Resolution No. 4696
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RESOLUTION NO. 4696
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A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF VERNON DETERMINING THE DISABILITY
RETIREMENT OF LLOYD B. REIMERS,
A LOCAL SAFETY MEMBER EMPLOYED BY THE CITY
OF VERNON [~~2l024 & 21025 of the Government
Code]
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WHEREAS, the City of Vernon (hereinafter referred to
as "Agency") is a contracting Agency of the Public Employees
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Retirement System; and,
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WHEREAS, the Public Employees Retirement Law requires
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that, a contracting agency determine whether an employee of such
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Agency in employment in which he is classified as a Local Safety
Member is disabled for the purposes of the Public Employees
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Retirement Law and whether such disability is "industrial" within
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the meaning of such law; and,
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WHEREAS, by this Resolution the Agency is hereby filing
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an application for the disability retirement of LLOYD B.
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REIMERS
employed by the Agency in the position of a Policeman
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in the Vernon Police Department; and,
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WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Vernon has
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reviewed the medical and other evidence relevant to such alleged
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disability; and,
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WHEREAS, such "industrial" disability was not caused
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by third party liability.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
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THE CITY OF VERNON AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION I: That the City of Vernon hereby finds and
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determines that
LLOYD B. REIMERS
is incapacitated within
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the meaning of the Public Employees Retirement Law for performance
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of his duties in the position of Policeman in the Vernon POl:t.ce
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Department for the City of Vernon.
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SECTION 2: That the City of Vernon hereby finds and
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determines that such disability is a result of injury or disease
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arising out of and in the course of employment and neither
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LLOYD B. REIMERS
nor the Agency has applied to the Workers'
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Compensation Appeals Board for a determination pursuant to S21026
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of the Government Code whether such disability is industrial.
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SECTION 3: That the City Council of the City of Vernon
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Decembe~l, 1979
and said disability is determined to be of a
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permanent nature, and said LLOYD B. REIMERS
is removed
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from the City payroll on December ~, ~979.
SECTION 4: That the City Clerk of the City of Vernon
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shall certify to the passage of this Resolution and thereupon
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and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
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APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 22nd day of January, 1980.
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---- LEONIS C .MALB RG ,Mayor
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ATTEST:
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1. STATE OF CALIFORNIA
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2 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
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4 I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk of the City of
5 Vernon, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution, being
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Resolution No. 4696
, was duly adopted by the City Council
7 of the City of Vernon, and was approved by the Mayor of said
8 City at an adjourned meeting of the City Council held on Tuesday,
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January 22
, 1980.
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BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk
(SEAL)
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REPORT OF THE CITY ATTORNEY TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
OF THE CITY OF VERNON
CONCERNING THE INDUSTRIAL DISABILITY OF MR.
LLOYD B. REIMERS IN RELATION TO HIS QUALIFICATION FOR
DISABILITY RETIREMENT
JANUARY 22, 1980
Mr. Lloyd B. Reimers is employed by the City of Vernon as a
Police Officer. Mr. Reimers has filed three (3) Applications for
Adjudication of Claims with the Division of Industrial Accidents,
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board on Oct-aber 28, 1978 alleging that
he sustained injuries arIsIng out of and in the course of his employment
on 5/19/78, 10/15/71 & continuing and 12/15/77 re: "Hiatal hernia
and reflex esophagus", "ears...hearing", and "knees, hand, head, back,
leg, and shoulder". Mr. Reimers, at present, is not reporting for duty.
Mr. Reimers has visited several doctors at the request of
his attorney and at the request of CDS of California, the City's
consultant for Workers' Compensation matters.
He has not received a final award in response to his claims
for workers' compensation benefits and he is presently permanent and
stationary in ;regard to all of his injuries.
He has not filed for Public Employees Disability Retirement
and the City lis presently in receipt of the following medical reports
and files.
1. Report of Richard Ga1ich, M.D., 1401 West 6th Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90017 dated 9/20/77~ Said report concerns examination
performed on 9/20/77 wherein audiometric studies were performed.
2. Doctor's First Report of Work Injury of William E.
Crosby, M.D., dated 12/21/77. Said report concerns examination
performed on 12/16/77 wherein x-rays were taken at St. Francis
Hospital.
3. Doctor's First Report of Work Injury of Richard Minkin,
M.D., dated 9/6/78 and 10/11/79. Said reports concern examinations
performed on 5/22/78 and 9/6/78 wherein x-rays were taken by N. P.
Herman, M.D., Rio Hondo Memorial Hospital, and 9/6/78 through
9/14/79.
4. Emergency Reports of St. Francis Hospital, 3630 Imperial
Highway, Lynwood, California dated 12/17/77, 12/19/77, 12/21/77, 12/24/77,
12/27/77, 1/10/78, 2/1/78, 2/8/78, 21/15/78, 3/17/78 and 4/17/78.
5. Reports of William O'Riordan, M.D., 3630 Imperial
Highway, Lynwood, California dated 2/13/78 and 5/15/78. Said reports
concern examinations performed from 12/16/77 through 1/10/78 and
2/1/78 trhough 4/17/78.
6. Report of A. J. Pitz, M.D., 3630 Imperia1.Highway, Lynwood
California dated 3/7/78. Said report concerns examinations performed
on 2/1/78, 2/8/78 and 2/15/78.
7. Report of William McColl, M.D., 1433 West Merced Avenue,
West Covina, California dated 11/9/78. Said report concerns examination
performed at the request of CDS of California on 11/7/78 wherein x-rays
were taken.
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8. Report of Michael Schiffman, M.D., San Pedro Medical
Group, 599 West Ninth Street, San Pedro, California dated 12/19/78.
Said report concerns examination performed at the request of the
applicant's attorney on 12/19/78.
9. Reports of Patrick A. Mauer, M.D., 1127 Wilshire
Boulevard, Los Angeles, California dated 1/15/79 and 8/7/79. Said
reports concern examinations performed at the request of CDS of
California on 12/12/78 and 7/11/79.
10. Reports of Harvey Dannis, M.D., San Pedro Medical
Group, 599 West Ninth Street, San Pedro, California dated 3/22/79
and 5/2/79. Said reports concern examinations performed at the
request of the applicant's a~torney on 3/22/79 and 4/23/79.
11. Report of Charles R. Booth, M.D., 4155 Outer Traffic
Circle Drive, Long Beach, California dated 11/21/79. Said report
concerns examination performed on 11/21/79. Dr. Booth was selected
as the agreed medical examiner by and between the attorney for the
applicant and the attorney for the defendant, City of Vernon.
12. Report of Bruce S. Gillis, M.D., 10921 Wilshire Blvd.,
Ste. 804, Los Angeles, California dated 1/2/80. Said report con-
cerns examination performed on 1/2/80. Dr. Gillis was selected
as the agreed medical examiner by and between the attorney for the
applicant and the attorney for the defendant, City of Vernon.
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Mr. Reimers was hired by the City of Vernon on
October 16, 1971, he was born on August 13, 1948 ,and is ap-
proximately 31 years of age.
Mr. Reimers went off work on June 2, 1979
and has not returned to work.
Since that time he has been examined by Drs. Booth, Gillis,
. Mauer, Dannis and Schiffman and his attorney has filed three (3)
App1ication(s) for Adjudication of C1aim(s) with the Workers'
Compensation Appeals Board and has filed a Declaration
of Readiness to Proceed.
Dr. Mauer indicates in his report of 1/15/79 that "there is
no good reason to suspect" that the esophageal reflux condition is
related to work and "there is no evidence, to my knowledge, that
this condition is in any way caused or aggravated by any particular
occupation, other than those perhaps requiring a considerable amount
of bendin9. There is no reason to suspect this condition is specifically
real ted to ., stress' I' Dr. Mauer further indicates that Mr. Reimers
"can be considered permanent and stationary at the present time, and
would not anticipate any permanent disability" and that "I do not feel
that there is any particular reason that Mr. Reimers could not return
to full duty at present".
Dr. Dannis indicates in his report of 5/2/79 that "patient
has an arthrogram of his right shoulder" and "he can be considered
permanent and stationary". Dr. Dannis further indicates that he "should
be precluded from heavy work activities II and that "his current
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multiple disabilities are totally and causally related to. the 12/16/77
industrial injuryll.
It is apparent that the City of Vernon felt that the injuries
were not job related and submitted reports by their doctors to that
end~ Since the applicant's doctors felt that the injuries were job
related there was an essential dispute among the doctors so two Agreed
Medical Examiners were appointed by the Board, acceptable to both
parties, which resolved the dispute.
Dr. Booth indicated in his AME report of 11/21/79 that
"the patient's condition is permanent and stationary" and that "on
the basis of evaluation today, it is this examiner's opinion from
an orthopedic point of view that he is able to continue his regular
work as a police officer". Dr. Booth further indicates that "he
would have symptoms referable to the left leg varying between
minimal to slight and slight to moderate, reaching the latter with
prolonged standing or stressful activities to the 1egll and that
"referable to the right shoulder, symptoms would generally be in
the realm of slight when performing his regular work, with gradual
increase to slight to moderate late in the day and continuing at
that level, but reaching that level sooner on activities requiring
prolonged elevation or heavy work with his shoulder". In addition,
Dr. Booth states that "no apportionment appears indicated to non-
industrial causes."
Dr. Gillis indicated in his AME report of 1/2/80 that
"Mr. Reimers is noted to have a permanent and stationary gastro-
intestinal condition of a hiatus hernia with gastroesophageal reflux"
and that "in the future, Mr. Reimers should be precluded to no heavy
work and no emotionally stressful work as the result of his
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gastrointestinal prob1emsll. Dr. Gillis further indicates that lIone-
half of the resultant disability would have been anticipated absent
any occupational factors. The remaining portion of disability can
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be linked to the continuous trauma of industrial influences". In
addition, Dr. Gillis also indicates that Mr. Reimers "no longer is
a candidate to maintain work as a police officer".
There is obviously some difference between the opinions of
the aforementioned doctors in many areas involving Mr. Reimers
allegations and claims; however, they do agree in two essential
areas.
(1) That the condition has reached a permanent and
stationary position and (2) the condition has an involvement due to
his industrial occupation.
Since Mr. Reimers has not filed an Application for
Disability Retirement, if the Committee wishes to retire Mr. Reimers,
the City must file said Application and may do so concurrent with
its adoption of a Resolution of Disability Retirement.
The Government Code requires that the disabling condition
be industrially related and that his condition be permanent and
stationary.
I think it is important to note that both Drs. Booth and
Gillis, as agreed medical examiners, appear to agree on the essential
matters that (1) the injuries are industrially related and (2)
he has reached a permanant and stationary position. ~n addition,
Dr. Gil1i,s: indicates, th,at i.n h,i:,la opinion jop re.strictions preclude
Mr. Reimers from performing activities and other assignments for the
Vernon Police. Department as the assignments are currently described.
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This report is hereby submitted for your consideration.
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DAVID B. BREARLEY
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