DEPARTMENT: SAFD
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Charles N. Hood
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Extension of Line of Duty Leave
SUMMARY:
This Ordinance would extend the line-of-duty (LOD) leave for Fire Engineer Christopher Hudson. The employee was charged accrued leave from March 20th, 2016 until June 10, 2017 for a work-related injury which occurred while on duty March 4, 2015. This ordinance will restore two thousand six hundred eighty-eight (2,688) hours, or one hundred and twelve (112) shifts of personal leave. Approval of this ordinance is only within the authority of City Council. The Local Government Code, Chapter 143.073, states that after the one-year initial period of leave, the municipality's governing body may extend the line of duty illness or injury leave at full or reduced pay. This will allow the Department to consider this period line of duty leave.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Fire Engineer Hudson was injured on March 4, 2015, while assisting his partner in loading a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance. The employee sustained a lower back injury and was diagnosed with lumbar strain, spondylolisthesis at L4-5, disc bulges and herniation's from L3 to, S1with lumbar radiculopathy. Engineer Hudson underwent multiple surgical procedures and continues to receive physical therapy.
The employee was placed on Line of Duty leave from March 20, 2015 to March 19, 2016 and then began using his own leave from March 20, 2016 to June 10, 2017. The employee returned to work on a light duty status June 11, 2017 and continues to work light duty.
ISSUE:
Fire Engineer Christopher Hudson seeks an extension of Line of Duty leave from March 20, 2016 until June 10, 2017, for a lumbar injury suffered on March 4, 2015. This extension will restore 2,688 hours, or 112 shifts, of his accrued leave and allow Mr. Hudson to continue on LOD leave for the remainder of his recovery time. Chapter 143 gives the City Council the authority to grant ...
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