Mayer v. The Bd. of Trs. of the Calumet City Firefighters Pension Fund

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2024 IL App (1st) 232059-U

CHERYL MAYER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CALUMET CITY FIREFIGHTERS PENSION FUND, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 1-23-2059

Court of Appeals of Illinois, First District, Third Division

September 25, 2024

This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County. 22 CH 10732 Honorable Michael T. Mullen, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE MARTIN delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Lampkin and Justice D.B. Walker concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

MARTIN, JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: The decision of the Calumet City Firefighters Pension Fund (Board) to deny plaintiff a line-of-duty disability pension and award a non-duty disability pension was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Therefore, the circuit court's judgment affirming the Board's decision is affirmed.

¶ 2 Plaintiff, Cheryl Mayer, is a firefighter/paramedic with the Calumet City Fire Department (Calumet Fire Department). She filed an application with the Calumet City Firefighters Pension Fund (Board) seeking a line-of-duty disability pension, or alternatively, a non-duty disability pension based on employment related psychological and emotional trauma. After a hearing, the Board determined that plaintiff was entitled to a non-duty disability pension, but not a line-of-duty disability pension. On administrative review, the circuit court affirmed the Board's decision.

¶ 3 On appeal, plaintiff argues that the Board erred in its decision because it applied the wrong causation standard in weighing the evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the circuit court's decision affirming the Board.^[1]

¶ 4 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 5 A. Administrative Hearing

¶ 6 On June 9, 2022, the Board held an administrative hearing on plaintiff's application for a disability pension where it admitted into evidence various exhibits and heard plaintiff's testimony. Admitted exhibits included plaintiff's application for disability benefits, her medical records, and medical reports prepared by four independent medical evaluators selected by the Board. The following facts are derived from the testimony and exhibits admitted at the hearing.

¶ 7 Plaintiff was 46 years old at the time of the hearing and the married mother of two sons, both over twenty-one years of age. Plaintiff's background included instances of domestic conflict between her mother and father; the murder of her older brother when she was nine years old; sexual molestation by a neighbor's teenaged son when she was ten and eleven years old; and verbal and physical abuse by her mother, until she left home at eighteen. In 1998, plaintiff was successfully treated with Zoloft for post-partum depression after the birth of her second son.

¶ 8 Plaintiff joined the Calumet Fire Department as a firefighter/paramedic on March 1, 2009. Before she was hired plaintiff underwent and passed physical and psychological examinations. She was neither diagnosed with nor receiving treatment for any psychiatric conditions.

¶ 9 At the time plaintiff joined the Calumet Fire Department, she was also working for the Thornton Fire Department as a part-time firefighter. Plaintiff worked for both fire departments simultaneously, until December 2017, when the part-time position was no longer available. Plaintiff testified regarding a series of incidents she experienced during her employment with the Calumet Fire Department, which she alleged led to her disability.

¶ 10 In 2015, plaintiff responded to an active shooter scene where the shooter was fatally wounded by police. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) triaged the shooter as "black," meaning he was "basically dead." As plaintiff was placing a sheet over the shooter's body, his eyes were open, and he started gasping for breath. Plaintiff acknowledged that following this incident, she continued working full duty without restrictions. She did not seek mental health counseling or report any mental issues to the Calumet Fire Department at this time.

¶ 11 In 2018, plaintiff responded to a call of a woman with a history of mental illness, who had refused transportation to the hospital the previous day. The woman had committed suicide by hanging herself with an electrical cord. Plaintiff observed the woman hanging by the neck in her closet. On the woman's dresser were lit candles and pictures of her children. There were also notebooks containing notes to the police and her final wishes. Plaintiff experienced lingering emotional effects from what she observed and was prescribed Zoloft by Dr. Judith Pickett, her primary care physician.

¶ 12 In 2019, plaintiff and her partner were the first responders to a call regarding a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a double-barreled shotgun. Plaintiff described the deceased as having "no bone structure left in his skull, and his face was like a Halloween mask laying on the bed. There was a piece of his skull on the nightstand table." The decedent's mother was in an adjoining room and heard the shotgun discharge. Plaintiff testified that although she had no training as a grievance counselor, she was assigned to console the mother, who was in shock.

¶ 13 In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Calumet Fire Department enacted new protocols (pandemic protocols) that firefighters/paramedics were required to follow when responding to emergency calls. Under these new protocols, patients in full cardiac arrest, who would ordinarily be transported to the hospital, would be transported only if emergency personnel "were able to get a rhythm change after 20 minutes of resuscitation efforts." If a patient was not resuscitated within the 20-minute window, emergency personnel were required to terminate resuscitation efforts. Plaintiff testified that after the pandemic protocols went into effect, she purposefully avoided taking the lead on full cardiac arrest calls to avoid having to make the decision to terminate resuscitation efforts.

¶ 14 In April 2020, paramedics were called to the scene where plaintiff's father had suffered an apparent heart attack. The paramedics did not administer emergency care or treatment to plaintiff s father, and they remained on the scene for only nine minutes. Plaintiff claimed she identified with the paramedics because of the pandemic protocols. She expressed concern that pursuant to the protocols she was being trained "on how to walk away from a full arrest and not treat them."

¶ 15 Plaintiff's father died, and she subsequently became depressed, suffered from insomnia, and began drinking heavily. She experienced nightmares and flashbacks of emergency calls involving suicides and fatal cardiac arrests. Dr. Pickett referred plaintiff to Dr. Nitin Thapar, a psychiatrist, who diagnosed plaintiff with an anxiety disorder. Plaintiff was initially prescribed Paxil but was later prescribed Xanax.

¶ 16 In July 2020, plaintiff began receiving psychological counseling from Dr. Katie Johnson, a licensed clinical professional counselor. On August 14, 2020, plaintiff reported to Johnson that she had suicidal ideations and had posted to Facebook that she put a firearm to her head and contemplated committing suicide. Plaintiff was eventually referred to Dr. Kelsey Oster, for a neuropsychological evaluation. She was admitted into a 28-day inpatient substance-abuse program at Advanced Recovery Systems in Orlando, Florida. Plaintiff testified that the program helped her stop drinking. After her discharge from the program, plaintiff continued working full duty without restrictions. At the time of the hearing, plaintiff was still seeing Dr. Johnson "every week to two weeks."

¶ 17 On February 12, 2021, plaintiff responded to a call involving a man in full cardiac arrest. As plaintiff was attempting resuscitation efforts, a female family member, who did not have a "do-not-resuscitate" order or a power of attorney, started yelling not to touch him. When plaintiff's supervisor instructed emergency personnel to honor the woman's wishes, plaintiff became upset and asked why they were not following the pandemic protocols. Plaintiff left the house and began complaining and swearing to a nearby police officer. Plaintiff returned to the station, but did not finish her shift, claiming she was sick and needed to go home. That was the last day plaintiff worked in a full and unrestricted capacity as a firefighter/paramedic for the Calumet Fire Department.

¶ 18 In August 2021, pursuant to section 4-110 of the Pension Code (Pension Code) (40 ILCS 5/4-110 (West 2020)), plaintiff applied to the Board for a line-of-duty disability pension. In the alternative, plaintiff sought a non-duty disability pension pursuant to section 4-111 of the Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-111 (West 2020)).

¶ 19 In support of her application, plaintiff claimed that she was permanently disabled and could no longer perform the duties of a firefighter/paramedic because she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression resulting from the cumulative effects of traumatic incidents she experienced on the job.

¶ 20 As part of the application process, the Board selected independent medical evaluators to assess the nature and extent of plaintiff's disability, as required by section 4-112 of the Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-112 (West 2020)). The chosen independent medical evaluators were Dr. Ronald J. Ganellen, Ph.D.; Dr. Robert A. Reff, M.D.; Dr. Henry G. Conroe, M.D.; and Dr. Robert M. Galatzer-Levy, M.D.

¶ 211. Dr. Ganellen

¶ 22 Dr. Ganellen evaluated plaintiff on December 22, 2021. He determined that plaintiff was currently unable to...