FL Firefighter Suing over Denied Cancer Benefits

Aug. 17, 2019
St. Petersburg Fire Lt. Jason Francis says his benefits claim was wrongly rejected by the city after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer earlier this year.

A Florida firefighter is suing the city he works for after he claims he was denied cancer benefits.

St. Petersburg Lt. Jason Francis has been with the department for more than 16 years, WFTS-TV reports. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January 2019 and had surgery that removed the gland, as well as other lymphnodes.

In July, Francis—who is currently on medical leave with plans to returnapplied for cancer benefits provided by the city through a state measure Gov. Ron DeSantis in May. But his claim was denied because his cancer diagnosis came before the law went into effect in July. 

"There was a lot of emotion, there was anger, and shock. A lot the other people that will be diagnosed in the future or have been recently and they’re gonna have to fight through this as well," Francis told WFTS.

St. Petersburg officials assert that Francis' diagnosis came in May 2018 and point out that the Florida law is unclear on how to retroactive claims.

"The language of the law is silent as to whether the benefit is retroactive and if so, for how long? Further, the language is vague overall and contradictory in spots. All the City seeks is for a court or the legislature to clarify the benefit. St. Petersburg is not the only entity in Florida facing this issue. Every municipality and fire district in the state is struggling with implementation. The Legal Department is currently taking action to get clarification from the courts but it may take some time before we get an answer," the city said in a statement.

However, State Rep. Chris Latvala, the lawmaker who sponsored the bill, says that the spirit of the law was to provide benefits to firefighters with cancer, regardless of the date of diagnosis.

"He thinks it shameful what the city is doing, and he says that was not the intent to make July 1 a hard dateif you have cancer before and it was known —you should be covered," a spokesperson for Latvala told WFTS.

In the meantime, St. Petersburg's mayor and the city have donated leave time to Francis and made attempts to assign him to light duty, the TV station added.