BFD, For Real: Boston Fire Department Under Fire, Again

The Boston Fire Department thought they had problems with Mayor Tom Menino when they were resistant to random drug testing. Now the federal government has reason to investigate them. It appears that some firefighters have been making disability claims at higher rates by claiming that they were filling in for a supervisor, hence making more money and getting more in their pensions.

The US government is hard up for money, and the FBI wants to know why the Boston Fire Department received all this money. The Boston Globe offers up some facts about the money some firefighters received:

--Firefighters claiming higher disability after filling in for superiors: 103
--Extra amount going into their pensions a year: $10,300
--Amount of taxes paid on disability pensions: Zero, nada, zip, zilch
--Amount paid in injured leave pay between 2003 and 2006: $43.5 million

Firefighting is a hard, dangerous job, and any firefighter deserves to earn a lot of money and relax without worrying about money during retirement. Some of those injuries surely had to be legit, and of course a firefighter should get paid when injured. But those numbers are high, especially when you think about how much the $10,300 adds up when it's on a per-year basis. Why didn't the firefighters just fight for more pension money instead of allegedly being shady about it?

All charges of disability fraud alleged until proven under law. Photo by Paul Keleher from photos tagged "Bostonist" on Flickr.