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  • Home Rule Petition Concerning Employee Death Benefits

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    Anastasia Lennon
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    The letter from Mitchell and the council's draft petition.

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    Home Rule Petition Concerning Employee Death Benefits (2)

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    The letter from Mitchell and the council's draft petition.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    2K views6 pages

    Home Rule Petition Concerning Employee Death Benefits

    Uploaded by

    Anastasia Lennon
    The letter from Mitchell and the council's draft petition.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 6
    Cry oF New BeDrorD JONATHAN F. MITSHEGL, MAYOR September 1,2021 President Joseph P.Lopes and Honorable Members of the New Bedford city Counci 133 William Street New Beciord, MA.02740 re on Concersing Employee Death Benefits Dear President Lopes and Members ofthe Counc |write to address the home rule petition approved unanimously by the Council last month. The petition ‘would establish algal presumption that any death ofa city employee from Covid-19 would be deemed to have occurred in the performance ofthe employees offical duties Like you, femly believe fan employee dies a a result of contracting Covid-19 nthe workplace, his or her family should te entitled to enhanced benefts avaiable under state law. I's the right thing to do, both to ensure ther aml scared for and to honor their service. Simply because the circumstances surrounding a death from an infectious disease may be less visceral than those typically associated with ‘Work injures shouldn't make a diference. My opinions rooted in family experience. in the ast pandemic, my great-randtather John Kinney, was 4 thity-one-year-ald New Bedford patrolman, who contracted the Spanish Fla while asistng inthe removal ofthe bodies of vitims from their homes. Though his death days later would fairy be characterize today as having occurred “inthe line of duty,” no family benefits were available back then, a realty which led to my grandfather being placed in the orphanage at the former St. Mar/’s Home. Thanks to social safety net laws enacted since then, the families of employees who die inthe performance of their duties these days don’t have to go through a similar ordeal, ‘The issue raised by the Counc’ petition is not whether accidental death benefits ae avaiable to surviving family members, but how eighty for those benefits shouldbe established. in gener ‘Massachusets law provides that certain surviving family members may receive accidental death benefits ~ in addon tothe retirement benefits avaiable to surviving familly members if he or she can prove thatthe employee ced inthe performance of his or her oficial duties. This i ordinarily a straightforward exercise; more often than not itis enough fr the family member to show thatthe ‘employee was at his workplace doing his job when the fatal injury occured. When the death is caused by an infectious disease whose origins not evident, however, more circumstantial evidence may be required. The prospective beneficiary would be expected to produce evidence of on-duty contacts with infected inivdualsin the period of likely exposure, and to show that off duty contacts were less probable Ciry HALL + 133 WILLIAM STREET + New BEDFORD, MA 02740 + TeL: (SOB) 979-1410 + FAx: (508) 991-6189 In an apparent attempt to simply the process, the Counc has created a presumstion that cy ‘employee who was not working remotely des from Covid-18, then the city emplovee contracted Covid 191nthe couse of his or her official duties. There are several problems, however, with how the petition is drafted First, the petition does not make clear whether the presumption is rebuttable. if isn't, the petition ould result in awards that have no connection to the workplace. Studies have corsistently found that most Covd cases originate fom household spread and social gatherings, and that workplace exposures are less common. Thsis consistent with our experience here in New Bedford. nat, through contact tracing we are aware that sore infected city employees were exposed while on vacation or they caught ‘the virus from a significant other returning from vacation. Others were exposed te ita partes. Fortunately, none of these employees died, but i they had, the petition, as drafted, could be Interpreted as requiring the payment of enhanced benefits. This would harly be an appropiate use of tax dollars, but it ao would tend to undermine the reverence accorded employees who actually have ied in the service of the city. ‘Second, the petition does not contain language that would preclude application othe presumption if the employee were unvaccinated. As am certain that the Council would agree, i would be Inappropriate to extend accidental death benefits where the employee refused totake a vaccine that had been found tobe nearly 100% effective in preventing death, unless the employee had a valid ‘medical or religous reason not to take it. Nevertheless, nits current form, the petition would require the City to pay enhanced benefits, ‘Third, the pettion would provide greater pension benefits tothe families of police officers and fe fighters who die of Covid-19 than it would provide tothe surviving family members of other city employees. s drafted, the families or police officers and fre fighters who dled of Covid-19 would receive one hundred percent of the maximum salary forthe deceased police officer or fe lighters position, while the families of other city employees who died of Covid-19 would receive seventy wo percent of the deceased employee's annual salary. The rationale for this stinctin is unclear. Because prospective beneficiaries should understand clearly what they are eligible fo, tam sending the petition back t the Council unsigned so thatthe Council can correct these dratng flaws. The Counc passed the petition without public debate, and without sending the matter to committee. Amatter of this more thorough analysis Sa ‘The Commonwealth of Massachusers IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE. AN ACT aocrionszine tt crry oF new seproxp 10 QUALIFY CITY EMPLOYEES FOR CERTAIN DEATH BENEFITS WHEN ‘THE CAUSE OF DEATH IS RELATED TO COVID 19. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court ‘assembled, and bythe authority ofthe same, as follows SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general o special law tothe contrary, any police officer or fiefighter in the City of New Bedford who, on or after March 1, 2020 dies while inactive service tothe city, and the cause of death i, upoa receipt of proper proof,

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