Pedersen v. Vill. of Hoffman Estates & James H. Norris

• Citation: 380 Ill.Dec. 541,8 N.E.3d 1083,2014 IL App (1st) 123402
• Decision Date: 08 May 2014
• Docket Number: No. 1–12–3402.,1–12–3402.
• Parties: Alan R. PEDERSEN and Karen Pedersen, Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. The VILLAGE OF HOFFMAN ESTATES and James H. Norris, Village Manager, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2014 IL App (1st) 123402

8 N.E.3d 1083

380 Ill.Dec. 541

Alan R. PEDERSEN and Karen Pedersen, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

v.The VILLAGE OF HOFFMAN ESTATES and James H. Norris, Village Manager, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 1–12–3402.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Sixth Division.

March 31, 2014.

Rehearing Denied May 8, 2014.

Thomas W. Duda, Law Offices of Thomas W. Duda, Arlington Heights, for appellants.

Arthur L. Janura, Hal R. Morris, Jenifer J. Caracciolo, Elizabeth A. Thompson, Arnstein & Lehr LLP, Chicago, for appellees.

Brian D. Day, Roger Huebner, Illinois Municipal League, Springfield, amicus curiae.

OPINION

Justice REYES delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Plaintiff Alan R. Pedersen (Pedersen) was injured in the line of duty as a firefighter for defendant Village of Hoffman Estates (Village) and sought continuing health coverage benefits under section 10 of the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (Act) (820 ILCS 320/10 (West 2006)). Defendant Village manager James H. Norris (Norris), after a hearing, denied the claim for benefits.

¶ 2 Pedersen and his wife, plaintiff Karen Pedersen (Karen) then filed suit in the circuit court of Cook County, challenging the denial of benefits under the Act. Plaintiffs' first amended complaint contained three counts, seeking: (I) a declaratory judgment of their rights under the Act; (II) a declaration that the village ordinance creating a procedure for determining claims under the Act was contrary to the Act and unconstitutional; and (III) administrative review of the decision denying benefits under the Act. Plaintiffs now appeal orders of the circuit court granting partial summary judgment in favor of defendants on counts I and II and affirming the decision to deny benefits challenged by count III after recasting it as seeking a common law writ of certiorari. For the following reasons, we affirm the order of the circuit court granting partial summary judgment in favor of defendants on counts I and II, reverse the order of the circuit court affirming defendants' decision denying plaintiffs' claims on count III, and set aside defendants' decision denying benefits under the Act.

¶ 3 BACKGROUND

¶ 4 The record of the hearing before the Village discloses the following facts. During an 18–month period in 1966–67, prior to his employment with the Village, Pedersen was employed by Continental Airlines, placing food aboard airplanes at O'Hare International Airport. Pedersen was required to wear protective hearing equipment when he worked at the airport. Pedersen was employed by the Village as a firefighter and emergency medical technician beginning in October 1976. Pedersen also was exposed to loud, industrial noise in the course of fulfilling his job responsibilities as a firefighter.

¶ 5 In the course of his duties, Pedersen had an annual physical examination by doctors associated with St. Alexius Occupational Health. In October 2002, Pedersen was alerted to a “threshold shift” in his hearing during his annual physical.¹ In May 2003, following examinations at the Bell Hearing Center and a physician for the Village, Pedersen was fitted with bilateral hearing aids. In June 2003, Pedersen was placed on light duty, but returned to full duty in September 2003, after obtaining a medical release.

¶ 6 On June 22, 2004, Pedersen and other firefighters at his station responded to a call regarding a tanker truck fire on an Illinois toll road. The firefighters proceeded to the location in a fire engine, with emergency lights and siren activated. Pedersen was wearing his full “turnout gear” for the call.² According to Pedersen, a toll road is a dangerous location to fight a fire. Thus, as a precautionary measure, the firefighters positioned the fire engine behind the scene, in order to protect the firefighters, turning the fire engine's wheels toward the traffic to provide additional protection in the event traffic strikes the fire engine from the rear.

¶ 7 After the fire was extinguished, the firefighters commenced cleaning the scene and packing their equipment. As Pedersen was moving a reflective triangle from the tanker truck, a coworker entered the fire engine and accidentally activated the vehicle's siren. Pedersen was approximately two feet from the front of the fire engine. According to Pedersen, he felt as though his ears were going to “blow up and were bleeding.” Pedersen ripped out a hearing aid, breaking it in the process. At the time the siren was activated, the fire engine continued to block traffic on the toll road and the vehicle's emergency lights remained activated.

¶ 8 On the morning of June 23, 2004, Pedersen visited his audiologist because his ears were hurting, with “a lot of ringing.” According to Pedersen, the audiologist found swelling and hearing loss. When Pedersen returned to work, the fire battalion chief inquired whether Pedersen had obtained a release from duty. Pedersen responded he had not obtained a release because he did not think an audiologist could provide one. Pedersen's battalion chief then sent Pedersen to a doctor, who found no swelling and cleared Pedersen to return to duty as a full-time firefighter. The record contains a letter dated January 20, 2005, from another audiologist indicating Pedersen was evaluated on October 13, 2004, and stating there appeared to be no change from a prior audiogram conducted on April 15, 2003.

¶ 9 Pedersen continued as a full-time firefighter through February 3, 2005, when Pedersen proceeded to the wrong location on a report of an automobile fire with people trapped inside because he misheard the information. Nevertheless, the firefighters were close enough to the location to arrive timely to the scene, where the issue was a problem with an automobile's radiator, not a fire, and the people were outside the vehicle. In addition, Pedersen had difficulty hearing pre-alert tones (because he slept without his hearing aids) and could not always hear the whistle on the firefighters' new air packs.³ Pedersen initially was placed on light duty, but was ultimately informed by the fire chief he was “done” and “no longer will be working” as a full-time firefighter.

¶ 10 Pedersen subsequently received benefits under the Public Employee Disability Act (5 ILCS 345/1 et seq. (West 2004)). At some time between February 2005 and February 2006, Pedersen applied for line-of-duty disability benefits from the Village's firefighters' pension fund. On October 24, 2007, the board of trustees of the Hoffman Estates Firefighters Pension Fund (Fund) held a hearing on Pedersen's application.

¶ 11 On November 8, 2007, the Fund issued a finding and decision that Pedersen was entitled to a line-of-duty disability pension. The Fund found an increase in Pedersen's hearing loss, based upon an audiogram taken after the June 22, 2004, incident. The Fund “found that the incident of June 22, 2004, in response to an emergency, caused firefighter Pedersen to become disabled relative to his hearing loss.”

¶ 12 It is undisputed Pedersen made multiple oral and written demands for the Village to pay his health insurance premiums under the Act, although neither party identifies such written demands in the record on appeal. Section 10 of the Act, in pertinent part, requires employers of full-time firefighters to pay health insurance premiums for the firefighter and his or her spouse and dependent children if the firefighter suffers a catastrophic injury under specified circumstances. 820 ILCS 320/10 (West 2006). The circumstances triggering eligibility for section 10 benefits include when a firefighter is injured as a result of a “response to what is reasonably believed to be an emergency.” 820 ILCS 320/10(b) (West 2006).

¶ 13 During this period, the Village's municipal code designated the village manager as the Village's chief administrative officer. Among the powers and duties of the village manager was:

“To act as a hearing officer under the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act (820 ILCS 320/1 et seq.). He shall hold a hearing and make a determination if an employee subject to the Act is entitled to the benefits provided by the Act. The decision may be appealed to the Circuit Court under the Administrative Review Act.” Village of Hoffman Estates Municipal Code § 4–7–4(L) (eff. Aug. 20, 2007).⁴

Norris scheduled a hearing on Pedersen's claim for April 15, 2008. Prior to the hearing, Pedersen's counsel advised Norris by facsimile and mail of Pedersen's position that the hearing was illegal.

¶ 14 Norris held a hearing on Pedersen's claim on April 15, 2008. At the outset of the proceeding, Pedersen's counsel renewed his argument that a hearing was not authorized by statute or the Illinois Constitution. There was no formal ruling on counsel's objection. Norris heard testimony from both Pedersen and the Village's acting fire chief, Robert Gorvett, who offered differing opinions regarding whether Pedersen was responding to an emergency at the time the fire engine's siren was accidentally activated. Pedersen testified he was injured during an emergency call because the fire engine's emergency lights were activated, the fire engine was blocking traffic, and firefighters remained in the roadway. Gorvett opined Pedersen was not responding to an emergency at the time of the injury, but acknowledged that so long as the fire engine's emergency lights are activated, “the firefighters are in the midst of dealing with an emergency.” The parties also submitted exhibits, including audiological evaluations, accident injury reports, and the Fund's written pension decision. Norris also heard arguments by counsel for Pedersen and the Village.

¶ 15 On May 27, 2008, Norris issued a written finding and decision denying Pedersen's application for health benefits. The decision acknowledges Pedersen suffers from a condition causing him to be disabled as a Village firefighter. The decision also notes Pedersen was awarded a line-of-duty pension by the...