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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPacket - 01/11/2022 - Police Pension BoardPOLICE PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tuesday, January 11, 2022 9:00 AM In light of the current COVID-19 public health emergency, this meeting will be held remotely only. The public can observe and participate by connecting online via Zoom at Remotely via ZOOM at: https://cityofmchenry.zoom.us/j/83848075940 Or call in at: Or call in at: 1(312)626-6799, Meeting ID: 838 4807 5940 AGENDA 1.Call to Order 2.Roll Call 3.Public Input 4.Approve the October 12, 2021, meeting minutes; and the Special Meeting from May 10, 2019 ; and the Special Meeting from December 16, 2021 5.Report of Investments and Accounts: a.Presentation and motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report b.LPL Financial Equities Report c.Capital Gains, Inc. Fixed Assets Report 6.New Business: a.Approve Pension Increases b. Approve portability request of Officer Zajac c.Approve pension repayment plan for Officer Hernandez d.Accept the pension application of Zachary Diebold e.Approve the lump sum payout of $49,424.70 to Mary Lee Eschbach f.Approve the disability penion of Sergeant Lumber g.Motion to approve the payment of bills h.Public Pension Trustee Training Update i.Motion to approve a transfer of funds from equities or fixed assets by February 17 to reach a cash balance of $1 million j. Review and possible approval of IPOPIF Exhibit A Resolution Appointing Authorized k.Review and possible approval of IPOPIF Exhibit B Notice regarding Transfer of Investment Assets to the Police Officers' Pension Investment Fund. 7.Semi-Annual Review of Executive Session Minutes 8.Additional Items for Discussion 9.Adjournment Police Pension Board of Trustees Regular Meeting Minutes October 12, 2021 Call to Order The regular meeting of the City of McHenry Police Pension Board of Trustees was called to order at 2:30 p.m. remotely via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roll call: Members present: President Jeffery Foerster, Officer Robert Beaudoin, Sergeant Nick Clesen, Thomas Settles. Members absent: Cheryl Kranz. Others present: Monte Johnson, Carolyn Lynch, Gary Karshna, James Schmidt. Public Input: No members of the public were present to offer comments. Approve the July 6, 2021, meeting minutes A motion was made by Tom Settles and seconded by Sergeant Clesen to approve the minutes from July 6, 2021. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Presentation of Actuarial Valuation Report and recommendation to forward Pension Fund Tax Levy request to McHenry City Council James Ritchie of Lauterbach & Amen shared his screen to review the report. He explained the contributions recommendation and the current funding status. There was a significant drop from last year to this year with a big increase in the market value of assets and the pension bonds. We are currently 102% funded. Mr. Ritchie reviewed the reconciliation information which showed how members get another year of service, and how contributions and salaries are set to increase. The actuarial expense is a big change because we paid off the unfunded liability. He also reviewed the demographic changes and the expected benefit payments. There is a good balance between the active and inactive members. We are in a much better position overall with having the bonds for the unfunded liability. We are only paying out 3.58% with a 7% return. The requested amount of funding needed from the City is $630,420. A motion was made by Thomas Settles and seconded by Sergeant Clesen to approve the recommended pension fund tax levy request to the McHenry City Council. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. LPL Financial Equities Report Jim Schmidt reported that the markets have done well. Fiscal year returns sit at 24%. Since May 1st the fund has earned 3.5%, and we are expecting more volatility this fall with the expected inflation. As feds increase the interest rates it will hurt the growth stocks and value stocks. He reviewed the report and showed we have 26% of investments in the international market. Mr. Settles asked what fees we are paying, and Mr. Schmidt reported that the internal expenses are between 0.35 to 0.5%. Capital Gains, Inc. Fixed Assets Report Mr. Karshna reported that the returns for the fiscal year are .56% with a book value of .41. In the last 12 months the index is up .12% with the portfolio up .1% and a book value of 1.03%. Semi-annual review of Police Pension Fund Investment Policy No changes to the policy are needed at this time. Approval of the 2022 Police Pension Board Schedule The Board decided to move meetings to 9:00 a.m. and to move the July 12th meeting to July 19. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Thomas Settles to approve the 2022 Police Pension Board Schedule as presented with the above changes. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Approve Luis Pena portability request A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Officer Beaudoin to approve the portability request by Luis Pena. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Discuss training for Pension Board members President Foerster explained that certificates should be sent to Monte Johnson once the training has been completed and the certificate has been issued. Approve the payment of bills The list of bills were submitted by Treasurer Lynch totaling $86,997.48. A motion was made by Thomas Settles and seconded by Officer Beaudoin to approve the payment of bills as submitted. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Empower James Schmidt of LPL Financial with Discretionary Authority President Foerster explained that we can give James Schmidt the same discretionary authority that Gary Karshna has. This gives him the ability to buy and sell on a daily basis. If our fund is over 65% we would not have to call a special meeting. His intention is not to buy and sell on a regular basis, but to make things easier and more efficient for the Board. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Officer Beaudoin to empower James Schmidt of LPL Financial with Discretionary Authority. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Authorize the purchase of military service credit for Officer Zajac, and allow or deny the option to pay that amount over a period of time. President Foerster explained that she does not plan to pursue purchasing military credit at this time, so there is no need for a vote on the issue. Refund of contributions of Officer Lopez Officer Lopez has left the City of McHenry and is requesting a refund of $4975.93. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Thomas Settles to approve a refund of contributions to Officer Lopez. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Accept Pension Application of Matthew Szoke Matthew Szoke is a newly hired officer and is currently at the Police Academy. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Officer Beaudoin to accept the pension application of Mathew Szoke. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Motion to purchase IPPFA Retirement Guide for all members Sergeant Clesen reported what he learned at the IPPFA conference, and the IPPFA has produced a guide that provides valuable information to all members. It is a simple book that serves as a nice guide for our members. The books cost $7.50 each and he recommends purchasing them for all active members. There are currently 47 active members, and he requests purchasing 60 as they must be purchased in packs of 10. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Thomas Settles to purchase 60 retirement guide books from the IPPFA for a total of $450.00. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Motion to approve an automatic transfer of funds from equities or fixed assets in an amount to be determined each month to cover necessary payroll expenses from January 2022 through April 2022 Treasurer Lynch explained that since we are fully funded for the pension, we don’t have as much money coming in each year to pay the current pensioners. Starting in January we won’t have enough cash to pay the pension payroll. We are looking to transfer in money each month. President Foerster explained that now that Jim Schmidt has the authority to move money, he can do this automatically without the need for more approval. The first amount that will be needed for January is $180,000. Treasurer Lynch suggested that we will revisit the issue in January if the market does not hold up well. A motion was made by Sergeant Clesen and seconded by Thomas Settles to approve the transfer of $180,000 from equities for the January payroll, with the issue to be revisited in January. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. Additional Items for Discussion Sergeant Clesen explained what he learned at the conference in regards to consolidation. The consolidation board has 9 members and an executive director. Five of the nine members are participant members, there are two beneficiary members, and three come from municipalities. One of the members is a municipal league member appointed by the Governor. There are currently no dates set for consolidation but they believe it will be the middle of next year. We will need to determine how much money to send them and how much we need to keep out to pay bills and the beneficiaries. Currently there is a State law that says the State of Illinois can’t have access to the pension funds. The fire department pension funds have begun consolidation and five of the funds have brought on litigation against the consolidation. President Foerster reported that Sergeant Lumber has started getting IMEs, and we may need to have a disability hearing in the future. Motion to Adjourn A motion was made by Tom Settles and seconded by Officer Beaudoin to adjourn the meeting at 3:35 p.m. Roll Call Vote: 4-ayes: Jeff Foerster, Sergeant Clesen, Officer Beaudoin, Thomas Settles. Motion carried. ______________________________ Monte Johnson, Recording Secretary ·1· · · · · · BEFORE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE ·2· · · · · · · ·McHENRY POLICE PENSION FUND ·3 ·4 ·5· ·IN THE MATTER OF THE· · · · ·) ·6· ·DISABILITY CLAIM OF:· · · · ·) ·7· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ) ·8· ·SEAN KLECHAK,· · · · · · · · ) ·9· · · · · · Applicant.· · · · · ) 10 11· · · · · · · · · · · ·OPEN SESSION 12 13· · · · · · Report of proceedings had at the Hearing 14· ·on May 10, 2019, at the hour of 9:00 a.m., at 15· ·333 South Green, McHenry, Illinois. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23· ·Reported by:· ·Shelly S. Rubas, CSR 24· ·License No.:· ·084-004298 ·1· · · ·APPEARANCES: ·2· · · · · · PUCHALSKI GOODLOE MARZULLO ·3· · · · · · BY:· MS. LAURA GOODLOE and ·4· · · · · · · · ·MR. JOE WEISHAMPEL ·5· · · · · · 2100 Sanders Road, Suite 110 ·6· · · · · · Northbrook, Illinois 60062 ·7· · · · · · (847) 905-7294 ·8· · · · · · lgoodloe@pgm-law.com ·9· · · · · · jweishampel@pgm-law.com 10· · · · · · · · ·On behalf of Mchenry Police 11· · · · · · · · ·Pension Board; 12· · · · · · EAMES LAW GROUP 13· · · · · · BY:· MR. BRENT R. EAMES 14· · · · · · 47 West Polk Street, Suite 320 15· · · · · · Chicago, Illinois 60605 16· · · · · · (312) 818-2855 17· · · · · · · · ·On behalf of the Applicant. 18 19· ·PENSION BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: 20· · · · · · Jeff Foerster· · · ·Nicholas Clesen 21· · · · · · Cheryl Kranz· · · · Ann Buss 22· · · · · · Marc Fisher 23 24 ·1· · · · · · · · · · · I N D E X ·2· ·WITNESS· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · EXAMINATION ·3· ·OPENING STATEMENT ·4· · · ·By Mr. Eames· · · · · · · · · · · · · · 12 ·5· ·SEAN KLECHAK ·6· · · ·By Mr. Eames· · · · · · · · · · · · · · 14 ·7· · · ·By Ms. Goodloe· · · · · · · · · · · · · 45 ·8· · · ·By Mr. Weishampel· · · · · · · · · · · ·62 ·9· · · ·By Mr. Clesen· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·65 10· · · ·By Ms. Buss· · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·68 11· · · ·By Mr. Fisher· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·68 12· · · ·By Ms. Goodloe· · · · · · · · · · · · · 71 13· · · ·By Ms. Buss· · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·71 14· · · ·By Mr. Clesen· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·72 15· · · ·By Mr. Foerster· · · · · · · · · · · · ·73 16· · · ·By Mr. Kranz· · · · · · · · · · · · · · 73 17· ·CLOSING STATEMENT 18· · · ·By Mr. Eames· · · · · · · · · · · · · · 75 19 20 21 22 23 24 ·1· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Ready?· Okay. ·2· · · · · · Ann Buss? ·3· · · ·MS. BUSS:· Present. ·4· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Marc Fisher? ·5· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Present. ·6· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Nick Clesen? ·7· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Present. ·8· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Cheryl Kranz? ·9· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Present. 10· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Jeff Foerster present.· So all 11· ·the board members are present. 12· · · · · · The purpose of the meeting today is a 13· ·non-duty related disability hearing for 14· ·Sean Klechak.· I'll entertain a motion to make 15· ·Laura Goodloe the -- what did you call it again? 16· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Hearing officer. 17· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· -- hearing officer. 18· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I'll make a motion. 19· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Is there a second? 20· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Second. 21· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Any discussion?· All those in 22· ·favor signify by saying aye. 23· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Aye. 24· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Aye. ·1· · · ·MS. BUSS:· Aye. ·2· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Aye. ·3· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Opposed same sign. ·4· · · · · · It's all yours, Laura. ·5· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Thank you, ladies and ·6· ·gentlemen.· This is a hearing that's being ·7· ·conducted pursuant to Article 3 of the Illinois ·8· ·Pension Code to adjudicate the disability claim of ·9· ·Sean Klechak, the applicant in this case.· The 10· ·applicant was previously sent a notice of hearing 11· ·and advised of these proceedings on this date and 12· ·advised him of his right to be represented by legal 13· ·counsel, to present evidence, and to respond to any 14· ·evidence before the McHenry Police Pension Board. 15· · · · · · Will the applicant and his attorney please 16· ·identify themselves for the record. 17· · · ·MR. KLECHAK:· Yes.· I'm Sean Klechak. 18· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Brent Eames. 19· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Mr. Klechak, do you acknowledge 20· ·notice of this hearing today and are you willing to 21· ·proceed? 22· · · ·MR. KLECHAK:· Yes, ma'am. 23· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you. 24· · · · · · The procedures to be utilized in this case ·1· ·are as follows: ·2· · · · · · Number 1, under the law, the applicant ·3· ·bears a burden of proving his entitlement to a ·4· ·non-duty disability claim. ·5· · · · · · Number 2, the Board will read into the ·6· ·record certain documentation that it intends on ·7· ·introducing into evidence at this hearing. ·8· · · · · · Number 3, the applicant or the applicant's ·9· ·attorney may then present any objections to the 10· ·Pension Board's proposed exhibits. 11· · · · · · Number 4, the Pension Board, upon advice 12· ·of its legal counsel, will then rule on those 13· ·objections. 14· · · · · · Number 5, the applicant may then proceed 15· ·with entering additional evidence into the record 16· ·and continue with making an opening statement and 17· ·calling witnesses on his behalf. 18· · · · · · Number 6, the board and its legal counsel 19· ·may then ask the applicant's witnesses questions 20· ·and thereafter may be given the opportunity to call 21· ·witnesses on its own behalf. 22· · · · · · Number 7, rulings on all legal matters 23· ·will be made by the attorney and hearing officer in 24· ·this matter. ·1· · · · · · Number 8, in the event that this hearing ·2· ·cannot be completed on this date, it shall be ·3· ·continued from time to time to dates agreeable to ·4· ·all parties until it is completed.· If the hearing ·5· ·is continued to a later date and time, the Pension ·6· ·Board does reserve the right to call additional ·7· ·witnesses or recall witnesses for further ·8· ·testimony. ·9· · · · · · Number 9, at the conclusion of the 10· ·hearing, the applicant or his attorney may make a 11· ·closing argument. 12· · · · · · Number 10, the Board may adjourn into 13· ·executive session pursuant to either 2(c)(4) or 14· ·2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act to deliberate as 15· ·to this matter. 16· · · · · · Number 11, the Board will then render a 17· ·written decision that will become the final and 18· ·appealable decision in this matter. 19· · · · · · And finally Number 12, under the appellate 20· ·court case Howe, H-o-w-e, that final written 21· ·decision will need to be approved at a subsequent 22· ·Pension Board meeting. 23· · · · · · As for the board members, during this 24· ·hearing, it's important for all parties to keep in ·1· ·mind that this is an administrative proceeding, it ·2· ·is not a partisan proceeding with the agency or aid ·3· ·on one side and the applicant or aid on the other. ·4· ·Rather this should be considered an administrative ·5· ·investigation instituted for ascertaining and ·6· ·making findings of fact.· The rules of evidence are ·7· ·to be relaxed in this setting with the exception of ·8· ·hearsay rule, but the rules of fundamental are ·9· ·strictly adhered to. 10· · · · · · Furthermore, it shall be noted that 11· ·trustees of Article 3 pension funds are presumed to 12· ·be objective and capable of fairly judging a 13· ·particular disability claim.· Any trustee who feels 14· ·incapable of performing his duties or her duties in 15· ·an objective manner today shall respectfully recuse 16· ·themselves. 17· · · · · · At this time, I'm going to take call of a 18· ·role and ascertain whether all trustees feel that 19· ·they can be objective and capable of fairly 20· ·adjudicating this claim today. 21· · · · · · Trustee Buss? 22· · · ·MS. BUSS:· Yes. 23· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Trustee Foerster? 24· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Yes. ·1· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Trustee Fisher? ·2· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Yes. ·3· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Trustee Clesen? ·4· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Yes. ·5· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Trustee Kranz? ·6· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Yes. ·7· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you. ·8· · · · · · Any other questions before we begin? ·9· ·Hearing none, we will move on with the entry of the 10· ·Pension Board exhibits into the record. 11· · · · · · Previously tendered to both counsel for 12· ·Mr. Klechak as well as the Pension Board are 13· ·Pension Board Exhibits Nos. 1 through 17.· I like 14· ·to read them into the record, so we know what we're 15· ·talking about in terms of the hearing transcript, 16· ·so bear with me as I go through these. 17· · · · · · Proposed Pension Board Exhibit No. 1 is 18· ·the application for disability of pension benefits. 19· · · · · · No. 2, job description. 20· · · · · · No. 3, Dr. Robert Hall medical records. 21· · · · · · No. 4, Dr. Holly Carobene medical 22· ·records -- Carobene. 23· · · ·MR. KLECHAK:· I believe it's Carobene. 24· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Forgive me if I butcher ·1· ·any of these. ·2· · · ·MR. KLECHAK:· You're fine. ·3· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· And No. 5, Dr. Richard ·4· ·Broderick medical records. ·5· · · · · · No. 6, Dr. Andrew Harrison medical ·6· ·records. ·7· · · · · · No. 7, McHenry County Physical Therapy ·8· ·medical records. ·9· · · · · · No. 8, Illinois Pain Institute medical 10· ·records. 11· · · · · · No. 9, Hines VA medical records. 12· · · · · · No. 10, Dr. Peter Norton, Strelcheck 13· ·Chiropractic medical records. 14· · · · · · No. 11, Dr. Mohammed, McHenry VA, and 15· ·Dr. -- is it Stachowiak? 16· · · ·MR. KLECHAK:· Yes, ma'am. 17· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· -- Lovell VA medical records. 18· · · ·No. 12, notice of independent medical 19· ·examinations. 20· · · · · · No. 13, revised notice of independent 21· ·medical examinations. 22· · · · · · No. 14, independent medical evaluation 23· ·report of Dr. Joshua Alpert with corresponding 24· ·cover letter. ·1· · · · · · No. 15, independent medical evaluation ·2· ·report of Dr. Stanford Tack with corresponding ·3· ·cover letter. ·4· · · · · · No. 16, IME report of Dr. Thomas Gleason ·5· ·with corresponding cover letter. ·6· · · · · · And finally, No. 17, notice of hearing ·7· ·with corresponding public notice and agenda. ·8· · · · · · Counsel for Mr. Klechak, do you have any ·9· ·objections as to the entry of these into the 10· ·record? 11· · · ·MR. EAMES:· No objections as to any exhibits. 12· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Therefore Pension Board 13· ·Exhibits Nos. 1 through 17 are entered into the 14· ·record in this administrative proceeding. 15· · · · · · Attorney Eames, do you have any additional 16· ·applicant exhibits you wish to profer at this time? 17· · · ·MR. EAMES:· None other than those that have 18· ·been offered by the Board. 19· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· With that being said, you 20· ·have the floor for an opening statement if you so 21· ·choose. 22· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Sure. 23· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay. 24 ·1· · · · · · · · · · OPENING STATEMENT ·2· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·3· · · · · · Good morning, everybody.· Once again, my ·4· ·name is Brent Eames here with Sean Klechak.· This ·5· ·is a not-on-duty disability pension application, so ·6· ·our inquiry can be really focused into the medical ·7· ·question as to whether this man is disabled from ·8· ·full duty police work.· And the evidence will ·9· ·demonstrate that the answer is unequivocally yes 10· ·given a chronic lower back condition for which he 11· ·continues to receive epidural steroid injections as 12· ·recently as a month-and-a-half ago. 13· · · · · · The evidence will show that during his 14· ·military service back in 2009, he suffered an 15· ·injury resulting in lower back pain.· This injury 16· ·improved to the extent that he was able to come to 17· ·work for McHenry as a full duty police officer, 18· ·passed every physical, performed all of his duties 19· ·without any issues up until approximately September 20· ·of 2017 when his condition took a turn for the 21· ·worse substantially disabling him to the point 22· ·where he can't even function with activities of 23· ·daily living such as dressing himself let alone 24· ·wrestling a combative suspect. ·1· · · · · · Now, because our inquiry is limited to is ·2· ·he disabled as opposed to why, there is some ·3· ·medical discrepancy as to whether his degenerative ·4· ·disc disease that's causing his disability, whether ·5· ·it was the running incident in September that ·6· ·caused an annular tear. ·7· · · · · · For our purposes here today, it's really ·8· ·irrelevant.· The focus is whether this man is ·9· ·disabled.· And based upon his testimony as far as 10· ·his day-to-day life, which you will hear, the 11· ·objective medical evidence as well as his 12· ·subjective complaints, we believe that without 13· ·question, we will meet our burden which is based 14· ·upon the greater weight of the evidence, this man 15· ·is disabled from full duty police work and is 16· ·entitled to a not-on-duty pension. 17· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Excellent. 18· · · · · · You may call your first witness. 19· · · ·MR. EAMES:· We would call Sean. 20 21 22 23 24 ·1· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·(Witness sworn.) ·2· · · · · · · · · · · SEAN KLECHAK, ·3· ·called as a witness herein, having been first duly ·4· ·sworn, was examined and testified as follows: ·5· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION ·6· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·7· · · ·Q.· ·Sean, would you please introduce yourself ·8· ·to the Board members who may not know you. ·9· · · ·A.· ·My name is Sean Klechak.· Sean Klechak. 10· · · ·Q.· ·Are you currently employed? 11· · · ·A.· ·No, I'm not. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Where were you last employed? 13· · · ·A.· ·I was last employed with the city of 14· ·McHenry as a patrol officer. 15· · · ·Q.· ·And when did your employment end with the 16· ·city of McHenry? 17· · · ·A.· ·It ended on February 5th, 2019. 18· · · ·Q.· ·And under what circumstances did your 19· ·employment end? 20· · · ·A.· ·I was terminated as I was unable to return 21· ·to work due to a lower back injury. 22· · · ·Q.· ·Now, when did your employment with the 23· ·McHenry Police Department begin? 24· · · ·A.· ·It began in late September 2013. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·Now, before getting into your police work, ·2· ·let's talk a little bit about your background. ·3· · · ·A.· ·Yes. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·Prior to working for the McHenry Police ·5· ·Department, were you in the military? ·6· · · ·A.· ·I was. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·And when did you serve in the military? ·8· · · ·A.· ·From 2007 to 2011. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·What branch? 10· · · ·A.· ·I was in the United States Air Force. 11· · · ·Q.· ·And can you tell the Board a little bit 12· ·about your experience in the Air Force? 13· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· In the Air Force, I served as a 14· ·military police officer, what they call security 15· ·forces.· And specifically, I did things such as 16· ·nuclear security and what they call fly away 17· ·security.· So I flew with aircrafts around the 18· ·world and I provided security to them in locations 19· ·where it may not necessarily be safe or there 20· ·wasn't any NATO security around. 21· · · ·Q.· ·During your service, did you suffer an 22· ·incident resulting in some lower back pain? 23· · · ·A.· ·I did. 24· · · ·Q.· ·And what year was that? ·1· · · ·A.· ·2009. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·Can you describe for the Board a little ·3· ·bit about that incident in 2009? ·4· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· There were two incidents in ·5· ·2009.· The first one I was lifting weights in early ·6· ·2009 around February and while lifting weights, I ·7· ·felt a sharp pain in my back, but it was just a few ·8· ·days recovery.· I didn't even go to the doctor. ·9· ·Everything appeared to be fine. 10· · · · · · And then we deployed out to Afghanistan in 11· ·mid 2009 and we landed in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. 12· ·And upon landing in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the 13· ·ramp to the aircraft goes down and it stays about 14· ·level at about 4 feet off the ground.· I then 15· ·jumped off the back of the ramp with all my gear on 16· ·which I'd probably say is about 70 pounds of gear 17· ·including rucksack and Level IV plates which is a 18· ·bulletproof vest.· Upon doing so, I felt an instant 19· ·pain in my lower back. 20· · · ·Q.· ·Following that incident, were you able to 21· ·continue your duty immediately following? 22· · · ·A.· ·Yes, I continued my tour of duty. 23· · · ·Q.· ·Did you ultimately undergo some medical 24· ·treatment related to your lower back related to ·1· ·those 2009 incidents? ·2· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·That was through the VA? ·4· · · ·A.· ·Initially, it was through Malmstrom Air ·5· ·Force Base in Malmstrom -- or, excuse me, Great ·6· ·Falls Montana. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·When you originally were getting medical ·8· ·treatment for your lower back, were you prescribed ·9· ·any sort of medications to treat it? 10· · · ·A.· ·Initially, I was prescribed Flexeril and 11· ·Ibuprofen 800. 12· · · ·Q.· ·And did you undergo an MRI in your lower 13· ·back in 2011 at the VA? 14· · · ·A.· ·Yes. 15· · · ·Q.· ·After the MRI in 2011, what sort of 16· ·treatment recommendations did you receive from 17· ·those VA doctors? 18· · · ·A.· ·In 2012 after the MRI, the doctors, 19· ·specifically Dr. Mohammed, McHenry VA, he said I 20· ·can continue to live a completely healthy and 21· ·active lifestyle as long as I did things like 22· ·stretching and there shouldn't be any limitations 23· ·essentially. 24· · · ·Q.· ·The Board has your records from the ·1· ·VA which are quite extensive.· I would like to call ·2· ·your attention to a September 28th, 2011, record. ·3· · · ·MR. EAMES:· And for the Board's reference, ·4· ·that's Bates stamped Page 424.· That would be ·5· ·Exhibit 11. ·6· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·7· · · ·Q.· ·Based upon my reference, that appears to ·8· ·be the last record identified around this period ·9· ·related to your lower back.· According to that 10· ·record, you indicated to the treating doctors that 11· ·your lower back pain was much decreased and hardly 12· ·present. 13· · · · · · Is that an accurate representation of your 14· ·lower back pain around this time, September 28th, 15· ·2011? 16· · · ·A.· ·Yes, that's correct. 17· · · ·Q.· ·And at some point, did you completely 18· ·cease taking any prescription medications related 19· ·to your lower back pain? 20· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 21· · · ·Q.· ·When was that? 22· · · ·A.· ·I was off of the Flexeril nearly 23· ·immediately and I say that because doing my job as 24· ·nuclear security at the time, you couldn't be on ·1· ·that type of medication.· They wouldn't allow you ·2· ·to be on medications that would alter your physical ·3· ·or your mental state in a possible negative way. ·4· · · · · · I continued to take the Ibuprofen 800 with ·5· ·the doctor's approval until 2013 at some point. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Between that 2013, when you stopped taking ·7· ·those medications, and then -- ·8· · · ·A.· ·Yeah. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·-- when did you start taking them again? 10· · · ·A.· ·I started taking the prescription 11· ·medications again in -- it was late September 12· ·2017 or very early October 2017. 13· · · ·Q.· ·Following your discharge from military 14· ·service, did you start up with the police academy? 15· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 16· · · ·Q.· ·And when was that? 17· · · ·A.· ·September 2013. 18· · · ·Q.· ·How was your lower back doing at the time 19· ·you started the police academy? 20· · · ·A.· ·It was fine. 21· · · ·Q.· ·Any pain or problems at all at that point 22· ·in 2013? 23· · · ·A.· ·No. 24· · · ·Q.· ·Did your lower back condition impede your ·1· ·about to perform full duty police work at that time ·2· ·in 2013? ·3· · · ·A.· ·No, sir. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·When you enrolled in the police academy, ·5· ·did you undergo any preemployment physicals or ·6· ·testing associated with your ability to physically ·7· ·function as a police officer? ·8· · · ·A.· ·I did. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·For the Board members who may not 10· ·understand what the police academy is about, can 11· ·you describe what kind of test you performed? 12· · · ·A.· ·Prior to being hired on as a police 13· ·officer, you have to pass an Illinois Power Test is 14· ·what they call it.· It consists of sit ups in a 15· ·minute, push ups in a minute, maximum bench press, 16· ·and a mile-and-a-half run.· You have to meet the 17· ·Illinois state requirements in order to even be 18· ·considered to be hired I believe. 19· · · ·Q.· ·How many times did you perform those tests 20· ·during your time in the police academy? 21· · · ·A.· ·In the police academy, I performed it 22· ·twice.· The second day we got there, which was the 23· ·first official day of training, we had to pass the 24· ·Power Test to continue into training.· And then at ·1· ·the last week of the police academy, we had to pass ·2· ·it again in order to graduate. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·Did you perform any other physical tests ·4· ·at the request of the McHenry Police Department ·5· ·before you became an officer? ·6· · · ·A.· ·I'm sorry.· No, I don't think so. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·No other control tactic tests or anything ·8· ·of that nature? ·9· · · ·A.· ·That was at the police academy after I had 10· ·been hired on, yes, sir. 11· · · ·Q.· ·All right.· Thank you for clarifying. 12· · · · · · So you were able to perform all of these 13· ·tests and pass these exams, obviously? 14· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 15· · · ·Q.· ·How was your lower back feeling at that 16· ·time? 17· · · ·A.· ·It felt fine. 18· · · ·Q.· ·When you started with the police 19· ·department, were you physically able to perform all 20· ·the essential functions of a police officer? 21· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 22· · · ·Q.· ·I'd like to fast forward to February 23· ·of 2015, which according to the medical records 24· ·that the Board has, you submitted for a ·1· ·consultation with a chiropractor named ·2· ·Dr. Peter Norton? ·3· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·As of February 25th, 2015, that's the date ·5· ·of this initial consultation with Dr. Norton, how ·6· ·was your lower back feeling? ·7· · · ·A.· ·I had days where I was in pain and so when ·8· ·I say I was in pain, minor aches and pains, but ·9· ·enough to be considered uncomfortable. 10· · · ·Q.· ·Were you able to perform the full duties 11· ·of a police officer despite getting this 12· ·chiropractic care? 13· · · ·A.· ·Yes, I was. 14· · · ·Q.· ·Why did you decide to get the chiropractic 15· ·treatment? 16· · · ·A.· ·Another officer suggested to me that I go, 17· ·maybe consider it as an option kind of like 18· ·preventative maintenance.· So, yeah, there's minor 19· ·aches and pains and this might help out for those 20· ·issues that you're having as well as maybe problems 21· ·in the future. 22· · · ·Q.· ·At any point prior to September of 23· ·2017, did this chiropractor ever restrict you or 24· ·attempt to restrict you from doing police work? ·1· · · ·A.· ·No, he didn't. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·In your opinion, did this chiropractic ·3· ·care assist you with regard to your ability to ·4· ·perform your full duty police work? ·5· · · ·A.· ·I'm sorry.· Could you say that again? ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Did the chiropractor make your lower back ·7· ·feel better?· Did it work for preventative ·8· ·maintenance? ·9· · · ·A.· ·Yes. 10· · · ·Q.· ·I would like to call your attention to a 11· ·progress note dated April 3rd, 2015. 12· · · ·MR. EAMES:· This is Bates stamped Page 266 in 13· ·Exhibit 10 for the Board's reference. 14· ·BY MR. EAMES: 15· · · ·Q.· ·Sean, I'm showing you Bates stamped 16· ·Page 266 which purports to be a patient progress 17· ·note. 18· · · · · · Is that your handwriting? 19· · · ·A.· ·It is. 20· · · ·Q.· ·And you were asked to describe your most 21· ·impressive benefits with the chiropractic care, and 22· ·it appears you responded that it's the ability to 23· ·work on a full shift with minimal pain. 24· · · ·A.· ·Right. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·Is that accurate as of April 3rd, 2015? ·2· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·Now, I'm not going to make the Board go ·4· ·through every document obviously.· For the sake of ·5· ·moving things a long, as of the end of ·6· ·2015, according to my review of these records, it ·7· ·appears your visits to the chiropractor were ·8· ·limited to once or twice per month. ·9· · · · · · Is that fair to say? 10· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 11· · · ·Q.· ·I'd like to call your attention to one 12· ·more progress note.· This is Bates stamped 13· ·Page 301 in Exhibit 10.· It's a progress note from 14· ·January 3rd, 2016. 15· · · · · · Sean, once again, is this your handwriting 16· ·up here? 17· · · ·A.· ·It is. 18· · · ·Q.· ·Sean, you were asked to mark with an X on 19· ·the picture where you had pain or other symptoms. 20· · · · · · Do you recall doing that? 21· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 22· · · ·Q.· ·And it appears from this diagram that you 23· ·did not indicate any pain or symptoms in your lower 24· ·back on that particular day? ·1· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·And with regard to your current conditions ·3· ·under Paragraph 2, your lower back was reported to ·4· ·be 90 percent improved; is that correct? ·5· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·So can you tell the Board in your own ·7· ·words as of the time of these chiropractic visits, ·8· ·how was your back doing? ·9· · · ·A.· ·My back was good.· Like I kind of said 10· ·earlier, there was minor aches and pains, you know, 11· ·but at that time, you know, it definitely was 12· ·better.· There was nothing there that was 13· ·preventing me from continuing on working. 14· · · ·Q.· ·So let's talk about the end of September 15· ·2017.· From a review of your records, I believe the 16· ·date was on or about September 25th, 2017. 17· · · · · · Did you suffer an injury to your lower 18· ·back as a result of a cardio work out? 19· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 20· · · ·Q.· ·Can you please describe for the Board what 21· ·happened? 22· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· I was in Glacial Park in McHenry, 23· ·just north of McHenry and I went for like a light 24· ·jog that day.· Everything seemed fine, but when I ·1· ·got done with the jog, my back kind of started to ·2· ·hurt a little bit.· And then as I got home, it ·3· ·progressed.· I was a night shift worker, so I went ·4· ·to bed and I woke up a couple of times, but as I ·5· ·woke up for the final time to go to work, my back ·6· ·was in extreme pain at that point and I didn't go ·7· ·to work that night. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·If you're able to describe for the Board ·9· ·how, if at all, did this lower back pain change 10· ·from before this running incident to the time 11· ·following it? 12· · · ·A.· ·Well, I kind of just pointed or hit on it, 13· ·but it definitely got way worse.· There was no 14· ·comparison.· You know, it was at that point extreme 15· ·pain where I didn't want to go to work or I didn't 16· ·feel I could go to work, excuse me. 17· · · ·Q.· ·Following this running incident on or 18· ·about September 27th, 2017, there is a report of a 19· ·new injury in the chiropractic records.· This is 20· ·Bates stamped Page 315 in Exhibit 10. 21· · · · · · So you reported this new running incident 22· ·to your chiropractor, the source of the new pain? 23· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 24· · · ·Q.· ·And on October 2nd, 2017, it appears ·1· ·Dr. Norton restricted you to light duty work with ·2· ·the police department. ·3· · · · · · Is that accurate? ·4· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·Were you attempting to work for the ·6· ·department during this period following the running ·7· ·injury? ·8· · · ·A.· ·During the light duty period? ·9· · · ·Q.· ·Yes. 10· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir, but I was won conducting light 11· ·duty work.· Specifically, I was in crisis 12· ·intervention training for that week right around 13· ·there.· So, yes, sir, I was doing light duty and 14· ·specifically I was at training. 15· · · ·Q.· ·Following the running incident, did you 16· ·attempt to return to your full duty function? 17· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 18· · · ·Q.· ·That being for police work? 19· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 20· · · ·Q.· ·Can you describe for the Board were there 21· ·any specific incidents where you were trying to 22· ·perform full duty work with your new lower back 23· ·pain, but felt that you could not perform as a full 24· ·duty police officer? ·1· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, I could.· There was an intoxicated ·2· ·subject and I believe he was a suicidal subject at ·3· ·Alden Terrace some time in November of 2017.· When ·4· ·we got there, he was pretty adamant about fighting. ·5· ·He wanted to fight.· And even though my partner was ·6· ·there, there was still a lot of concern that if he ·7· ·wanted to go hands on and I was going to have to do ·8· ·any kind of control tactic or restrain him at all, ·9· ·that I would be -- I would be essentially in 10· ·trouble.· Like I know I have my partner here, but 11· ·two is better than one and if we take me out of the 12· ·fight because I can't function correctly, I was 13· ·kind of concerned about that. 14· · · · · · And then actually the last day I worked, I 15· ·was doing a traffic stop and I was still trying to 16· ·conduct all my duties.· And just getting out of the 17· ·squad car, going up to the car that I conducted the 18· ·traffic stop on, and then going back, I actually 19· ·had my back up officer ask me why I was even still 20· ·doing traffic stops because I could barely walk at 21· ·that point. 22· · · ·Q.· ·Did you report to the VA for a 23· ·consultation regarding your back pain after this 24· ·September incident? ·1· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·And you underwent a new MRI of the lumbar ·3· ·spine as requested by your doctor, that being ·4· ·Dr. Mohammed? ·5· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·According to the records at the VA, you ·7· ·saw Dr. Mohammed on November 8th, 2017.· This is ·8· ·Bates stamped on Page 174 of Exhibit 9. ·9· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir, that's correct. 10· · · ·Q.· ·Did Dr. Mohammed read your MRI at that 11· ·time? 12· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 13· · · ·Q.· ·Did he compare it with the previous MRI? 14· · · ·A.· ·He did. 15· · · ·Q.· ·Did he identify a new annular tear at 16· ·L5-S1 relative to your 2012 MRI that was done 17· ·previously? 18· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 19· · · ·Q.· ·Did you discuss your treatment options 20· ·with Dr. Mohammed at that point? 21· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, we did.· We discussed what might be 22· ·done to improve my back.· He did mention a few 23· ·things.· He mentioned first and foremost rest, but 24· ·he mentioned the ability for physical therapy and ·1· ·up to surgery for my lower back as well. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·Going back to that November 8th, 2017, ·3· ·visit, did Dr. Mohammed discuss with you the ·4· ·potential need to explore a career change given ·5· ·your back injury? ·6· · · ·A.· ·He did. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·How did that conversation go? ·8· · · ·A.· ·We talked about the equipment that I carry ·9· ·being a duty belt and obviously the vest.· And he 10· ·told me and explained to me that with the 11· ·difference between my 2012 MRI, 2011 MRI, and my 12· ·most current MRI, he was starting to see things get 13· ·significantly worse in my lower back and he said I 14· ·needed to consider a job that was less physically 15· ·strenuous. 16· · · ·Q.· ·Did he refer you for a consultation with a 17· ·neurosurgeon? 18· · · ·A.· ·He did. 19· · · ·Q.· ·And you saw a Dr. Joseph Cerone at Hines 20· ·VA on or about December 14th, 2017? 21· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 22· · · ·Q.· ·That's Bates stamped on Pages 185 to 186 23· ·in Exhibit 9. 24· · · · · · Did Dr. Cerone concur with the diagnosis ·1· ·of an annular tear? ·2· · · ·A.· ·Yes, he did. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·According to the records, he suggested ·4· ·restricting you from police work through February ·5· ·at that time. ·6· · · · · · Is that accurate? ·7· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, that's correct. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·Did he recommend an epidural steroid ·9· ·injection into your lumbar spine? 10· · · ·A.· ·He did. 11· · · ·Q.· ·Can you explain for the Board just so 12· ·everybody is on the same page with regard to what 13· ·these injections are?· What does an epidural 14· ·steroid injection entail when you have to undergo 15· ·these things? 16· · · ·A.· ·To go get an epidural steroid injection, 17· ·they will sedate me because I'm not good with large 18· ·needles.· After they sedate me, they're going to 19· ·stick a needle into my lower back.· And what it's 20· ·going to do is push a steroid through my lower back 21· ·area and, depending how they do, into my legs or 22· ·whichever leg is getting the most sharp pains in 23· ·that steroid injection. 24· · · · · · So basically, I have to get that steroid ·1· ·injection, and I'm usually down for the whole day ·2· ·because of the sedation as well. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·I'd like to call your attention to Bates ·4· ·stamped Page 339 in Exhibit 10 from Dr. Norton. ·5· ·This is a letter -- what purports to be a letter ·6· ·from Dr. Norton to whom it may concern with regards ·7· ·to some work restrictions, and it looks like it's ·8· ·dated January 4th, 2017. ·9· · · · · · Is that a typo?· Was it actually 10· ·January 4th, 2018, presumably? 11· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, that's correct. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Was this a note from Dr. Klechak that was 13· ·sent to the department with regard to your work 14· ·restrictions? 15· · · ·A.· ·From Dr. Norton, yes, sir. 16· · · ·Q.· ·Excuse me.· Dr. Norton.· Thank you. 17· · · ·A.· ·No problem. 18· · · ·Q.· ·The VA referred you to a pain specialist 19· ·by the name of a Dr. Holly -- and you said 20· ·Carobene? 21· · · ·A.· ·I believe that's correct. 22· · · ·Q.· ·On or about January 16th, 2018; is that 23· ·correct? 24· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·And a lumbar epidural steroid injection ·2· ·was once again recommended at that point? ·3· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·You underwent the injection on or about ·5· ·January 30th, 2018? ·6· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·How were you feeling following that ·8· ·injection? ·9· · · ·A.· ·By the next day, I was feeling pretty 10· ·good.· I was able to function with way more ease 11· ·than before.· And I continued to feel good until 12· ·about, I don't know, two, three weeks after the 13· ·injection and then I started to hurt again. 14· · · ·Q.· ·Tell us how did your pain return when the 15· ·injection wore off? 16· · · ·A.· ·I was getting sharp pains down my legs. 17· ·My lower back had sharp pains again.· It was just 18· ·like it was just prior to the injection really. 19· · · ·Q.· ·And on or about May 26th, 2018, you 20· ·received a consultation from a Dr. Aaron 21· ·Stachowiak? 22· · · ·A.· ·Stachowiak, yes, sir. 23· · · ·Q.· ·Thank you for correcting me. 24· · · ·A.· ·No problem. ·1· · · ·MR. EAMES:· For the Board's reference, this is ·2· ·Bates stamped Page 571 on Exhibit 11. ·3· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·4· · · ·Q.· ·This specialist diagnosed you with a ·5· ·lumbar radiculopathy facet arthropathy and a ·6· ·sacroiliac joint dysfunction; is that correct? ·7· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·What treatment was recommended? ·9· · · ·A.· ·Well, first off he gave me a medication 10· ·called Gabapentin and he prescribed me Gabapentin 11· ·to try to reduce the shooting or sharp pains down 12· ·my legs as it's a nerve blocker.· He also 13· ·recommended at that time what I think is called an 14· ·EMG.· What it is is basically they test to see 15· ·where the dysfunction is or where the disconnect is 16· ·and why you are getting these shooting pains down 17· ·your legs. 18· · · ·Q.· ·Did he also refer you to the Illinois Pain 19· ·Institute on or about June 6th, 2018? 20· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, that's correct.· He -- even though I 21· ·was under the assumption that you should only have 22· ·so many epidurals a year, he advised that it may be 23· ·beneficial that I go to the Illinois Pain 24· ·Institute, get an evaluation, and if they say to ·1· ·get additional epidurals, that I should. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·And that physician you saw was a ·3· ·Dr. Yaacoub? ·4· · · ·A.· ·That's right.· It's Yaacoub. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·Sorry. ·6· · · ·A.· ·No problem.· There's some difficult names ·7· ·there. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·I apologize. ·9· · · · · · That doctor at the Pain Institute 10· ·recommended another epidural steroid injection, 11· ·correct? 12· · · ·A.· ·He did. 13· · · ·Q.· ·And that injection was performed on 14· ·June 15th, 2018, as well a left superior cluneal 15· ·nerve blocks? 16· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· Do you want me to explain that one? 17· · · ·Q.· ·Please. 18· · · ·A.· ·So this epidural was a little different 19· ·than the first one as I mentioned to him how I was 20· ·getting more shooting pains down my left leg than 21· ·my right leg and this was causing me some issues 22· ·pertaining to the back.· And so on top of the 23· ·epidural that was going to reduce the pain in my 24· ·lower back, he basically sent some of that fluid ·1· ·down my left leg as well to kind of compensate for ·2· ·some of that pain. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·You underwent the prescribed EMG at the ·4· ·VA on June 5th, 2018? ·5· · · ·A.· ·That's right. ·6· · · ·MR. EAMES:· For the Board's reference, that's ·7· ·Bates stamped on Page 204. ·8· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·9· · · ·Q.· ·And you discussed the EMG results with 10· ·Dr. -- I won't try to pronounce this name.· It's 11· ·B-h-a-r-a-t-h-i. 12· · · ·A.· ·I'm not going to correct you on that one. 13· · · ·Q.· ·The EMG revealed an L5 and S1 14· ·radiculopathy; is that correct? 15· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 16· · · ·Q.· ·And the VA doctor after the EMG referred 17· ·you to a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon by 18· ·the name of Dr. Robert Hall on or about June 27th, 19· ·2018? 20· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, that's correct. 21· · · ·Q.· ·What was Dr. Robert Hall's treatment 22· ·recommendation at that time? 23· · · ·A.· ·Dr. Hall suggested some physical therapy 24· ·at the McHenry County Physical Therapy Clinic and ·1· ·he prescribed me Celebrex which was a medication ·2· ·kind of geared towards arthritis, an ·3· ·antiinflammatory essentially.· So those were the ·4· ·two things that he suggested. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·According to the records, you saw another ·6· ·orthopedic named Dr. Richard Broderick on or about ·7· ·July 10th, 2018? ·8· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·How did you come to see Dr. Broderick? 10· · · ·A.· ·I do feel like there was a long like 11· ·recovery process to my back and I did have these VA 12· ·doctors telling me maybe you should consider 13· ·another line of work. 14· · · · · · Well, I wanted an opinion completely 15· ·separate from the VA, so I went to him to see what 16· ·he had to see.· And it kind of confirmed that 17· ·everything that the VA was saying was essentially 18· ·accurate. 19· · · ·Q.· ·And what was his treatment recommendation 20· ·for you? 21· · · ·A.· ·He mentioned three things, but he 22· ·mentioned to continue physical therapy, continue on 23· ·my medications, and he said that, you know, there's 24· ·things like surgery that is an option, but he would ·1· ·like to see it as a last resort because of where ·2· ·the back is injured. ·3· · · · · · He did go ahead and mention, too, the ·4· ·other thing is to deal with it.· So those were the ·5· ·options he provided me.· But ideally, he said that ·6· ·physical therapy was probably the best route to ·7· ·keep going. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·Since that time, you returned to the ·9· ·Illinois Pain Institute and underwent another 10· ·epidural steroid injection in August of 2018? 11· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 12· · · ·Q.· ·And you recently had another epidural 13· ·steroid injection; is that correct? 14· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir, about a month-and-a-half ago. 15· · · ·Q.· ·Since the last records from the fall of 16· ·last year in the exhibits, can you explain to the 17· ·Board how your back has been doing?· Has there been 18· ·any changes? 19· · · ·A.· ·There's good days and bad days.· So in the 20· ·sense that I'm not hurting every single day, that's 21· ·an improvement.· But there are days where I'm 22· ·completely like I was, you know, a year ago, 23· ·year-and-a-half ago.· So the overall function of it 24· ·is there are better days, but mostly I'm hurting ·1· ·half the week. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·You presented to three independent medical ·3· ·examinations at the request of the Board as is ·4· ·required by the Pension Code, correct? ·5· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·I'd like to ask you about a specific ·7· ·medical record that was referenced several times by ·8· ·Dr. Tack. ·9· · · · · · Do you recall Dr. Tack? 10· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 11· · · ·Q.· ·On Bates stamped 1130 in Dr. Tack's 12· ·report, Dr. Tack makes reference to a psychotherapy 13· ·note wherein he said you indicated that police work 14· ·may not be your calling and Dr. Tack seemed to 15· ·question the sincerity of your pain complaints 16· ·based upon this psychotherapy note taken out of 17· ·context. 18· · · ·MR. EAMES:· The specific medical record that 19· ·Dr. Tack refers to is Bates stamped 610 for the 20· ·Board's reference. 21· ·BY MR. EAMES: 22· · · ·Q.· ·I would like to please ask you to give the 23· ·Board some context of this mental therapy session. 24· · · · · · What brought you to this mental therapy ·1· ·session in the first place? ·2· · · ·A.· ·I was diagnosed with PTSD out of the ·3· ·military.· I was able to handle it pretty well and ·4· ·manage it pretty well.· But the time that I started ·5· ·to go to a therapist at the VA, it was recommended ·6· ·to me again by a coworker just because I was having ·7· ·some I guess you call it general life issues and I ·8· ·needed somebody to talk to. ·9· · · · · · So it was probably best, A, that I go to 10· ·the VA because the resources are available there, 11· ·but, B, it's also, you know, slightly some military 12· ·related stuff as well. 13· · · ·Q.· ·Now, how do these sessions work?· I guess 14· ·my question is did you go in there to this session 15· ·because you were unhappy as a police officer? 16· · · ·A.· ·No.· You talk about a lot of things.· You 17· ·talk about your relationships, you talk about life 18· ·in general, the recreational activities, the things 19· ·that you do that make you happy and make you upset. 20· ·I'm sure you talk about work and -- yeah, that's 21· ·about it. 22· · · ·Q.· ·And you mentioned that you enjoy police 23· ·work to the doctor at this time? 24· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, several times. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·So please tell the Board this note taken ·2· ·out of context, was there any point that you wanted ·3· ·to quit work as a police officer? ·4· · · ·A.· ·No.· As far as it being taken out of ·5· ·context, I feel like as you become older, I'm in my ·6· ·mid 30s now, there is just a point where you ·7· ·question like is this my true calling, is there ·8· ·better for me out there.· You know, I was in the ·9· ·military.· Was the military the best option, should 10· ·I stayed in the military, should I have gotten out? 11· ·What is going to be the best move for my life 12· ·choices?· Essentially, that's it. 13· · · ·Q.· ·Do you take exception with Dr. Tack 14· ·questioning the sincerity of your pain complaints 15· ·given that psychotherapy note for your PTSD 16· ·session? 17· · · ·A.· ·That's right. 18· · · ·Q.· ·Now, at this point, as we sit here today 19· ·generally on a day-to-day basis, can you describe 20· ·for the Board as far as your lower back pain is 21· ·concerned, how are you doing on a day-to-day basis? 22· · · ·A.· ·I feel like I kind of hit on that earlier, 23· ·too, but there's good days and bad days.· There's 24· ·days where -- well, I don't tie my shoes because ·1· ·some days it hurts to bend over.· Today I am ·2· ·wearing slip ones.· But even then if I have laces, ·3· ·I don't tie my shoes, I just slip them on because I ·4· ·know it hurts most days to go down and tie my ·5· ·shoes.· And there's a lot of activities that I just ·6· ·can't do anymore. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·What are some activities of daily living ·8· ·that you previously enjoyed but can now no longer ·9· ·perform? 10· · · ·A.· ·My big thing would probably be working 11· ·out.· I definitely miss working out.· I was big 12· ·into heavy weight lifting.· There is no way I can 13· ·do that anymore. 14· · · · · · Riding a motorcycle.· I love riding 15· ·motorcycles.· I can't do that anymore. 16· · · · · · You know, even things like photography can 17· ·be difficult, too, because if you want to get down 18· ·and get the right angle of a shot, you've got to 19· ·bend down.· I'm not completely convinced that it's 20· ·always the best option for me.· And fortunately, 21· ·you know, the day-to-day activities, I don't have 22· ·to do anything outside because I have a home 23· ·owner's association that takes care of that stuff, 24· ·but I imagine things like mowing the lawn would ·1· ·probably be an issue, too. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·Are you currently taking any prescription ·3· ·medications to manage your pain? ·4· · · ·A.· ·Yeah.· I'm on Flexeril again.· I'm still ·5· ·on Flexeril.· It's three times a day 10 milligrams ·6· ·each.· And then I'm on Gabapentin and that's three ·7· ·times a day at 300 milligrams. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·Having worked for the McHenry Police ·9· ·Department, it's fair to say you're familiar with 10· ·the job duties of a police officer? 11· · · ·A.· ·That's right. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Are there any specific job duties as a 13· ·McHenry police officer which you believe you would 14· ·be unable to perform given your lower back 15· ·condition? 16· · · ·A.· ·Oh, sure, quite a few of them.· To name a 17· ·few, the job requires you to climb a ladder at some 18· ·points as per the job description.· There's the job 19· ·description of the ability to -- I believe it says 20· ·kick down doors.· You know, general things like 21· ·getting in and out of a squad car or standing for a 22· ·long period of time with that gear on me again. 23· · · · · · There's -- I was talking earlier about 24· ·control tactics.· You know, you talk about ·1· ·compliance techniques on somebody and if they're ·2· ·going to pull on me, there might be an issue with ·3· ·my back there which might put me at a disadvantage ·4· ·or others at a disadvantage, too.· So obviously I ·5· ·can't run, so if somebody wants to run from me, ·6· ·there will be a problem there, too. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·How would your lower back condition impact ·8· ·your ability to affect arrests? ·9· · · ·A.· ·I feel like I kind of just hit on that, 10· ·but I think there could be an issue with an arrest 11· ·especially if they want to tense up or act up or 12· ·try to -- I guess the word would be fight.· I don't 13· ·like to use that word, but if they want to struggle 14· ·or be combative. 15· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Thank you.· I have nothing further. 16· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you, Mr. Eames.· I think 17· ·you copied and pasted all my questions, so nice 18· ·job.· I don't have very many questions based on 19· ·your direct examination.· I do have a few.· Some of 20· ·them may be completely administrative in nature to 21· ·make sure we have a correct background for pension 22· ·purposes. 23· · · ·THE WITNESS:· Yes, ma'am. 24· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Others will be clarification ·1· ·questions and then we will have -- if my cocounsel ·2· ·wants to follow up with questions followed by the ·3· ·Board. ·4· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION ·5· ·BY MS. GOODLOE: ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Can you just verify your age for the ·7· ·record? ·8· · · ·A.· ·I'm currently 36 years old. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·And you were a patrol officer? 10· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 11· · · ·Q.· ·Are you currently married? 12· · · ·A.· ·No, ma'am. 13· · · ·Q.· ·You say that like it's a bad thing. 14· · · ·A.· ·I'm offended -- no, I'm not married. 15· · · ·Q.· ·Do you have any dependent parents or 16· ·dependent children? 17· · · ·A.· ·No. 18· · · ·Q.· ·And were you ever married? 19· · · ·A.· ·No. 20· · · ·Q.· ·With respect to your employment history, I 21· ·want to just show you Page 1 of your disability 22· ·application.· Just for clarification purposes, 23· ·there is something that says date of probationary 24· ·appointment and date of regular appointment.· Can ·1· ·you take a look at that because I think the dates ·2· ·might be mismatched because it says your regular ·3· ·appointment was a year before your probationary. ·4· · · ·A.· ·Oh, yeah, I guess I misunderstood that. ·5· ·So I was hired on September 23rd, 2013. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Okay. ·7· · · ·A.· ·And then I was taken off of probationary ·8· ·December 2014.· So I think I got those backwards is ·9· ·what it was. 10· · · ·Q.· ·That's fine. 11· · · · · · You testified earlier that prior to 12· ·becoming employed with the city of McHenry, you 13· ·underwent a fitness for duty or power test? 14· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 15· · · ·Q.· ·Does the city of McHenry require its 16· ·police officers to undergo any additional fitness 17· ·for duty evaluations throughout the tenure of their 18· ·employment? 19· · · ·A.· ·No. 20· · · ·Q.· ·With respect to your credible service and, 21· ·again, these are questions more for my edification, 22· ·did you have any major gaps in terms of your 23· ·employment from the time that you were hired to the 24· ·time that you were terminated? ·1· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am.· I'm sorry -- ·2· · · ·Q.· ·Like in terms of suspensions, did you go ·3· ·back into the military? ·4· · · ·A.· ·Oh, no.· No, ma'am. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·So no major gaps in service until this ·6· ·issue? ·7· · · ·A.· ·I apologize.· No, no major gaps, ma'am. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·And you indicated that you filed for a ·9· ·nonduty disability pension only. 10· · · · · · Do you wish to amend that application 11· ·today? 12· · · ·A.· ·No. 13· · · ·MR. EAMES:· No. 14· ·BY MS. GOODLOE: 15· · · ·Q.· ·Did you purchase any sort of military 16· ·service? 17· · · ·A.· ·Like buy back pension related stuff?· No, 18· ·ma'am. 19· · · ·Q.· ·And your date last worked, can you 20· ·reconfirm that for us? 21· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· Would you like the date last worked 22· ·full duty, light duty? 23· · · ·Q.· ·Full duty. 24· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am.· The date last worked full ·1· ·duty I believe to be on December 1st, 2017. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·And then can you provide us with a ·3· ·chronology from that point on what you were doing? ·4· ·Because you indicated you went to light duty and ·5· ·then you I believe attempted to go back to full ·6· ·duty and then eventually were off and then ·7· ·terminated? ·8· · · ·A.· ·Absolutely.· So after I went off full duty ·9· ·and I was advised I needed to, you know, rest my 10· ·back and everything, I did continue to go to the 11· ·appointments as we kind of discussed.· During the 12· ·time of the appointments, I was also doing rest. I 13· ·was told I needed to rest, don't be physical, don't 14· ·work out, and so forth. 15· · · · · · So I went all the way until June and I 16· ·knew I was feeling slightly better, enough to maybe 17· ·go to light duty, so I asked the chain of command 18· ·upstairs if I can go to light duty advising them 19· ·that I still wasn't fit to physically perform the 20· ·duties of a patrol officer. 21· · · ·Q.· ·And then what date in June did you go on 22· ·light duty? 23· · · ·A.· ·It was late June.· I apologize, I don't 24· ·remember the date exactly. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·And so then you went on light duty ·2· ·beginning sometime at the end of June in 2018. ·3· · · · · · And for how long did you remain on light ·4· ·duty? ·5· · · ·A.· ·I made it until August 15th I think it ·6· ·was. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·And on August -- around August 15th or ·8· ·thereafter, were you taken off of work completely? ·9· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· My doctor had advised again that I 10· ·should be taken off work because light duty was 11· ·affecting me as well. 12· · · ·Q.· ·You testified earlier that you were 13· ·talking about a patrol stop where you were walking 14· ·funny and somebody was telling you why are you even 15· ·doing this and also an incident where there was an 16· ·intoxicated person -- 17· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 18· · · ·Q.· ·-- trying to beat you up. 19· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 20· · · ·Q.· ·So were you on unrestricted duty on those 21· ·dates? 22· · · ·A.· ·That was in December -- or November 2017. 23· · · ·Q.· ·So just prior to, okay. 24· · · ·A.· ·So I was on light duty in 2018. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·So those incidents were prior to the ·2· ·purported incidents for disability purposes? ·3· · · ·A.· ·Those occurred after my injury in ·4· ·September of 2017, but before I went off of full ·5· ·duty in December of 2017. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Thank you for the clarification. ·7· · · ·A.· ·No problem. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·And so you went back to light duty, were ·9· ·taken off of light duty for a period of time. 10· · · · · · Did you ever return to light duty after 11· ·August of 2018? 12· · · ·A.· ·No. 13· · · ·Q.· ·And you indicated earlier you were 14· ·terminated by the municipality due to your failure 15· ·to be able to perform the full and unrestricted 16· ·duties of a police officer; is that correct? 17· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 18· · · ·Q.· ·What was the termination date? 19· · · ·A.· ·February 5th, 2019. 20· · · ·Q.· ·And from the time you were taken off of 21· ·light duty until February 5th, 2019, were you just 22· ·on unpaid leave of some sort? 23· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 24· · · · · · Could I clarify? ·1· · · ·Q.· ·Sure. ·2· · · ·A.· ·I think there was a three-day window where ·3· ·I had like three days of comp time.· So it was ·4· ·three days after August 15th and then I went on ·5· ·paid discretionary leave. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Between 12/1 of 17 to February 5th, 2019, ·7· ·were you, aside from light duty, I assume you were ·8· ·being compensated, were you being compensated in ·9· ·any other way, shape, or form during that period? 10· ·Were you burning accumulated time? 11· · · ·A.· ·No. 12· · · ·Q.· ·No? 13· · · ·A.· ·Again, I will clarify.· I'm sorry. 14· ·December 1st until mid December, there was, again, 15· ·some vacation time there I used.· I don't know the 16· ·exact date, but there was I think a couple weeks of 17· ·time there. 18· · · ·Q.· ·I would assume that the HR department of 19· ·the municipality would be able to supplement it. 20· ·Great. 21· · · · · · And just for verification purposes, the 22· ·date of your disability pension application is 23· ·August 2nd of 2018; is that correct?· It's on 24· ·Page 6 of the disability application, Exhibit 1. ·1· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am.· That's the day I filled it ·2· ·out.· So if I can clarify again.· I submitted it on ·3· ·August 13th, 2018, to Jeffrey Foerster. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·So it was received by Jeffrey Foerster on ·5· ·August 13th of 2018? ·6· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·Did you ever maintain any outside ·8· ·employment from the city of McHenry while you were ·9· ·here as a police officer? 10· · · ·A.· ·While I was here as a police officer, no, 11· ·ma'am. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Are you aware of any full-time light duty 13· ·positions within the city of McHenry Police 14· ·Department? 15· · · ·A.· ·There was a full-time light duty position 16· ·which I applied for in 20 -- I'm sorry -- late 2017 17· ·when I first went off.· It was for a public affairs 18· ·officer. 19· · · ·Q.· ·Is that with the police department or the 20· ·municipality? 21· · · ·A.· ·Sorry.· With the police department. 22· · · ·Q.· ·You applied for it, but were not given 23· ·that job? 24· · · ·A.· ·I was unable to make the interview due to ·1· ·my injury. ·2· · · ·Q.· ·And so no full-time light duty position ·3· ·has ever been offered to you; is that correct? ·4· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·With respect to your compensation, salary ·6· ·history, we obviously can speak with HR, but could ·7· ·you tell the Board and myself what was your salary ·8· ·as of February 5th, 2019?· What was your salary as ·9· ·of the last time you were working? 10· · · ·A.· ·I wish I could tell you that.· I don't 11· ·know offhand. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Okay.· No problem. 13· · · · · · Given the fact that this is a nonduty 14· ·disability claim, you have never filed a worker's 15· ·comp claim with regard to your back injury? 16· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 17· · · ·Q.· ·With respect to your prior military 18· ·service, have you been discharged? 19· · · ·A.· ·I was honorably discharged, yes, ma'am. 20· · · ·Q.· ·Did you ever seek any sort or form of 21· ·disability with the VA or the military? 22· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 23· · · ·Q.· ·And what were you awarded? 24· · · ·A.· ·Initially in 2012, I was awarded for three ·1· ·things.· I think it was 10 percent for my hearing, ·2· ·10 percent for my back I believe, and then ·3· ·20 percent for depression, but I don't know those ·4· ·numbers exactly.· It's somewhere around there. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·Okay. ·6· · · ·A.· ·Actually, if I could elaborate on that. ·7· ·I'm sorry. ·8· · · · · · So then after I got hurt again this time, ·9· ·I went back for a reevaluation and they did 10· ·increase my back to 40 percent and then my PTSD 11· ·depression was increased as well. 12· · · ·Q.· ·We discussed your prior medical history 13· ·with respect to your back from your military in 14· ·2009 and then in 2015, you started some 15· ·chiropractic consults.· In 2016, it seems like 16· ·through your chiropractic consults, you were doing 17· ·better. 18· · · ·A.· ·Yeah. 19· · · ·Q.· ·Do you have any other treatment history 20· ·with respect to your back condition prior to 21· ·2009?· Did you ever have any back problems prior to 22· ·2009? 23· · · ·A.· ·Not that I recall. 24· · · ·Q.· ·So you were never treated for any back ·1· ·problems prior to 2009 when you were in the ·2· ·military? ·3· · · ·A.· ·Oh, no, no. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·You indicated that obviously your back ·5· ·condition has vacillated over time.· The purported ·6· ·onset of your condition that you placed in your ·7· ·application was around September 25th of 2017 when ·8· ·you were doing a cardio workout? ·9· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 10· · · ·Q.· ·You testified earlier that you were going 11· ·for a light jog? 12· · · ·A.· ·Yes. 13· · · ·Q.· ·Just to make me feel really bad for 14· ·myself, what does a light jog entail in terms of 15· ·miles? 16· · · ·A.· ·So Glacier has multiple trails.· I believe 17· ·I was on the 5 mile trail that day which is the max 18· ·trail.· It took a while.· It wasn't like a typical 19· ·run where you might be able to do five miles at a 20· ·ten minute pace, so 50 minutes.· It was probably 21· ·double that.· So I would say somewhere around two 22· ·hours of a jog. 23· · · ·Q.· ·And you -- again, just to clarify, you 24· ·called in to work sick that evening or for your ·1· ·next shift? ·2· · · ·A.· ·Yes.· I called in unable to work. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·I believe that your legal counsel gave us ·4· ·a fairly full recitation as to the medical ·5· ·treatment you received in response. ·6· · · · · · To be brief, it sounds like in the wake of ·7· ·your back condition flaring up, you went to chiro ·8· ·treatments, you went to VA medical consultations, ·9· ·you obtained a new MRI, you underwent additional 10· ·physical therapy, it sounds like you had some neuro 11· ·consults, some surgical consults, you've undergone 12· ·three steroid injections? 13· · · ·A.· ·Four. 14· · · ·Q.· ·Four.· And also an EMG study? 15· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am.· And there was -- 16· ·additionally, I tried acupuncture as well. 17· · · ·Q.· ·You testified earlier that when you 18· ·undergo the epidural steroid injections, you would 19· ·feel some relief in pain and then it would dwindle. 20· · · · · · With all four injections, was it the same 21· ·result ultimately? 22· · · ·A.· ·Eventually, it will dwindle.· What 23· ·happens, though, is the amount of time does depend. 24· ·So as I mentioned earlier, the first one was like a ·1· ·few weeks.· The second one lasted, I don't know the ·2· ·exact number, but a couple of months, a few months, ·3· ·and the third one lasted like four months.· This ·4· ·one I am on a month-and-a-half or so right now, and ·5· ·I am starting to get pain back in my legs and my ·6· ·back. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·What are your future plans for medical ·8· ·treatment for your back? ·9· · · ·A.· ·I have to continue to listen to my VA 10· ·doctor, so whatever they say goes.· Right now they 11· ·took me off of physical therapy as of December and 12· ·I was advised to keep doing the stretches, though, 13· ·by the physical therapist.· He gave me a list of 14· ·stretches to do.· I need to check in with him from 15· ·time to time just to make sure everything is going 16· ·okay and if there is a problem, we will continue to 17· ·treat it there. 18· · · · · · There is a possibility in the future for 19· ·surgery if it's needed, but we'll talk about that 20· ·when we get to it as far as the VA goes and the 21· ·treatment goes. 22· · · ·Q.· ·Can you describe to the Board what type of 23· ·surgical intervention you would undergo? 24· · · ·A.· ·So I was explained it would be like a disc ·1· ·fusion where they would fuse the L5 and S1 ·2· ·together.· If they fuse the L5 and S1 together, the ·3· ·reason they are hesitant as well as myself is you ·4· ·fuse L5-S1 together, that's a very like -- I guess ·5· ·you call major part of where you move your body. ·6· ·So if they fuse that together, the one above it is ·7· ·going to have to take a lot of the movement and ·8· ·eventually, that one is going to need a fusion and ·9· ·so forth and so forth. 10· · · · · · So 36 is relatively young to have a 11· ·fusion, so we are trying to prevent that by using 12· ·the alternatives such as epidurals and physical 13· ·therapy. 14· · · ·Q.· ·Have you ever heard of something called a 15· ·functional capacity evaluation? 16· · · ·A.· ·I don't believe so. 17· · · ·Q.· ·So it's safe to say the municipality has 18· ·never asked you to undergo a functional capacity 19· ·evaluation or any fitness for duty evaluation prior 20· ·to them terminating you? 21· · · ·A.· ·Correct. 22· · · ·Q.· ·Has there been a change in your condition 23· ·and symptoms since you stopped working as a police 24· ·officer? ·1· · · ·A.· ·As I had mentioned earlier, too, I do feel ·2· ·like I've gotten better.· There's good days and ·3· ·there's bad days, but just having to either, you ·4· ·knee, wear all the gear or just to sit for long ·5· ·periods of time or stand for long periods of time, ·6· ·I think that has helped the improvement. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·Going back to light duty.· When you were ·8· ·on light duty, what issues were you having to ·9· ·necessitate you being taken back off? 10· · · ·A.· ·Well, as far as like my back goes, my back 11· ·pain was increasing again.· It's kind of hard to 12· ·sit in chairs.· I am wiggling around all the time. 13· ·Once that pain starts up, then it's okay if I am 14· ·standing, then there is pain.· So basically, I was 15· ·having pains in my lower back and into my legs 16· ·again.· It was starting to increase at that point. 17· · · ·Q.· ·You indicated earlier that you used to 18· ·enjoy working out, lifting weights. 19· · · · · · Do you still go to the gym? 20· · · ·A.· ·I wish I could.· I have not, no. 21· · · ·Q.· ·So there is no way that we will find you 22· ·pumping 300 pounds of iron, right? 23· · · ·A.· ·I wish, but you won't, no, ma'am. 24· · · ·Q.· ·You indicated earlier that you used to ·1· ·ride a motorcycle.· I believe there's some ·2· ·information in the record as to the same. ·3· · · · · · Do you still ride a motorcycle? ·4· · · ·A.· ·No, ma'am, I haven't. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·Do you own a motorcycle? ·6· · · ·A.· ·I do. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·It has not been driven? ·8· · · ·A.· ·No, ma'am. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·Any other physical activities or 10· ·activities outside of employment that you currently 11· ·are doing that you used to? 12· · · ·A.· ·Physical activities, no, ma'am.· No.· You 13· ·know, I would like to walk and I have a dog, so I 14· ·take my dog for walks as far as physical goes.· And 15· ·when I say we take him for walks, our block is 16· ·about a third of a mile around and we don't do half 17· ·of it.· I will do that about three times a day.· If 18· ·I break it up, it's easier. 19· · · ·Q.· ·In terms of the medications, you were 20· ·prescribed Flexeril, Gabapentin. 21· · · · · · Do you continue to be on those three times 22· ·a day? 23· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 24· · · ·Q.· ·Are you on any other medications? ·1· · · ·A.· ·Any other medications? ·2· · · ·Q.· ·Yes. ·3· · · ·A.· ·No, ma'am.· They took me off of Celebrex ·4· ·which, as I mentioned earlier, is kind of like ·5· ·antiinflammatory for arthritis stuff.· They took me ·6· ·off because they determined that with blood work, ·7· ·the kidney levels might be a little high.· Some ·8· ·kidney levels may be affected by it. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·Were you ever prescribed any narcotics for 10· ·pain? 11· · · ·A.· ·No, I refuse them. 12· · · ·Q.· ·Are you currently working in any other 13· ·capacity? 14· · · ·A.· ·No, ma'am. 15· · · ·Q.· ·As your counsel pointed out, there are 16· ·three independent medical evaluation reports. 17· · · · · · You did undergo those three independent 18· ·medical evaluations and have had the opportunity to 19· ·review those reports? 20· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am. 21· · · ·Q.· ·There were certain questions in certain 22· ·reports about your willingness to return to work as 23· ·a police officer. 24· · · · · · If you could be a police officer today, ·1· ·would you? ·2· · · ·A.· ·If I was able to, absolutely. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·But you feel that you're disabled from ·4· ·service based on your back? ·5· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·6· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· I have nothing further. ·7· · · ·MR. WEISHAMPEL:· Just a few. ·8· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION ·9· ·BY MR. WEISHAMPEL: 10· · · ·Q.· ·Your November 2017 MRI showed an annular 11· ·tear, correct? 12· · · ·A.· ·I believe it showed multiple, but L5-S1 I 13· ·believe there was one as well. 14· · · ·Q.· ·How did that resolve or how did those 15· ·resolve? 16· · · ·A.· ·Well, they mentioned that they would 17· ·resolve or the issues would go away within five to 18· ·six months of rest. 19· · · ·Q.· ·You had treatment with a Dr. Andrew 20· ·Harrison in March through May of 2018, correct? 21· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 22· · · ·Q.· ·Can you describe how he treated you? 23· · · ·A.· ·Dr. Anthony Harrison, he is a 24· ·chiropractor, so the VA ended up sending me to him ·1· ·as opposed to Stachowiak because it was within ·2· ·their list of approved doctors you could send ·3· ·veterans to.· They sent me to him and he did three ·4· ·types of procedures on me, if you will.· He did ·5· ·chiropractic care.· He did -- I don't remember what ·6· ·it's called, but basically, it's where they try to ·7· ·stretch you out.· I can't think of the name ·8· ·offhand.· If you give me just a second, I will ·9· ·remember it. 10· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Manipulation? 11· · · ·THE WITNESS:· Yes, he basically did 12· ·manipulation where they try to stretch out my body. 13· · · · · · The other thing was electric -- like a 14· ·TENS unit.· He had a TENS unit on me and we 15· ·continued that treatment. 16· ·BY MR. WEISHAMPEL: 17· · · ·Q.· ·The last visit in the record is May 8th, 18· ·2018. 19· · · · · · Did you see him after that? 20· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, I've seen him after that. 21· · · ·Q.· ·How recently was your last visit? 22· · · ·A.· ·I don't have an exact date.· May or 23· ·-- offhand, I don't know, but it was late last 24· ·year. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·In the record, this is Bates stamped 884, ·2· ·you had an appointment with Chandra Gupta Vedak. ·3· · · · · · You saw him for psychotherapy ·4· ·appointments, correct? ·5· · · ·A.· ·Dr. Vedak, yes. ·6· · · ·Q.· ·Do you remember mentioning to him that you ·7· ·wanted to go to Texas to help the hurricane ·8· ·victims? ·9· · · ·A.· ·Absolutely. 10· · · ·Q.· ·You felt capable of that at that time? 11· · · ·A.· ·That's right. 12· · · ·Q.· ·That was I believe three weeks before the 13· ·running injury? 14· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. 15· · · ·Q.· ·And just if you sort of have that, your 16· ·condition in early September of 2017 in mind, can 17· ·you just compare your symptoms now to that time? 18· · · ·A.· ·Well, I would like to clarify the 19· ·conditions didn't start until late 2017, so after 20· ·the Texas incident. 21· · · ·Q.· ·Correct. 22· · · ·A.· ·You want me to describe the difference 23· ·between -- 24· · · ·Q.· ·Your symptoms now and immediately prior to ·1· ·the running incident. ·2· · · ·A.· ·I'm still worse than right before the ·3· ·running incident.· I still get pains in my back. ·4· ·Like I said, nearly every day, I get them in my ·5· ·legs which causes me a lot of pain and discomfort. ·6· ·So I would say that the condition, though improved, ·7· ·is not where I was before the accident, incident. ·8· · · ·MR. WEISHAMPEL:· That's all I have. ·9· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you.· We will open the 10· ·forum to the Board members to ask any questions 11· ·that they have. 12· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I have a couple. 13· · · · · · · · · · · EXAMINATION 14· ·BY MR. CLESEN: 15· · · ·Q.· ·You were talking about your physical 16· ·examinations to become a police officer and you 17· ·were just talking about the power test. 18· · · · · · Was there a medical exam performed prior 19· ·to being hired that they confirmed that you could 20· ·meet the physical standards of performing the job 21· ·functions? 22· · · ·A.· ·Thanks for the question.· Yeah, there was. 23· ·In fact, I was sent out to Centegra to confirm that 24· ·I was able to lift a certain amount of weights and ·1· ·that I was able to bend down and pick it up ·2· ·correctly and a few other things. ·3· · · ·Q.· ·And you passed all those? ·4· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·5· · · ·Q.· ·And obviously they -- the city of McHenry ·6· ·hired you based off of that? ·7· · · ·A.· ·Yes, sir. ·8· · · ·Q.· ·You also talked about -- and I want you to ·9· ·clarify this because I think that you might have 10· ·been a little confused about it. 11· · · · · · You said you applied for a light duty 12· ·position as a PR officer.· The PR officer in 13· ·McHenry is a full duty position. 14· · · ·A.· ·Oh, it is, okay. 15· · · ·Q.· ·The person is -- are you sure -- like I 16· ·just want you to clarify that that was not a light 17· ·duty application. 18· · · ·A.· ·No, again, thank you then.· Then to 19· ·clarify, I never did apply for a light duty 20· ·position.· I guess my clarification was that is I 21· ·was assuming it was a light duty position as it's 22· ·an office or desk job is what I thought. 23· · · ·Q.· ·You thought you might have been -- had a 24· ·better shot of continuing as a police officer given ·1· ·that position because that position does not ·2· ·typically wear a vest or a duty belt? ·3· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·But if you had to wear a duty belt, you're ·5· ·saying that that puts more strain on your lower ·6· ·back and, therefore, more inability to perform the ·7· ·job? ·8· · · ·A.· ·That's correct.· Not just a duty belt, ·9· ·though, but also the vest. 10· · · ·Q.· ·As you sit here right now, I notice you 11· ·have been moving around in your chair. 12· · · · · · I mean, do you have a pain level right now 13· ·as you sit in front of us? 14· · · ·A.· ·I am in some pretty good discomfort right 15· ·now. 16· · · ·Q.· ·Where would you throw it in the 1 to 10 17· ·scale that they usually use? 18· · · ·A.· ·Right now, I am probably at a 5 to a 6. 19· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· And I know you asked a question 20· ·about salary.· I have that information if you want 21· ·that.· So you asked about February of '19 where he 22· ·would have been.· If that would have been after 23· ·five years, that's $85,275.02 after five years 24· ·under the previous contract. ·1· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you. ·2· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· That's all I got. ·3· · · · · · Marc? ·4· · · ·MR. FISHER:· You can pass me for a second. ·5· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· I don't have any questions. ·6· · · · · · · · · · · EXAMINATION ·7· ·BY MS. BUSS: ·8· · · ·Q.· ·Do you perform duties at home?· Can you do ·9· ·anything around the house? 10· · · ·A.· ·Yes, ma'am.· I kind of hit on that a 11· ·little bit earlier, like vacuuming and stuff like 12· ·that.· Vacuuming is sometimes kind of difficult. 13· ·And I do have a dog, so I have to take him for 14· ·walks which also is a difficult task.· And there 15· ·are some things I can't do at home.· If I need to 16· ·get stuff from, say, the attic, I have to call my 17· ·brother or call my neighbor and stuff like that. 18· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· He asked what I was thinking. 19· · · · · · · · · · · EXAMINATION 20· ·BY MR. FISHER: 21· · · ·Q.· ·Back to Page 174 that you referred to 22· ·earlier.· I just want to clarify something in here. 23· ·Maybe it's a typo. 24· · · ·A.· ·Absolutely. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·This discussed -- this is from ·2· ·November 8th, 2017, and it discusses that you are ·3· ·working in construction. ·4· · · ·A.· ·Yeah, absolutely.· I'd love to clarify ·5· ·that.· Somehow my doctor at the VA got under the ·6· ·assumption that I was construction.· However, there ·7· ·are records in here before and after indicating ·8· ·that I claimed my profession as a police officer. ·9· ·In fact, that day when I checked into the VA -- do 10· ·you mind if I run through this? 11· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Go ahead. 12· · · ·THE WITNESS:· Cool.· There should be -- if you 13· ·give me a minute, I will find it.· But there are 14· ·notes in here of what your career is, and it's 15· ·always generally said police officer.· So he has 16· ·been -- 17· ·BY MR. FISHER: 18· · · ·Q.· ·Hang on one second.· Page 177 says 19· ·employment, police officer. 20· · · ·A.· ·So how he got construction worker, I can't 21· ·answer that. 22· · · ·Q.· ·So you have never done side jobs or 23· ·anything outside work as a construction worker? 24· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·You've never had any other outside ·2· ·employment while working as a police officer? ·3· · · ·A.· ·No. ·4· · · ·Q.· ·You have never done any other jobs that ·5· ·brought in revenue? ·6· · · ·A.· ·I made T shirts on the side. ·7· · · ·Q.· ·Are you still? ·8· · · ·A.· ·I do. ·9· · · ·Q.· ·Where are you doing those at? 10· · · ·A.· ·At my house. 11· · · ·Q.· ·What does that entail? 12· · · ·A.· ·So my T shirt machine pretty much does it 13· ·for me.· It's called a Hotronix by Stahls' Express. 14· ·What I do is I make a graphic design.· I print it 15· ·up onto a piece of vinyl.· I put the vinyl on the 16· ·shirt, I put the shirt on the press, I hit a button 17· ·that puts it down, presses it for 15 seconds, pops 18· ·it up.· I take the shirt off and I unpeel the 19· ·lining to the vinyl, if you will. 20· · · ·Q.· ·Is there any lifting, bending, twisting 21· ·involved in this? 22· · · ·A.· ·Not much, no. 23· · · ·Q.· ·Any?· Yes or no? 24· · · ·A.· ·No, no. ·1· · · ·Q.· ·There is no like getting the machine off, ·2· ·you're twisting? ·3· · · ·A.· ·No.· Like I said, the machine is ·4· ·automatic.· I press a button and it goes down. ·5· ·Press a button and it goes back up. ·6· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Okay. ·7· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION ·8· ·BY MS. GOODLOE: ·9· · · ·Q.· ·Who are you making the T shirts for? 10· · · ·A.· ·Anyone who needs them.· I have done them 11· ·for the police department.· I didn't make any 12· ·money.· They did the Polar Plunge, so I made the 13· ·Polar Plunge shirts.· I make my friends shirts all 14· ·the time.· I make anybody who might want a shirt, a 15· ·shirt. 16· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION 17· ·BY MS. BUSS: 18· · · ·Q.· ·Do you sit at a computer? 19· · · ·A.· ·It depends.· I can sit or stand. 20· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Anything else? 21· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I have a couple more follow ups if 22· ·anyone wants to go first. 23· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Go ahead. 24 ·1· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION ·2· ·BY MR. CLESEN: ·3· · · ·Q.· ·Reading through the three independent ·4· ·medical examinations that are here, it appears that ·5· ·obviously one doctor has his opinion, Dr. Tack, ·6· ·that your PTSD relates to your back injury. ·7· · · · · · Do you want to have any explanation about ·8· ·that, about why -- what your thoughts about his ·9· ·medical opinion? 10· · · ·A.· ·I really don't know what his thoughts were 11· ·because he didn't even ask me about it.· So here we 12· ·are at this appointment where he asked me about my 13· ·back and we talk about it for I don't know what it 14· ·was, a good 45 minutes maybe and he never asked me 15· ·about anything of PTSD related, yet he comes to 16· ·this opinion.· I don't know how he gets the opinion 17· ·if he doesn't even examine me for it. 18· · · ·Q.· ·Do you believe he got that from your 19· ·medical records? 20· · · ·A.· ·Oh, yeah, absolutely.· He read the medical 21· ·records and made an opinion based on that. 22· · · ·Q.· ·And the other two, and I'm not sure if it 23· ·was in both, but it was definitely in one of them, 24· ·the doctor described your running incident as not ·1· ·necessarily much of an injury, per se, as just a ·2· ·continuing aggravation of the previous condition. ·3· ·I forgot how he described it, the bulging discs and ·4· ·everything like that. ·5· · · · · · Is that how you -- you had a condition ·6· ·that was obviously -- that occurred in 2009, you ·7· ·were able to pass the medical exam to be a police ·8· ·officer, and that the running aggravated it to the ·9· ·point beyond correction back down to the level 10· ·where you were when you started employment?· Is 11· ·that how you characterize it? 12· · · ·A.· ·I think that's a fair assumption. 13· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· All right.· That's all I got. 14· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION 15· ·BY MR. FOERSTER: 16· · · ·Q.· ·So you said you're getting a disability 17· ·from the military? 18· · · ·A.· ·That's correct. 19· · · ·Q.· ·How much is that a month? 20· · · ·A.· ·That's $1,800 a month. 21· · · ·Q.· ·1,800, okay. 22· · · · · · · · · · · ·EXAMINATION 23· ·BY MS. KRANZ: 24· · · ·Q.· ·And 40 percent of that is due to back ·1· ·pain? ·2· · · ·A.· ·40 percent is back pain, yes, ma'am.· What ·3· ·it comes out to, I don't have the exact numbers, ·4· ·but there is a certain percentage that is just the ·5· ·lower back itself which is like we will call that ·6· ·10 percent, for example.· Those numbers aren't ·7· ·actually accurate. ·8· · · · · · Then there is a certain percentage for ·9· ·each leg that is affected due to the lower back. 10· ·So there might be 10 percent of one leg and 20 11· ·percent on the more affected leg being the left 12· ·leg.· That is how that adds up. 13· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Anything further? 14· · · · · · Redirect, counsel? 15· · · ·MR. EAMES:· None. 16· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Do you have any further witnesses 17· ·to call today? 18· · · ·MR. EAMES:· None. 19· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· I don't believe the Board has any 20· ·additional witnesses to call.· If you want the 21· ·opportunity to make a brief closing argument, go 22· ·ahead. 23· · · ·MR. EAMES:· Sure. 24 ·1· · · · · · · · · · CLOSING STATEMENT ·2· ·BY MR. EAMES: ·3· · · ·Q.· ·Thank you, everybody, for your attention ·4· ·and your questions.· It's always great to see a ·5· ·really engaged Board.· Much appreciated.· Shows ·6· ·you're taking this seriously. ·7· · · · · · So what we're here today to talk about is ·8· ·the medical question.· Our burden is the greater ·9· ·weight of the evidence.· We have two independent 10· ·medical examiners in favor of disability and one 11· ·not.· That's a lazy argument to just say, well, two 12· ·versus one and that's it and that's what we do. 13· ·There is much, more evidence to consider 14· ·objectively and subjectively. 15· · · · · · Now, the most important thing about this, 16· ·one, the one versus two, this Tack independent 17· ·medical exam is that if you actually read his 18· ·opinion and he's asked can he perform full duty 19· ·police work, he says, yes, I think he can, however, 20· ·that's not to say that he won't be in significant 21· ·pain doing so.· It's a ridiculous opinion to 22· ·suggest that somebody can do full duty police work 23· ·while being in extensive pain while performing 24· ·those duties. ·1· · · · · · You heard Sean testify with regard to ·2· ·trying to attempt to subdue a drunken elderly ·3· ·suspect and he felt he was incapable of doing so ·4· ·because of pain.· Does this sound safe?· Does this ·5· ·sound appropriate to suggest that acknowledging ·6· ·somebody from a medical standpoint is in a lot of ·7· ·pain undisputedly so is capable of full duty police ·8· ·work?· It's an absurd opinion not to mention his ·9· ·opinions pertaining to the PTSD as discussed, but 10· ·also as the officer acknowledged, the error in the 11· ·VA record which said he worked in construction. 12· · · · · · There was another error in the VA record 13· ·earlier which indicated that Sean said this was a 14· ·work injury.· It was in the VA records.· Sean has 15· ·not once ever claimed that it was a work injury. 16· · · · · · Have you? 17· · · ·THE WITNESS:· That's correct. 18· · · ·MR. EAMES:· We are not claiming a line of duty 19· ·disability pension and it's absurd as Dr. Tack did 20· ·to try to hold that against Sean and say he's 21· ·somehow being disingenuous because at one point 22· ·there's a reference in the medical record that said 23· ·this was related to work, inconsistent, no 24· ·disability.· It's disgusting. ·1· · · · · · Now, the other two opinions which should ·2· ·carry greater weight both indicate for different ·3· ·reasons that this man is disabled.· These are ·4· ·objective injuries.· Yes, pain is subjective.· We ·5· ·have MRIs, we have positive EMGs.· You can't fake ·6· ·an EMG, you can't fake radiculopathy, you can't ·7· ·fake an MRI.· The vast majority of all the credible ·8· ·evidence shows disability. ·9· · · · · · He gave a sincere effort.· He worked 10· ·through his pain with a chiropractor.· He was doing 11· ·great.· It took a turn for the worse leaving him 12· ·unable to perform his duties. 13· · · · · · As Dr. Gleason and Dr. Alpert both say, 14· ·unquestionably he's incapable of full duty work and 15· ·he will never improve to the extent with surgery or 16· ·without surgery to being able to be a full duty 17· ·police officer. 18· · · · · · For that reason based upon the greater 19· ·weight of the evidence, we are asking this Board to 20· ·award him a not-on-duty disability pension. 21· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Thank you, Mr. Eames. 22· · · · · · At this time, the Board has one of three 23· ·options.· We can deliberate in open session 24· ·pursuant to 2(c)(4) 4 or 2(c)(11) of the Open ·1· ·Meetings Act, make a motion to adjourn into ·2· ·executive session, or if the Board needs additional ·3· ·time to review the evidence that was entered here ·4· ·today, the transcripts, we can adjourn and ·5· ·reconvene at a later date in time. ·6· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I make a motion to move into ·7· ·executive session. ·8· · · ·MR. FISHER:· I will second that. ·9· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Trustee Buss? 10· · · ·MS. BUSS:· I agree. 11· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Foerster? 12· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Yes. 13· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Fisher? 14· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Yes. 15· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Clesen? 16· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Yes. 17· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Kranz? 18· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Yes. 19· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· We are going to go off the 20· ·open session record at 10:13 a.m. 21· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · (Recess taken.) 22· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· It's 10:46 a.m.· Is there a 23· ·motion to go back into open session? 24· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· I'll entertain a motion to go ·1· ·back into open session. ·2· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I second. ·3· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· No.· I'll entertain a motion. ·4· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Oh, you're entertaining. ·5· · · · · · I will make said motion. ·6· · · ·MR. FISHER:· I will second it. ·7· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Moved by Nick, seconded by Marc. ·8· · · · · · Any further discussion?· Do we have to do ·9· ·a roll call? 10· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· All in favor. 11· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· All in favor? 12· · · ·MS. BUSS:· Aye. 13· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Aye. 14· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Aye. 15· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Aye. 16· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Opposed same sign.· Back in open 17· ·session. 18· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Correct. 19· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· So I'll entertain a motion about 20· ·Officer Klechak's disability pension. 21· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I make a motion to approve Officer 22· ·Klechak's application for a non-duty disability 23· ·pension. 24· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Is there a second? ·1· · · ·MR. FISHER:· I'll second it. ·2· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Moved by Nick, seconded by Marc. ·3· · · · · · Is there any further discussion?· If not, ·4· ·I will take a roll call vote. ·5· · · · · · Roll call vote on the motion to grant ·6· ·Sean Klechak a non-duty related disability pension. ·7· · · · · · Ann Buss? ·8· · · ·MS. BUSS:· I agree.· Yes. ·9· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Marc Fisher? 10· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Yes. 11· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Nick Clesen? 12· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Yes. 13· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Cheryl Kranz? 14· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Yes. 15· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· And Jeff Foerster, yes. 16· · · · · · The motion carries five to zero. 17· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Congratulations, Officer 18· ·Klechak or Mr. Klechak.· The Board has awarded you 19· ·a non-duty disability pension.· It is going to be a 20· ·pension based upon 50 percent of your salary as of 21· ·the date of your removal from payroll.· It is going 22· ·to take effect as soon as administratively 23· ·possible, but a couple things have to happen first. 24· · · · · · Number one, the Pension Board has to get ·1· ·together with municipality to confirm and verify ·2· ·your salary when you were last paid because you ·3· ·indicated that you were on light duty for a period ·4· ·of time and then crank the numbers.· By state ·5· ·statute, the treasurer has to sign off on these ·6· ·calculations as does the Board. ·7· · · · · · I don't see any reason why Mr. Klechak ·8· ·couldn't go into pay status before the final ·9· ·decision is rendered and approved.· I believe that 10· ·is your protocol in the past, but it's up to you. 11· · · · · · Speaking of which, we have to under the 12· ·law prepare a final written decision and order. 13· ·That is going to become the final appealable 14· ·decision in this claim.· It's going to take me a 15· ·while to go through all this, write up the 16· ·decision, and also get the transcript.· When I have 17· ·it written, the Board will have to either hold a 18· ·special meeting or at the next regular meeting vote 19· ·to approve that.· So just know that it's going to 20· ·be a couple month's before you're hearing from me 21· ·with the written decision order that has been 22· ·approved. 23· · · · · · We will work with, again, the municipality 24· ·and our accountants to getting you into pay status, ·1· ·but it will take a couple weeks time at least to ·2· ·make sure we have everything finalized. ·3· · · ·THE WITNESS:· Thank you. ·4· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Under the law, you do have the ·5· ·obligation of undergoing annual reevaluations for ·6· ·verifying the continuance of your disability.· It's ·7· ·up to the Board as to what policies and procedures ·8· ·they have implemented with respect to the same.· We ·9· ·ask for your cooperation in undergoing those 10· ·evaluations.· They should take place around once a 11· ·year and up until age 50. 12· · · · · · Do you have any other questions before we 13· ·adjourn? 14· · · ·THE WITNESS:· I don't, no. 15· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Is there a motion to adjourn? 16· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· I'll make said motion. 17· · · ·MR. FISHER:· I will second. 18· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Moved by Marc, seconded by 19· ·-- moved by Nick, seconded by Marc.· Any further 20· ·discussion? 21· · · · · · All in favor say Aye. 22· · · ·MS. BUSS:· Aye. 23· · · ·MR. FISHER:· Aye. 24· · · ·MR. CLESEN:· Aye. ·1· · · ·MS. KRANZ:· Aye. ·2· · · ·MR. FOERSTER:· Opposed same sign. ·3· · · · · · So ordered.· We are adjourned for that ·4· ·meeting. ·5· · · ·MS. GOODLOE:· Okay.· Thank you. ·6· · · · · · · · ·(Hearing concluded at 10:50 a.m.) ·7 ·8 ·9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ·1· ·STATE OF ILLINOIS· ) ·2· · · · · · · · · · · )· ·SS: ·3· ·COUNTY OF C O O K· ) ·4 ·5· · · · · · SHELLY S. RUBAS, being first duly sworn, ·6· ·on oath says that she is a court reporter doing ·7· ·business in the City of Chicago; and that she ·8· ·reported in shorthand the proceedings of said ·9· ·hearing, and that the foregoing is a true and 10· ·correct transcript of her shorthand notes so taken 11· ·as aforesaid, and contains the proceedings given at 12· ·said hearing. 13 14· · · · · · · · ·______________________________ 15· · · · · · · · ·Certified Shorthand Reporter 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Capital Gains Start Date:12/5/2003Difference Percent Date Maturity Initial Rate of FMV at 12/31/2021 by Description of Securties Cusip No. Acquired Date Investment Interest 12/31/2021 Initial Invest. TypeMcHenry Bank & Trust Checking Acct22,532.210.03%McHenry Bank & Trust Budget Stabilization Account500,102.740.77%IL Funds Money Marketvaries76,902.510.12%Corporate Bonds and NotesMicrosoft Corp 594918BR4 8/24/2016 8/8/2026 100,605.00 2.400 104,648.00 4,043.00Southwest Airlines 844741BD97/7/202011/16/2022 254,285.00 2.750 253,475.00(810.00)Delta Air Lines Inc 247361ZJ04/19/20213/15/2022 305,472.00 3.625 300,003.00(5,469.00)Air Lease Corp 00912XBE311/18/20201/15/2022 308,064.00 3.500 300,264.00(7,800.00)General Motors MTN 37046ABV612/7/20206/20/2024 764,887.50 4.250 734,647.50(30,240.00)Wells Fargo Company 949746SK812/9/20201/24/2023 771,585.00 3.069 750,997.50(20,587.50)Boeing Co SR NT 097023CS212/10/20205/1/2023 808,987.50 4.508 783,352.50(25,635.00)Santander Holdings 80282KAS512/10/20; 7/30/211/18/2023 890,297.00 3.400 868,725.50(21,571.50)General Motors Finl 37045XAW612/11/20204/10/2022 516,050.00 3.450 501,530.00(14,520.00)Consolidated Edison 209115AE412/15/202012/1/2023 250,237.50 0.650 247,955.00(2,282.50)Santander Holdings 80282KAT312/18/20203/28/2022 422,280.00 3.700 409,746.24(12,533.76)Peoples United Fin 712704AA312/24/202012/6/2022 209,954.00 3.650 203,868.00(6,086.00)GS Fin Corp Zero 40057FLW23/18/20213/24/2031 500,486.11 0.000 424,767.00(75,719.11)Fulton Financial 360271AJ98/12/202111/15/2024 352,398.06 4.500 342,164.82(10,233.24)Firstmerit Corp 337915AA09/22/20212/4/2023 262,912.50 4.350 258,695.00(4,217.50)Exelon Generation Co 30161MAL710/15/20216/15/2022 348,491.43 4.250 345,438.73(3,052.70)Ford Motor Credit Co 345397ZM810/22/20211/7/2022 606,348.00 5.596 600,420.00(5,928.00)One Gas Inc 68235PAJ710/25/20213/11/2023 500,130.00 0.850 499,420.00(710.00)Regency Energy Part 75886AAQ110/26/202110/1/2022 587,208.30 5.000 581,325.90(5,882.40)Intl Lease Finance 459745GN910/25/21; 12/6/218/15/2022 676,255.00 5.875 670,059.00(6,196.00)Bk Of America MTN 06048WQ6012/3/20216/3/2024 300,000.00 1.000 299,331.00(669.00)General Elec Cap MTN 36962G6S812/8/20211/9/2023 256,065.00 3.100 255,647.50(417.50)9,992,998.90 9,736,481.19(256,517.71)15.00%Foreign Government Bonds Petroleos Mexicanos 71654QBB7 12/9/20; 12/14/20 1/24/2022 977,230.00 4.875 951,615.00(25,615.00)977,230.00 951,615.00(25,615.00) 1.47%Muni BDS-Fixed Non Taxable Illinois St Sales 452227QR5 6/18/2020 6/15/2022 269,050.00 5.000 255,380.00(13,670.00)269,050.00 255,380.00(13,670.00)0.39%Muni BDS-Fixed Taxable Chicago Heights IL 167393NL7 5/28/2020 12/1/2022 100,000.00 3.377 102,218.00 2,218.00 Chicago Heights IL 167393NP8 6/24/2020 12/1/2025 133,593.75 3.653 133,226.25(367.50) Will Cnty IL 969003QY1 12/30/2020 1/1/2028 360,000.00 1.948 360,529.20 529.20 Illinois Fin Auth 45204FEC5 3/24/2021 5/15/2035 100,902.00 3.079 100,794.00(108.00)694,495.75 696,767.452,271.70 1.07%CITY OF MCHENRY POLICE PENSION FUNDLIST OF INVESTMENTS AT DECEMBER 31, 2021 Capital Gains Start Date:12/5/2003Difference Percent Date Maturity Initial Rate of FMV at 12/31/2021 by Description of Securties Cusip No. Acquired Date Investment Interest 12/31/2021 Initial Invest. TypeCITY OF MCHENRY POLICE PENSION FUNDLIST OF INVESTMENTS AT DECEMBER 31, 2021Other Foreign Corporate Bonds Royal Bk of MTN 78014RCY46/8/20206/8/2022 100,000.00 0.00001 99,688.00(312.00) Bank of Montreal MTN 06367WM426/19/202012/19/2023 200,000.00 1.00 199,406.00(594.00) Petroleos Mexicanos 71654QCE012/9/20; 12/14/20; 6/23/203/13/2022 929,858.20 5.375 907,875.00(21,983.20) Royal BK Scotland 780097BE012/9/20205/15/2023 729,344.00 3.498 706,118.00(23,226.00) Aercap Ireland 00774MAA312/24/20205/26/2022 258,630.00 3.500 252,210.00(6,420.00) Bank of Nova MTN 064159F843/3/202112/30/2025 490,635.00 0.800 475,905.00(14,730.00) Cred Suis GP Fun LTD 225433AH44/22/20219/15/2022 443,160.25 3.800 434,171.50(8,988.75) Syngenta Finance NV 87164KAA26/14/20213/28/2022 356,720.00 3.125 351,368.50(5,351.50) Deutsche Bank NY 251526CA57/22/20212/14/2022 512,820.00 5.000 502,265.00(10,555.00) Deutsche Bank NY 251526BR98/10/20212/27/2023 535,459.20 3.950 525,881.40(9,577.80) Lloyds Banking Group 539439AS812/27/20218/16/2023 209,872.00 4.050 209,540.00(332.00)4,766,498.65 4,664,428.40(102,070.25)7.19%US Agencies-Disc/Zero Cpn US Treas BD Strip 9128335A4 7/6/2016 8/15/2035 68,236.00 0.000 77,865.00 9,629.00 US Treas BD Strip 912834KB3 3/13/2020 5/15/2045 278,736.00 0.000 245,340.00(33,396.00) US Treas BD Strip 912834PZ5 10/5/2020 2/15/2046 166,871.95 0.000 148,141.70(18,730.25) US Treas BD Strip 912834MD7 10/29/2021 2/15/2043 160,562.50 0.000 160,362.50(200.00)674,406.45 631,709.20(42,697.25) 0.97%US Treasury Bonds & Notes US Treasury BD 912810SR0 8/20/2020 5/15/2040 130,252.20 1.125 113,942.40(16,309.80)130,252.20 113,942.40(16,309.80)0.18%FIXED INCOME TRUST A/C17,504,931.95 17,050,323.64(454,608.31) 26.27%SEPARATE ACCOUNTSLPL Financial:Cash & Cash Equivalents151.52 0.00%LPL Financial:AMCAP Fund - A 11/9/2001 7,103,920.95Small CAP World Fund -A 5/1/1998 7,812,645.91Capital World Growth and Income 140543109 5/1/1998 9,153,061.37Washington Mutual Investors-A 939330106 5/1/1998 16,510,695.60New World2,012,684.93MFS Growth 12/2020 4,653,892.590.00 47,246,901.35 0.00 72.80%17,504,931.95$ 64,896,913.97$ (454,608.31)$ 100.00%Property Taxes Received 9/30/21 638,585 The following Pensioners will receive an increase in their monthly pension payment in January, 2022: 1/1/21 monthly  pension monthly  increase 1/1/22  monthly  pension New Annual  Pension Thomas Beyer 8,034.43              241.03       8,275.46       99,305.52 William Brogan 8,827.78              264.83       9,092.61       109,111.32 George Erkenswick 5,628.64              168.86       5,797.50       69,570.00 Jeffery Foerster 7,949.66              238.49       8,188.15       98,257.80 Ramon Gregorio 4,220.39              74.92          4,295.31       51,543.72 Todd Intravartolo 5,679.68              170.39       5,850.07       70,200.84 Thomas Jenkins 7,999.61              239.99       8,239.60       98,875.20 John Jones 7,469.82              952.40       8,422.22       101,066.64 1st Inc 2/1/2022 Patrick Joyce 8,957.78              268.73       9,226.51       110,718.12 Doyle Kearns 5,378.49              116.08       5,494.57       65,934.84 Daniel Kinnerk 6,710.65              201.32       6,911.97       82,943.64 Daniel Kreassig 6,352.44              190.57       6,543.01       78,516.12 Patricia Laycock 3,866.88              75.33          3,942.21       47,306.52 Kathleen Leonard 4,633.32              139.00       4,772.32       57,267.84 Richard Meier 5,011.22              150.34       5,161.56       61,938.72 Anthony Militano 4,433.23              133.00       4,566.23       54,794.76 James Molnar 5,391.46              161.74       5,553.20       66,638.40 Anthony Mucciante 4,773.45              262.54       5,035.99       60,431.88 1st Inc 12/1/2022 Edward O'Donnell 4,388.23              131.65       4,519.88       54,238.56 Michael Oliver 4,269.74              77.16          4,346.90       52,162.80 Thomas O'Meara 9,437.83              283.13       9,720.96       116,651.52 Roger Pechous 8,752.40              262.57       9,014.97       108,179.64 David Porter 4,565.29              136.96       4,702.25       56,427.00 Gary Wigman 8,959.77              268.79       9,228.56       110,742.72 Roland Wood 6,325.14              189.75       6,514.89       78,178.68 ‐                    0.00 EXHIBIT A RESOLUTION APPOINTING AUTHORIZED AGENTS No. WHEREAS,the0F+HQU\Police Pension Fund (the “Pension Fund”) is established pursuant to Article 3 of the Illinois Pension Code; and WHEREAS, Public Act 101-610 established the Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund (“IPOPIF”) to take custody of, manage, and invest reserves, funds, assets, securities, and monies of the Pension Fund (hereinafter the “Pension Fund Assets”); and WHEREAS, the Pension Fund is required to transfer its Pension Fund Assets identified on a certified investment asset list (hereinafter the “Investment Assets”)to IPOPIF in accordance with Section 22B-120 of the Illinois Pension Code; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 22B-120(d) of the Pension Code, IPOPIF has notified the Pension Fund of IPOPIF’s intent to assume fiduciary control of the Investment Assets as of 0DUFK(the “Transfer Date”), on which date IPOPIF will assume such control and the Pension Fund will cease to exercise fiduciary responsibility with respect to the Investment Assets; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund, acting pursuant to Sections 3-132.1 and 22B-120 of the Illinois Pension Code, IPOPIF Rule 2021-03, and other applicable laws and rules, as follows: Section 1:The above recitals are incorporated by reference as if fully stated herein. Section 2:The following persons are appointed as the Pension Fund’s Authorized Agents: Name: Mailing Address: City: State, Zip Code: Phone: Email: Name: Mailing Address: City: State, Zip Code: Phone: Email: Section 3:EachAuthorized Agent isauthorized to execute, deliver, and perform on behalf of the Pension Fund all agreements, certificates, notices, and other instruments necessary or advisable to diligently and timely effectuate the transfer of the Pension Fund’s Investment Assets as of the Transfer Date in accordance with rules and directions of IPOPIF. Section 4:The Pension Fund grants each authorized signer on any accounts held by the Pension Fund the authority to execute, deliver, and perform on behalf of the Pension Fund all agreements, certificates, notices, and other instruments necessary or advisable to diligently and timely -HIIHU\)RHUVWHU .HQVLQJWRQ'ULYH 0F+HQU\ ,/  MIRHUVWHU#FLW\RIPFKHQU\RUJ QFOHVHQ#FLW\RIPFKHQU\RUJ  ,/ &DU\ 1HZFDVWOH'ULYH 1LFKRODV&OHVHQ effectuate the transfer of the Pension Fund’s Investment Assets as of the Transfer Date in accordance with direction from either of the Pension Fund’s Authorized Agents. Section 5:The Authorized Agents shall notify all custodians and entities with fiduciary control of any portion of the Pension Fund of the upcoming transfer of the Investment Assets to IPOPIF. Section 6:Each Authorized Agent is authorized and directed to take such other actions on behalf of the Pension Fund as may be required or advisable to carry out the purposes and intent of this resolution and that any and all actions heretofore or hereafter taken by each Authorized Agent be approved, ratified, and confirmed. Section 7:A certified copy of this resolution be delivered to IPOPIF. Section 8:This resolution shall supersede any resolution or motions, or parts of resolutions or motions, in conflict with any part herein, and any such resolutions or motions, or part thereof, are hereby repealed. Section 9:If any section, paragraph or provision of this resolution shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect any of the remaining provisions of this resolution. Section 10:The Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund reserves the right to revoke or amend this resolution Appointing Authorized Agents at any time. Any such revocation or amendment shall be in writing, adopted by resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund, and a certified copy of the same delivered to IPOPIF. ADOPTED this WKday of -DQXDU\, 20 by a roll call vote as follows: AYES: NAYS: ABSENT: President, Board of Trustees Police Pension Fund ATTEST: Pension Fund Board Secretary STATE OF ILLINOIS ) )SS COUNTY OF ___________________ ) SECRETARY’S CERTIFICATE ,1LFKRODV&OHVHQWKHGXO\HOHFWHG and acting Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the0F+HQU\Police Pension Fund, 0F+HQU\County, Illinois, do hereby certify that attached hereto is a true and correct copy of a Resolution entitled: RESOLUTION APPOINTING AUTHORIZED AGENTS RESOLUTION NO.  which Resolution was duly adopted by said Board of Trustees at a meeting held on the WKday of -DQXDU\, 20 I do further certify that a quorum of said Board of Trustees was present at said meeting, and that the Board of Trustees complied with all the requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. IN WITNESS WHEREOF,I have hereunto set my hand this WKday of -DQXDU\, 20 Secretary, Board of Trustees Police Pension Fund EXHIBIT B FORM OF NOTICE -DQXDU\ Re: Transfer of Investment Assets to the Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund This letter is intended to notify you of the upcoming transfer of investment assets of WKH 0F+HQU\ 3ROLFH 3HQVLRQ )XQG (the “Pension Fund”) to the Police Officers’ Pension Investment Fund (“IPOPIF”) on 0DUFK Public Act 101-610, which took effect on January 1, 2020, requires this transfer of assets. IPOPIF has notified the Pension Fund the transfer will occur on 0DUFK  . The Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund adopted a resolution to effectuate the transfer, a copy of which is enclosed with this notice. You are directed to assist the Pension Fund and IPOPIF in this transfer. IPOPIF has retained State Street Bank and Trust as its custodian. State Street must receive all assets included on a Certified Investment Asset List on the Transfer Date. You shall provide IPOPIF and State Street Bank and Trust with regular information on investment assets that includes, but is not limited to, custody statements, holdings and transaction data, and investment reports. IPOPIF will prepare and transmit a Certified Investment Asset List to the Pension Fund no later than ten business days, or as soon thereafter as may be practicable, before 0DUFK. Upon receipt of a Certified Investment Asset List, you are directed to not purchase or sell assets appearing on the Certified Investment Asset List. IPOPIF will retain sole fiduciary and statutory responsibility for the management of Pension Fund investment assets included on the Certified Investment Asset List beginning 8:30 AM central time on 0DUFK. Thank you for your attention to this letter. If you have any questions, you may contact -HIIUH\)RHUVWHUDWRUMIRHUVHU#FLW\RIPFKHQU\RUJ. Sincerely, -HIIHU\)RHUVWHU3UHVLGHQW   1LFKRODV&OHVHQ6HFUHWDU\ Enclosure: Copy of Resolution Adopted by the Pension Fund Board of Trustees