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City Balks At Paying Disability Pension For Inspector Still Working

October 18, 2005

St. Petersburg officials say a fire inspector, who retired and collects a disability pension, continued to work in three neighboring cities.

Steven C. Strong was getting out of a Largo Fire Rescue firetruck in 1996 when he slipped in a pool of water and fell, hurting his right knee. After two more knee injuries and six surgeries in four years, Strong, a fire inspector, applied for disability retirement, submitting a doctor's note stating he could no longer do his job. In 2000, he was awarded a tax-free disability pension that pays him $1,481.81 a month.

But that hasn't stopped Strong, 39, from going on to work for three different fire departments. Since leaving Largo, Strong has worked as a fire codes inspector/plans examiner for St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, and a fire inspector and deputy fire marshal for the Dunedin Fire Department. In April, he landed a job as assistant fire marshal for the Clearwater Fire Department, where he now makes $2,461.54 biweekly.

Strong isn't violating any laws, according to a lawyer for the city's police and fire pension board. But Largo City Manager Steven Stanton said he has had enough. 'I am so offended we are paying this guy disability,' Stanton said. 'He's done the same job in a neighboring community while he's been receiving a disability payment from us.' In a rare move, Human Resources director Susan Sinz offered Strong his old job back, though for less money than he now makes in Clearwater. Strong had until July 25 to respond to the city's job offer, but didn't.

Strong declined to discuss the details of his case, saying his attorney needed to be involved in any interviews. His attorney said his client is entitled to the pension and said he believes doctors don't think Strong can do the job that Largo has offered him. Strong's attorney said he did not reply because he wanted to get the results of an independent medical exam first. 'They're offering him a job without knowing if the man can do it,' he said.

Typically, employees on disability do not go on to work in similar positions elsewhere, Sinz said. 'When we're giving a work disability to someone who's doing the same job somewhere else, then we look like we're not responsible,' she said. Strong is one of about eight former public safety employees on disability being evaluated by trustees of Largo's police and fire retirement plan, said Jonathan Ellis, plan administrator. The city did not ask the trustees to re-examine Strong's case.

Trustees regularly review the status of former employees on disability retirement and send them to a doctor for evaluation, said Scott Christiansen, attorney for the board of trustees. If the five trustees find that the former employee can return to work, the city will offer that person his or her old position back. The trustees will probably discuss this issue at their regular meeting in October. If they find that Strong has recovered, 'he has to come back or lose his pension,' Christiansen said.

Although the results of Strong's medical examination were not available, his attorney said he believes the doctor found that Strong is still unable to work as a firefighter. Largo has offered Strong a full-time regular firefighter's job with a permanent assignment to the fire prevention division as a fire inspector. 'He's trying to weigh all the options,' he said .

Six months ago, Stanton was waiting to be seated at a Dunedin restaurant when he saw a certificate of occupancy signed by Strong, he said. He asked Largo fire officials how Strong could be on disability when he was a fire inspector in Dunedin. Stanton says he later found out Strong had retained his firefighter certification from the state. Largo fire Chief Jeff Bullock says Strong kept his firefighter certificate because he maintained his fire instructor certification.

Dunedin Fire Marshal Chris Bengivengo said Dunedin does not require fire inspectors or deputy fire marshals to be certified as a firefighter. 'He was not employed as a firefighter and expected to perform the job functions of a firefighter,' he said. 'We're using his brains, not his brawn here.' Bengivengo says Strong had the rank of lieutenant while working for Largo, unlike Dunedin's position, which is administrative. Both Bengivengo and Clearwater Fire Marshal Joel Gray said that when Strong was hired, they knew he was on disability from Largo.

Strong's job as an assistant fire marshal requires that he be certified as a firefighter but does not include firefighting responsibilities, said Gray. The description for the job characterizes it was administrative and supervisory. The job applications that Strong filled out for Dunedin and Clearwater did not ask him whether he was disabled. His personnel file in St. Petersburg does not include an application. In Clearwater, the application asked whether he was collecting benefits from the city of Clearwater's pension plan. He checked no. On both forms, Strong said he was retired from Largo.

Saying he was retired without saying he was receiving a disability pension misrepresented his reasons for leaving Largo, Stanton said. Stanton isn't alone in his concerns. 'I kind of question that,' Clearwater fire union official Jim Carino said of Strong's decision not to write on his job applications that he was retired on a disability. The Clearwater Fire Fighters Association Local 1158 has asked the city of Clearwater for records about Strong as well as other fire administrators.

Carino, executive vice president of the union, says he was surprised when he saw Strong respond to a fire wearing bunker gear. 'I thought, 'Wait a minute now, he's on a disability pension,' ' Carino said.

Strong resigned from Largo on July 25, 2000, after 13 years with the department. Trustees of the police and fire retirement board found that his disability was 'total and permanent.' Strong said he would need a right knee replacement in the future.