Aug 21, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
Fire Commissioner Won't Reinstate Arroyo
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The Boston Fire Commissioner and other officials will not reinstate a firefighter who was fired after participating in a bodybuilding competition while claiming he was too hurt to work.
Albert Arroyo's attorney, Neil Osborne, says he has recent evidence proving his client is not fit to perform his job.
Late Thursday afternoon, the commissioner announced evidence was not sufficient enough to reinstate Arroyo, as he had requested.
"So the bottom line is, Arroyo is not a member of the Boston Fire Department and is not coming back as a member of the Boston Fire Department," said spokesman Steve MacDonald.
Arroyo had until Thursday afternoon to prove he was too injured to work.
Arroyo, 46, participated in the competition in May, six weeks after he suffered what he claims was a career-ending back injury. He then filed for permanent disability.
Arroyo was ordered to return to work as an inspector last month, but did not.
On Tuesday, he was given 48 hours by the fire commissioner to produce additional medical evidence to back his claim that he can no longer work.
Osborne submitted an evaluation from a local rehabilitation center from several weeks ago as evidence, and officials said it was not sufficient enough to give Arroyo his job back.
Arroyo was trying to get reinstated so he would continue receiving permanant disability pension.
According to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, the reason the process took so long was because, "If we didn't do the due process there would be lawsuits all over the place, and it would be a much longer process, so we wanted to make sure we followed the letter of the law. Sometimes the process is not conducive to quick decisions."
Many WBZ viewers have expressed their concern and outrage about Arroyo's pension. Mark from Watertown wrote, "I'm curious as to why there has been no mention of Albert Arroyo paying back the several weeks of tax-free disability pay."
The Boston Fire Department tells WBZ Arroyo will get to keep the $24,000 he collected this year because he followed the right procedures to get it.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
