By Graham Rayman
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
A New York City Fire Department captain from Long Beach with a documented 9/11-related lung condition is fighting to stay on the job.
The Fire Department is seeking to force Gerald Snell, 54, the supervisor of the FDNY’s substance abuse counseling unit, to retire. On Sept. 8 the case will go before the FDNY retirement board.
Snell, with 27 years in the FDNY, argues that it is unfair to make him retire if his respiratory ailments don’t interfere with his job. He has filed complaints with the department and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
“I could make more money if I retire, but I’m doing a job that’s important, one that I enjoy and I just don’t want to retire,” said Snell.
Fire Department spokesman Frank Gribbon noted that Snell’s request for a waiver that would allow him to stay on the job is granted only in very unusual cases, in which an employee’s skill cannot be replaced. He also said Snell would get a lucrative, tax-free disability pension equal to three-quarters of his salary. The pension would amount to more than $80,000 annually.
Pete Gorman, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, called Snell a “critical component” in the department’s efforts to fight drug abuse.
Snell spent three months at Ground Zero running a counseling operation for firefighters.
He says he can’t run anymore, and has to use inhalers and two different medications to help with his breathing. Even so, he says, he is able to work long hours at the counseling job. Snell also says that he is one of a few people in the department certified as a substance abuse counselor. His skill, he says, is needed in a department still coping with the ripple effects of the terror attacks five years ago.
The events that led to this week’s hearing began last fall. In November, Snell moved from light duty to limited duty. He filed for an administrative hold, a measure that would delay his retirement. He argued that he should remain on the job because he was setting up new education and prevention programs.
His supervisor, Malachy Corrigan, backed the request, saying that Snell was a “specialist in substance abuse treatment.” In December, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta approved a six-month extension.
In June, with a retirement board hearing approaching, Kerry Kelly, the department’s top doctor, pulled his name off the retirement list, and lobbied on Snell’s behalf. But on July 14, the fire commissioner rejected Snell’s request for administrative hold.
Snell said he was told by his union chief, Pete Gorman, that the department was concerned over the amount of overtime he was earning. But Snell said his bosses control overtime and there are others in the office making just as much.
On July 24, at an FDNY Retirement Board meeting, the agency and the union agreed to temporarily postpone Snell’s retirement. Then on July 26, Snell was given a memo, which stated that he would no longer be allowed to work overtime.
That week, Snell filed a formal request for reasonable accommodation, a mechanism in Fire Department policy that allows employees with disabilities to remain on the job.
To meet the standard, Snell has to show he is qualified for the job and can perform it without hampering the department’s operations. He said he meets both standards.