Jul 18, 2008 3:33 pm US/Eastern
Firefighter On Disability Ordered Back To Work
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Boston's fire commissioner has ordered a firefighter on disability back to work, after it was discovered he competed in a bodybuilding contest.
WBZ has learned Commissioner Roderick Fraser sent a letter to Albert Arroyo Friday.
Arroyo, 46, reported that he fell down some stairs in the Jamaica Plain firehouse on March 21 and flaring up an old back problem. According to retirement board documents, no one was there when Arroyo fell. His doctor wrote that Arroyo should be granted an accidental disability retirement because he is "permanently disabled."
Yet on May 3 after collecting his full $68,000 annual salary tax free for six weeks, Arroyo finished eighth in a bodybuilding competition.
Video of the competition surfaced recently and that infuriated Fraser.
"If you can do that, you can work here," he said earlier this week. "If you look at Mr. Arroyo, he's in better shape than most guys on the Boston Fire Department."
Arroyo is a regular client of Body Engineers in Dorchester.
In his disability retirement application, Arroyo claimed he has to be able to handle the physical demands of firefighting duties. But his job is to inspect buildings as a member of the Fire Prevention Division.
Earlier this week, Arroyo was shifted from injured leave to regular sick leave, which is taxable, after a doctor determined that any injury was not work-related.
A lawyer for Arroyo said bodybuilding helps the firefighter cope with the "rigors" of the job.
Fraser is urging the city's retirement board to deny Arroyo's permanent disability claim.
Arroyo has been out injured twice since 2000.
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