HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 INDUSTRIAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT - BRIAN MIALI Agenda Item 7
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MEETING DATE: JULY 21, 2015
TO: JEFFREY C. PARKER, CITY MANAGER
FROM: DERICK YASUDA, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
SUBJECT: FINDING AND DETERMINING THE INDUSTRIAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT
OF BRIAN MIALI
SUMMARY
Adoption of the attached Resolution will certify that Brian Miali is industrially disabled
from his position of Police Officer and enable CaIPERS to process his retirement.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt Resolution No. 15-41 finding that Police Officer Brian Miali is industrially disabled
from performing the duties of his position.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
An industrial disability retirement is retirement resulting from an employee's mental or
physical incapacity to perform his/her usual job duties as the result of a job-related
injury or illness. For local safety employees (e.g. sworn Police Officers) enrolled in the
California Public Employees' Retirement System (CaIPERS), the employer is required
to make a determination on a member's eligibility for industrial disability retirement.
In accordance with the California Public Employees Retirement Law (PERL), a local
safety employee qualifies for an industrial disability retirement if he/she 1) is
determined, on the basis of competent medical opinion, to be substantially incapacitated
from performing the usual and customary duties of his/her position, 2) the disability is
permanent or of an extended and uncertain duration, and 3) the cause of the injury or
illness is industrial, arising out of and in the course of employment.
In accordance with CaIPERS guidelines; as soon as it is believed that an employee is
unable to perform his/her job because of an industrial injury or illness that is expected to
be permanent or of an extended and uncertain duration, the employee (or the employer
on his/her behalf) should submit an application for industrial disability retirement. The
City Council Agenda Report
July 21, 2015
Industrial Disability Retirement of Brian Miali
Page 2
City was recently notified that Brian Miali has submitted an application for industrial
disability retirement to CaIPERS.
Brian Miali has been employed by the City of Tustin as a Police Officer for
approximately 7 years. Officer Miali filed a workers' compensation claim on June 4,
2011 following an altercation with a burglary suspect in which he sustained an injury to
his right foot. Additionally, he filed a Cumulative Trauma claim on June 3, 2014 for
injuries to multiple body parts, including his back, shoulders, and knees, sustained over
his career as a Police Officer. An Agreed Medical Evaluator (AME), an independent
doctor agreed upon by the City's third -party workers' compensation claims administrator
and the employee's attorney, was retained to evaluate Officer Miali's medical condition.
These claims were ultimately accepted as industrially related.
Officer Miali missed approximately four weeks of work due to these injuries in 2011 and
has been continuously off work while temporarily totally disabled since June 2014. This
month we learned that the AME has concluded that Officer Miali reached maximum
medical improvement as of May 13, 2015, and that his injuries have caused a number
of work restrictions that will substantially incapacitate him on a permanent basis from
performing the usual and customary duties of a Police Officer with the City of Tustin.
The City's workers' compensation administrator, workers' compensation attorney, and
staff are in agreement with these findings. The Police Department does not have any
permanent modified duty positions that can accommodate Officer Miali's medical
restrictions.
Considering the above, staff, the City's workers' compensation administrator, and the
City's workers' compensation legal counsel all believe that the City has all information
necessary to determine that Brian Miali is industrially disabled from his position as a
Police Officer. Upon City Council adoption of the attached resolution, staff will send the
resolution to CalPERS to certify his industrial disability retirement and allow CalPERS to
process his retirement application.
Deri k Yasud
Director of Human Resources
Attachments:
1. City Council Resolution No. 15-41
RESOLUTION NO. 15-41
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, FINDING THAT BRIAN MIALI, A
LOCAL SAFETY MEMBER, IS INDUSTRIALLY DISABLED
FROM HIS DUTIES AS A POLICE OFFICER
WHEREAS, the City of Tustin (hereinafter referred to as Agency) is a contracting
agency of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CaIPERS); and
WHEREAS, the California Public Employees' Retirement Law (PERL) requires
that a contracting agency determine whether an employee of such agency in
employment in which he/she is classified as a local safety member is disabled for
purposes of the PERL and whether such disability is "industrial" within the meaning of
such law; and
WHEREAS, an application for the industrial disability retirement of Brian Miali,
employed by the Agency in the position of Police Officer, has been filed with CaIPERS;
and
WHEREAS, the City of Tustin has reviewed the medical and other evidence
relevant to such alleged disability.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of
Tustin does hereby find and determine that Brian Miali is incapacitated within the
meaning of the PERL from performing his usual and customary duties in the position of
Police Officer: and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of Tustin does hereby find and
determine that such disability is a result of injury or disease arising out of and in the
course of employment. Neither said Brian Miali nor the Agency has applied to the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board for a determination pursuant to Section 21166
whether such disability is industrial; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the member will be separated from his
position of Police Officer after expiration of his rights under Section 21164, Government
Code, and that no dispute as to the expiration of such leave rights is pending. His last
day on paid status was May 13, 2015 and his retirement will be effective May 14, 2015.
There is not a possibility of third party liability. Advanced Disability Pension Payments
will be made. The primary disabling condition is orthopedic.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Tustin
held on the 21St day of July 2015.
Resolution 15-41
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CHARLES E. PUCKETT
Mayor
ATTEST:
JEFFREY C. PARKER
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS
CITY OF TUSTIN )
I, Jeffrey C. Parker, City Clerk and ex -officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin,
California, do hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council of
the City of Tustin is five; that the above and foregoing Resolution No. 15-41 was duly
passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Tustin City Council, held on the 21St day of
July 2015, by the following vote:
COUNCILMEMBER AYES:
COUNCILMEMBER NOES:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED:
COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT:
JEFFREY C. PARKER
City Clerk
Resolution 15-41
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