.

But the trustees said they needed to have Liles' opinion in writing.

"He's verbally indicated that he would be willing to approve Mr. Strong," Ellis said. "But I don't have it in writing."

Bruce Geer, a trustee, asked the city to specify what "reasonable accommodations" officials would make for Strong's disability.

He also asked for a job description of the Clearwater assistant fire marshal position.

"The paper trail seems to have holes in it," trustee Howard Smith said. "... We don't have the information we need to make a decision."

Thompson agreed, saying he needs to know what accommodations the city will provide.

"We don't know what they are," Thompson said. "At this point, there is no job offer Mr. Strong can respond to."

Andrew Salzman, an attorney for Largo, said he would send a list of the accommodations to Thompson and the board of trustees.

"This is a legitimate position," Salzman said of the job the city is offering Strong. "We didn't create the position for him."

Sinz said if Strong returns to his old job with the fire department, he would not be eligible to receive the disability payments he currently gets.

Trustees are expected to discuss the issue again next month, although no action will be taken. They asked that Christiansen be present at that meeting. Ellis said a formal hearing, with testimony and depositions, needs to take place before any action on a person's pension status.

Last month, Strong filed a claim for damages over comments Largo city officials made about him in a St. Petersburg Times article about his pension. Thompson did not specify which comments Strong objected to but called them tantamount to slander. City officials said they were simply stating facts and think Strong would be a good employee.

Shannon Tan can be reached at 727 445-4174 or shtan@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 12, 2005, 00:19:18]