Fire Prevention Building Inspector – unable to perform duties due to back injury – places 8th in bodybuilding competition after claim is made…hmmm…makes sense to deny claim based on IJ’s info – we must be missing a lot of this story.
maybe it is worth pointing out bodybuilding competitions dont involve actual lifting, just fake tan, oil and banana boat underwear… now the preparation on the other hand…
Veteran reporter Walter Robinson of the Boston Globe brings the story of bogus disability a lot closer to home: Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo claimed to have fallen in the firehouse on March 21. His application for disability retirement states that “while descending the stairwell Engine 28’s quarters’s (sic), I tripped on a loose staircase casing (sic) me to slipped.” Literary talent aside, Arroyo suffered such a severe back injury that his (unnamed) doctor rated him as “totally and permanently” disabled and eligible for a generous, tax free disability retirement.
On May 3 Arroyo felt a lot better. He finished eighth in a men’s body-building competition, the 2008 Pro Natural American Championships. (If still available, you can see some adorable videos of Arroyo prancing and posing at Boston.com.) Arroyo’s lawyer (yes, he will need counsel) has said that “bodybuilding helped him cope, emotionally and physically, with the travails and rigors of working as a firefighter.” Heck, I recommend bodybuilding to every person who is permanently and totally disabled. It will do wonders for their self-esteem.
Corrupt Medicine?
This sorry tale highlights the role of doctors in establishing permanent disability. You don’t get a disability pension based upon a note from mom. In this case, Arroyo’s unnamed doctor said he had been seeing Arroyo for back problems since 2000. He attested to the severity of the injury, but when contacted recently by the Retirement Board, he claimed that he was unaware of the bodybuilding history. On June 21 he wrote: “This information was not known to me until your letter and I will therefore proceed accordingly when evaluating Firefighter Arroyo in follow up.” You have to wonder whether the prodigiously muscled Arroyo ever took his shirt off in the doctor’s office.
And by the way. Arroyo, a firefighter since 1986, does not have to carry people from burning buildings. He is assigned to the Fire Prevention Division – which makes his inability to perform his job all the more suspect.
Robinson’s article highlights widespread abuse of disability retirements in the Boston Fire Departement. Senior commanders routinely retire on inflated pay: district chiefs “fill in” for Deputy Chiefs. If disabled while filling in, they retire on the salary of the Deputy. John Ellard, a district chief, suffered a “career-ending back injury” during a fire while filling in for a deputy. Fifteen days later, he went to Ireland on a long-planned vacation. He is now collecting $89,532 tax free for the rest of his life.
This is what’s wrong with our country. You have multiple jerkoffs in this charade including the claimant, his lawyer, the doctor, and the BFD. If he’s well enought to pump iron he’s well enough to get of his lazy a s s and inspect buildings. Taxpayers are paying for this fraud and cheat with hard earned money. The city of Boston had better dig in on this one. Corruption in police and fire departments is legend in large cities but few people are willing to challenge the system because they’re in it. When you think of the millions of decent people who want to work but can’t find a job it makes this situation even more insulting. By the way, you don’t sit on a plane for 10 hours if you have a back problem.
The MD needs to be charged on this one as well as the supposedly ‘disabled’ musclehead. Smacks of fraud. If he is an MD, a red flag should have gone up when he stated that he didn’t notice the bodybuilder physique on his patient. It’s not rocket science. Any moron with or without a degree can see that the guy (even with his shirt on) works out heavily.
I saw the Arroyo video on Boston.com for the body building competition and really… not that buff. Must have only been 8 people in his category. So if he is not pumped, his physique would probably look pretty ordinary. But i bet Arroyo wore muscle shirts and flexed his ego on a regular basis.
You don’t supposed that the corrupt big city police and fire departments are the result of union influence??? Was this a union doctor?
I’ve long thought that public servents needed to be on a regular workers’ compensation system and this is exactly why.
The doctor and the firefighter should be prosecuted for fraud.
We need to stop looking at job of injury when determining disability. We need to determine if the person can do any work at all. Most people on total disability are not totally disabled – not in a way a reasonable person would interpret that phrase.
No wonder I’m so cynical every time a workers’ comp claim is filed.
Dread – sorry but took great offense to your “Corruption in police and fire departments is legend in large cities “.
You’re as guilty as the rest with broad sweeping statements. For those of you who think this way please DO NOT CALL 911. My husband and friends serve Chicago as firefighters and police. Why should they risk their lives for you.
This is 1 guy and his lawyer. Like there is no fraud in insurance. grow up
We have updated our privacy policy to be more clear and meet the new requirements of the GDPR. By continuing to use our site, you accept our revised Privacy Policy.
Fire Prevention Building Inspector – unable to perform duties due to back injury – places 8th in bodybuilding competition after claim is made…hmmm…makes sense to deny claim based on IJ’s info – we must be missing a lot of this story.
maybe it is worth pointing out bodybuilding competitions dont involve actual lifting, just fake tan, oil and banana boat underwear… now the preparation on the other hand…
We have wonderful retirement hopmes for people like this. I think we call them prisons
Veteran reporter Walter Robinson of the Boston Globe brings the story of bogus disability a lot closer to home: Boston firefighter Albert Arroyo claimed to have fallen in the firehouse on March 21. His application for disability retirement states that “while descending the stairwell Engine 28’s quarters’s (sic), I tripped on a loose staircase casing (sic) me to slipped.” Literary talent aside, Arroyo suffered such a severe back injury that his (unnamed) doctor rated him as “totally and permanently” disabled and eligible for a generous, tax free disability retirement.
On May 3 Arroyo felt a lot better. He finished eighth in a men’s body-building competition, the 2008 Pro Natural American Championships. (If still available, you can see some adorable videos of Arroyo prancing and posing at Boston.com.) Arroyo’s lawyer (yes, he will need counsel) has said that “bodybuilding helped him cope, emotionally and physically, with the travails and rigors of working as a firefighter.” Heck, I recommend bodybuilding to every person who is permanently and totally disabled. It will do wonders for their self-esteem.
Corrupt Medicine?
This sorry tale highlights the role of doctors in establishing permanent disability. You don’t get a disability pension based upon a note from mom. In this case, Arroyo’s unnamed doctor said he had been seeing Arroyo for back problems since 2000. He attested to the severity of the injury, but when contacted recently by the Retirement Board, he claimed that he was unaware of the bodybuilding history. On June 21 he wrote: “This information was not known to me until your letter and I will therefore proceed accordingly when evaluating Firefighter Arroyo in follow up.” You have to wonder whether the prodigiously muscled Arroyo ever took his shirt off in the doctor’s office.
And by the way. Arroyo, a firefighter since 1986, does not have to carry people from burning buildings. He is assigned to the Fire Prevention Division – which makes his inability to perform his job all the more suspect.
Robinson’s article highlights widespread abuse of disability retirements in the Boston Fire Departement. Senior commanders routinely retire on inflated pay: district chiefs “fill in” for Deputy Chiefs. If disabled while filling in, they retire on the salary of the Deputy. John Ellard, a district chief, suffered a “career-ending back injury” during a fire while filling in for a deputy. Fifteen days later, he went to Ireland on a long-planned vacation. He is now collecting $89,532 tax free for the rest of his life.
This is what’s wrong with our country. You have multiple jerkoffs in this charade including the claimant, his lawyer, the doctor, and the BFD. If he’s well enought to pump iron he’s well enough to get of his lazy a s s and inspect buildings. Taxpayers are paying for this fraud and cheat with hard earned money. The city of Boston had better dig in on this one. Corruption in police and fire departments is legend in large cities but few people are willing to challenge the system because they’re in it. When you think of the millions of decent people who want to work but can’t find a job it makes this situation even more insulting. By the way, you don’t sit on a plane for 10 hours if you have a back problem.
The MD needs to be charged on this one as well as the supposedly ‘disabled’ musclehead. Smacks of fraud. If he is an MD, a red flag should have gone up when he stated that he didn’t notice the bodybuilder physique on his patient. It’s not rocket science. Any moron with or without a degree can see that the guy (even with his shirt on) works out heavily.
“now the preparation on the other hand…
”
As you noted, the preparation involves weight lifting, which does involve the back…
Boston is justified in denying the claim.
I saw the Arroyo video on Boston.com for the body building competition and really… not that buff. Must have only been 8 people in his category. So if he is not pumped, his physique would probably look pretty ordinary. But i bet Arroyo wore muscle shirts and flexed his ego on a regular basis.
You don’t supposed that the corrupt big city police and fire departments are the result of union influence??? Was this a union doctor?
I’ve long thought that public servents needed to be on a regular workers’ compensation system and this is exactly why.
The doctor and the firefighter should be prosecuted for fraud.
We need to stop looking at job of injury when determining disability. We need to determine if the person can do any work at all. Most people on total disability are not totally disabled – not in a way a reasonable person would interpret that phrase.
No wonder I’m so cynical every time a workers’ comp claim is filed.
Dread – sorry but took great offense to your “Corruption in police and fire departments is legend in large cities “.
You’re as guilty as the rest with broad sweeping statements. For those of you who think this way please DO NOT CALL 911. My husband and friends serve Chicago as firefighters and police. Why should they risk their lives for you.
This is 1 guy and his lawyer. Like there is no fraud in insurance. grow up