PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island’s highest court has ruled that the Providence Retirement Board “misconstrued” a city ordinance when it denied a firefighter’s request for a tax-free disability pension in 2012.
The state Supreme Court’s ruling Monday means the board must reconsider Michael Morse’s petition for an accidental disability pension.
Morse’s petition stemmed from an injury he suffered in August 2012.
The board had voted to deny Morse the pension in 2013, citing a “unanimity” policy that required three doctors to agree that he was disabled. Only two of three doctors found that he could no longer work.
Morse argued the board had no right to adopt a policy that wasn’t spelled out in the city ordinance.
A lawyer representing the city couldn’t be reached Monday.
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