Jim Brookman, 5th ward alderman, received $70,000 in a settlement with the city’s insurance company last year for an on-duty injury he received as a Des Plaines firefighter, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.Meanwhile, another Des Plaines firefighter, James Kedroski, was given $60,000 in April 2010, according to records obtained by the Tribune.
Both men received line-of-duty pensions and later applied for a lifetime insurance benefit under the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act. When the requests were denied by the city, they filed separate lawsuits against Des Plaines in Cook County Circuit Court, but dropped the cases in exchange for the settlements.
Brookman, who began working for the city in 1974, said he injured his back during a 2005 exercise that simulated a firefighter collapsing. After rehabilitation, Brookman said he couldn’t work and was told by the city to return to his job or retire. He left in 2007.
Though he wouldn’t confirm the amount he was given, Brookman, 60, said he settled because he wanted the case to be over. He said the settlement and his term as alderman don’t conflict.
“It has nothing to do with being an alderman,” he said. “This has to do with my career as a firefighter.”
The city’s insurance risk pool company, the Municipal Insurance Cooperative Agency, paid the settlements because it administers all claims against the city that are less than $2 million. The city pays MICA annually. A representative could not be reached for comment.
City Attorney Dave Wiltse said he thinks the risk pool company settled based on their analysis of the cost of defense and the cost of litigation.
“It’s their money,” Wiltse said. “It’s not our money.”
Kedroski, 50, said he also injured his back during an emergency drill exercise, in 2009. He said five years ago Illinois changed the wording in the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act and “turned it into a gray area that creates nothing but litigation now.”
“I haven’t worked since I got off the job,” he said.