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The union also says the city needlessly racked up thousands of dollars in its own legal fees in pushing a case it should
have known it would lose.
A decision handed down earlier this week by a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel relates to Workers' Compensation
claims made by Sgt. Ken Lukasavage following an on-duty vehicle accident in October 2004.
Since the city was paying Lukasavage 100 percent of his salary through the Heart and Lung Act, the city did not respond
to his Workers' Compensation benefits claim for nearly two years, the union says.
Lukasavage was not seeking Workers' Compensation benefits for financial gain, but for a full and truthful documentation
of injuries to his back and neck, said Joe Mangan, a former city police officer who specializes in labor issues with the
Fraternal Order of Police, Wyoming Valley Lodge.
Essentially, Mangan said, Lukasavage was seeking a legal form that says, "Here are the injuries we are acknowledging you
have."
The officer, who remains off work as a result of his injuries, then had to hire a lawyer to fight the city to initiate
workers' compensation proceedings. A Workers' Compensation judge initially sided with the city, but the Workers'
Compensation Appeal Board later ruled in Lukasavage's favor. In doing so, the city was forced to pay his legal fees. The
city appealed.
This week's Commonwealth Court ruling said it was "clear" that the appeals board made the right decision and case law
shows the city's argument in the appeal "is patently without merit."
"It's something we've been telling the city about for years now, saying we have case law," said Tom Kupetz, president of
the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association. "It was a complete waste of the taxpayers' money."
City officials declined to comment, city spokeswoman Bridget Giunta said.
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Wilkes-Barre City must pay more than $20,000 for an injured officer's attorney fees after Commonwealth Court affirmed the
city improperly denied him workers' compensation benefits, the city police union claims.