Vill. of Franklin Park v. Sardo

2020 IL App (1st) 191161

166 N.E.3d 177

445 Ill.Dec. 148

The VILLAGE OF FRANKLIN PARK, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.Christopher SARDO and the Board of Trustees of The Franklin Park Police Pension Fund, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 1-19-1161

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, First Division.

Opinion filed August 10, 2020

John B. Murphey and Matthew D. Rose, of Rosenthal, Murphey, Coblentz & Donahue, of Chicago, for appellant.

Richard J. Reimer and Mark S. McQueary, of Reimer & Dobrovolny PC, of Hinsdale, for appellee Board of Trustees of the Franklin Park Police Pension Fund.

Thomas W. Duda, of Palatine, for other appellee.

JUSTICE HYMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion ¶ 1 The Village of Franklin Park appeals from a circuit court order affirming a line-of-duty disability pension to police detective Christopher Sardo, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Village argues (i) Sardo's PTSD did not result entirely from a single act of duty and, (ii) because Sardo's PTSD was preexisting, the Board of Trustees of the Franklin Park Police Pension Fund (Board) erred in awarding the pension.

¶ 2 We affirm the Board. Nothing in the Illinois Pension Code (Code) ( 40 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq. (2018) ) requires an act of duty be the sole cause of an officer's disability, and the Board may award a police officer a line-of-duty disability pension even if the officer had a preexisting mental condition.

¶ 3 Background

¶ 4 Christopher Sardo served in the United States Marine Corps from 1987 to 1991, including a tour of duty in Desert Storm. Besides physical danger, his service exposed him to several traumatic events, including fellow Marines being shot at and killed. After his discharge, Sardo experienced depression, flashbacks, and panic attacks.

¶ 5 Sardo became a Franklin Park police officer in January 1996. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found Sardo had a military-related disability of 90%; 70% was due to PTSD, and the remainder was due to other medical issues. Sardo began receiving VA benefits for his disability in November 2000. In addition, Sardo began receiving outpatient medical treatment including counseling, anger management, and medication. Sardo was not hospitalized and continued working full time.

¶ 6 Sardo often attended traumatic events as a police officer. At the Board hearing, Sardo described a traumatic event involving a collision of two fire trucks. Sardo recalled seeing "one fireman stuck inside the fire truck underneath screaming and hollering *** there was another fireman lying on the ground, still breathing with his skull cracked open and his blood and brains all over the place." Another traumatic event involved his seeing the aftermath of the shooting and death of a police officer. Nothing in the record indicates that these events or others before February 6, 2014, rendered Sardo unable to perform his job.

¶ 7 Sardo had an exemplary career with the Franklin Park Police Department. He began his career in 1996 as a patrol officer, was assigned to the tactical operations, serving for a time as commander of the tactical unit in 2008, and was promoted to detective in 2008 and assigned to the investigations unit. Sardo received numerous awards and commendations and had excellent performance reviews. Sardo's performance was most recently evaluated on December 31, 2013, about five weeks before the train accident. The evaluation, which covered the period of July 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013, found that Sardo exceeded expectations in job knowledge, the quality of his written work, his attitude, responsibility, and initiative.

¶ 8 Train Accident

¶ 9 On February 6, 2014, Sardo responded to a Metra train accident in which a pedestrian died. When Sardo arrived, he saw "disintegrated body parts all over." Sardo, as lead investigator, gathered evidence, interviewed witnesses, reviewed video of the accident, and notified next of kin. He showed the victim's husband a photo of a dismembered body part that contained a distinctive tattoo. The husband recognized the tattoo as his wife's, and Sardo informed him that his wife had been struck by a train and was deceased. Sardo said the husband was "screaming and screaming and I just—his screaming is something I'll never forget in my life. He just kept screaming and running and not believing what he was told."

¶ 10 After the train accident, Sardo again began outpatient treatment for depression and PTSD. Sardo became extremely depressed and experienced severe nightmares and daily panic attacks as well as thoughts of suicide. He said that since the train accident his "whole life ha[d] just been a living hell." He said that incident put him over the edge and he had not recovered from it. Sardo stopped working on May 9, 2014. He applied for a line-of-duty pension on June 22, 2015, asserting a disability due to "[r]epetitive work exposure to life threatening and gruesome situations, culminating in February 2014 when a female pedestrian was hit by a Metra train across from the police station."

¶ 11 Independent Medical Evaluations

¶ 12 As required by statute, the Board assigned three physicians to perform independent medical psychiatric evaluations.

¶ 13 Dr. Robert Reff concluded that the 2014 train incident directly resulted in Sardo's disability. Dr. Reff stated that Sardo had PTSD and major depressive disorder stemming from his service in the military but was functioning as a police officer at "a very high level." Dr. Reff explained that Sardo's preexisting PTSD influenced his reaction to the accident. "In processing the scene, reviewing the video surveillance tapes of the accident and speaking with the victim's husband, his pre-existing PTSD symptoms were aggravated to the degree that he was no longer able to function as a police officer some three months later."

¶ 14 Dr. Stevan Weine concluded Sardo's trauma exposure included several events that were part of his police duties "such as suicides, sexual assaults, accidents, and shootings, which affected him cumulatively." Dr. Weine concluded his "disability [was the] result of trauma exposure in the workplace, specifically the February 2014 Metra train accident." Dr. Weine noted that the train accident was "best viewed as an aggravation of a pre-existing condition."

¶ 15 Dr. Catherine Frank also concluded the train accident aggravated a preexisting condition. She stated that, "[t]he act of collecting and investigating body parts as related to the February 6, 2014 pedestrian/Metra accident was the acute trigger that led to Officer Sardo's exacerbation of pre-existing PTSD and major depression."

¶ 16 In sum, the three physicians determined (i) Sardo had PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder from his service in the Marines but was able to serve as a police officer, (ii) the train accident led to Sardo's trauma and triggered his preexisting PTSD, and (iii) Sardo was permanently disabled after the accident and would not be able to return to his position.

¶ 17 Board Decision

¶ 18 The Board's final administrative decision held that Sardo met the criteria for a line-of-duty pension under section 3-114.1 of the Code ( 40 ILCS 5/3-114.1 (West 2018) ). The Board concluded that, although the train accident was "not the predominant cause," it was "an act of duty, as defined by the Code," and "did contribute to Applicant's disability." The Village filed a complaint in the circuit court seeking administrative review of the Board's decision. In a well-reasoned written decision, the circuit court confirmed the Board's decision.

¶ 19 Analysis

¶ 20 The Village argues (i) an act of duty must be the sole cause of an officer's disability and (ii) Sardo's police work cumulatively aggravated his preexisting PTSD. The Village also argues that the caselaw supports treating mental and physical disabilities differently and, though an officer may receive a line-of-duty pension for aggravating a preexisting physical condition, he or she may not receive a line-of-duty pension for a mental disability when the mental condition preexisted.

¶ 21 Sardo responds that under section 3-114.1 of the Code (i) an act of duty need not be the sole cause of a police officer's resulting mental disability and (ii) the Board may award a line-of-duty pension to an officer for a mental disability despite an officer's preexisting mental condition.

¶ 22 Standard of Review

¶ 23 We review the Board's decision and not the circuit court's conclusion. Id. § 4-139. "The applicable standard of review, which determines the degree of deference given to the agency's decision, depends upon whether the question presented is one of fact, one of law, or a mixed question of law and fact." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Village of Oak Park v. Village of Oak Park Firefighters Pension Board , 362 Ill. App. 3d 357, 365, 298 Ill.Dec. 235, 839 N.E.2d 558 (2005). We treat pure questions of law de novo , such as the proper interpretation of a statute or, as here, the Code. MacDonald v. Board of Trustees of the Park Ridge Police Pension Fund , 294 Ill. App. 3d 379, 382, 228 Ill.Dec. 877, 690 N.E.2d 636 (1998) ; Village of Oak Park , 362 Ill. App. 3d at 365, 298 Ill.Dec. 235, 839 N.E.2d 558.

¶ 24 The manifest weight of the evidence standard applies to questions of fact, here, the Board's findings. Hammond v. Firefighters Pension Fund of the City of Naperville , 369 Ill. App. 3d 294, 307, 307 Ill.Dec. 417, 859 N.E.2d 1094 (2006). Questions of fact arise where conflicting evidence exists as to material facts. To find an administrative agency decision against the manifest weight of the evidence, the opposite conclusion must be clearly evident. Robbins v. Board of Trustees of the Carbondale Police Pension Fund , 177 Ill. 2d 533, 538, 227 Ill.Dec. 116, 687 N.E.2d 39 (1997). The agency's decision should be upheld when the record contains competent evidence. Id.

¶ 25 Finally, we examine mixed questions of law and fact under the intermediate, clearly erroneous standard. "A mixed...