Prawdzik v. Bd. of Trs. of the Homer Twp. Fire Prot. Dist. Pension Fund

2019 IL App (3d) 170024

126 N.E.3d 392

430 Ill.Dec. 304

Gregory PRAWDZIK, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the HOMER TOWNSHIP FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT PENSION FUND, Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal No. 3-17-0024

Appellate Court of Illinois, Third District.

Order filed October 10, 2018

Modified Upon Denial of Rehearing March 27, 2019

JUSTICE HOLDRIDGE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 The plaintiff, Gregory Prawdzik (Prawdzik), a former firefighter, brought an action for administrative review to the circuit court of Will County appealing the decision of the defendant, the Homer Township Fire Protection District Firefighters' Pension Fund (Board), denying Prawdzik a "line of duty" disability pension. The circuit court affirmed the Board's decision. This appeal followed.

¶ 2 FACTS

¶ 3 Prawdzik was employed as a firefighter for the Homer Township Fire Protection District Fire Department starting on May 8, 2006. He also served in the Air National Guard.

¶ 4 In 2008-09, during his employment as a firefighter, Prawdzik was deployed for military duty in Afghanistan for a 10-month period. He was deployed to the eastern border of Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan, where he served as a combat medic and combat advisor. The area where Prawdzik served was a thoroughfare for Taliban insurgents. Prawdzik trained, mentored, and advised a medical platoon of a battalion-sized element of the Afghan army. He accompanied his Afghan unit on combat missions approximately 3-4 times per week. Missions could last anywhere from several hours to one week. Prawdzik provided medical treatment to troops who later died.

¶ 5 Prawdzik testified that he encountered many life-threatening incidents while he was in Afghanistan. While on combat missions, Prawdzik was shot at approximately 10 times. Moreover, he testified that he experienced approximately 10 rocket attacks or improvised explosive device (IED) attacks. On one occasion, insurgents fired rockets at the base where Prawdzik was stationed. Prawdzik rolled out of his bunk and laid on the floor. As the rockets kept coming, someone yelled for everyone to get to the bunkers. Prawdzik thought he was going to die and was thinking about his wife and son and how they would get along without him. The rockets hit another barracks approximately one hundred meters from Prawdzik's tent, killing two contractors.

¶ 6 On another occasion, a rocket attack occurred while Prawdzik was in the "chow hall." Prawdzik testified that the door bowed in, all the lights shut off, the emergency power came on, and the room was filled with dust. He felt that his life was in jeopardy. Prawdzik testified that, on another occasion, he had to "go with Afghans and interpreters through the kill zone onto the other side of the kill zone" to try to find his partner who had become separated from the rest of the unit while the unit was on patrol. During that incident, Prawdzik was under rocket-propelled grenade fire.

¶ 7 Prawdzik testified that he also experienced IED attacks. On one occasion, Prawdzik was driving in a convoy of U.S. military mine resistant ambush proof (MRAP) vehicles when the convoy was struck by an IED. Prawdzik heard a loud boom and "everything went black." He was thrown to the back of the vehicle and hit his head. The blow rendered him unconscious. When he came to, his vehicle was flipped upside down in a crater. Prawdzik testified that he was trapped upside down in the vehicle by a 400-pound door and he was unable to get out for over an hour. During that time, Prawdzik was afraid for his life and in fear of being attacked before he could be rescued. He suffered a head injury and was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

¶ 8 Prawdzik testified that, while he was in Afghanistan, he felt as though his life was under constant threat and that he was going to die there. He did not trust the Afghans he patrolled with because he suspected that "half of them were Taliban" and there were regular reports of Afghan military or police "turning on their U.S. counterparts and shooting them." While he was getting haircuts in Afghanistan, he feared that the Afghan barber might kill him with a pair of scissors.

¶ 9 Prawdzik returned from Afghanistan and resumed working as a firefighter for the District on November 1, 2009. After he returned from Afghanistan, Prawdzik suffered from a variety of symptoms that he did not have before his deployment. For example, Prawdzik suffered from migraine headaches, panic attacks, tightness in his chest, shortness of breath, nausea, blurred (or "tunnel") vision, irritability, sadness, emotional numbness, poor concentration, insomnia, and feelings of being detached from family and friends. Prawdzik acknowledged that these were symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).¹

He sought treatment through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). On February 9, 2010, Prawdzik showed signs of PTSD during a mental health screen, and he reported the traumatic experiences he had experienced in Afghanistan. On March 11, 2010, Dr. Thomas Benton of the VA diagnosed Prawdzik with PTSD, adjustment disorder with anxiety, and depressed mood. Dr. Benton opined that Prawdzik's PTSD symptoms (such as mild depression, passive suicidal ideation, emotional blunting, and irritability leading to verbal altercations and road rage) had increased in frequency and intensity due to "the post-military stressors of unstructured time and frustration over continuous Iraq and Afghanistan war news."

¶ 10 On March 15, 2010, Prawdzik underwent a psychiatric assessment at the VA due to "irritability with explosive outbursts." He was receiving mental health treatment from a private psychologist at that time. Prawdzik reported that he was concerned that his mental health issues might jeopardize his career with the District. The following day, Prawdzik underwent a neurological consultation during which he reported symptoms of PTSD, including sleep disturbances. The examiner opined that Prawdzik's sleep disturbances and current life stressors "may be contributing to his current cognitive inefficiencies" and that these impairments represented a "change" and a "relative reduction" in Prawdzik's abilities. The consult recommended mental health treatment.

¶ 11 The VA determined that Prawdzik's PTSD was related to his military service and awarded him VA disability benefits for PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and tinnitus. Prawdzik attended group therapy for PTSD on June 1, 2010, but did not continue with the therapy in 2010.

¶ 12 Prawdzik testified that he experienced panic attacks and related symptoms while on duty as a firefighter in 2009 and 2010 but that he did not report them to the District because he was hoping the situation would "resolve and take care of itself." He also experienced panic attacks when he was not on duty. While attempting to complete a driving program at work, Prawdzik was "having issues with getting in the vehicles and driving the larger vehicles." He testified that the MRAP vehicles he drove in Afghanistan were built similarly to Fire Department trucks in that they had the same chassis that a fire engine has, as well as the same steering column, transmission, brake system, and an identical inside cab area.

¶ 13 On July 13, 2011, Prawdzik informed the district that he suffered from PTSD. He discussed some of his experiences in Afghanistan and reported that one of the things that bothered him at work was driving the fire engine and other trucks, noting the similarity between these trucks and military vehicles. He attributed this problem to PTSD. Approximately one month later, Prawdzik met with his supervisors and discussed traumatic events that had occurred during his deployment. The District placed Prawdzik on administrative leave, ordered a fitness for duty evaluation, and required Prawdzik to complete a driving program.

¶ 14 On August 23, 2011, Dr. Tracy Rogers performed a fitness for duty evaluation for Prawdzik. Dr. Rogers noted that Prawdzik did not feel comfortable driving the fire engine or trucks because of the similarity between those vehicles and the military vehicles he drove in Afghanistan, and that sitting in the cab of the fire trucks "triggers [his] PTSD symptoms." Dr. Rogers diagnosed Prawdzik with PTSD and found him conditionally fit for duty. Dr. Rogers opined that, although Prawdzik had had PTSD for the past two years, his symptoms did not appear to have affected his work performance or overall functioning. However, Dr. Rogers acknowledged that certain thoughts about trauma caused Prawdzik stress and "exacerbated [his] symptoms," and that Prawdzik was avoiding driving the fire engine and trucks because the cabs of those vehicles reminded him of the military vehicles that he drove while deployed, including the vehicle he was trapped in after receiving a head injury.

¶ 15 On August 6, 2013, Prawdzik sought mental health treatment form the VA and reported increased PTSD symptoms, including anxiety, nightmares, recurrent thoughts of trauma, feeling watchful and getting easily startled, and feelings of numbness and detachment. He reported that his recent increase in anxiety symptoms was triggered mostly by a stressful work environment. Specifically, he felt scrutinized at work because the Department had a new chief who was writing people up, demoting them, and firing them. He also stated that his PTSD symptoms were exacerbated by driving the rigs at work, although he had passed the driving program ordered by his supervisors. The social worker who evaluated Prawdzik opined that PTSD symptoms may be perpetuated by the "trauma of war" and that Prawdzik's symptoms were impacted by "occupational stress" and "parenting stress."

¶ 16 On September 3, 2013, Prawdzik began therapy for PTSD and marital issues. During a September 11, 2013, session, he reported that he was "triggered at work when driving large trucks or hearing loud noises" and that he tended to be hypervigilant and ...