BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts’ highest court has ruled that government workers suspended without pay while facing criminal charges can still collect workers’ compensation benefits.
The Boston Globe reports (https://bit.ly/2rcVzaH ) the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday ordered the city to reconsider Brian Benoit’s case.
The court says the former paramedic admitted in 2015 to tampering with medications on city ambulances in 2011. He suffered an injury in 2011 and was covered by workers’ compensation for about a year until the city ended payments. A judge ordered coverage to resume. But the city cut off benefits again when Benoit was charged criminally.
The city cited a 1972 law that bans workers facing charges from receiving compensation from their government employer.
The court says workers’ compensation is an insurance policy and employees must receive those benefits.
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Information from: The Boston Globe, https://www.bostonglobe.com
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