Jennifer Dougherty was an EMT for NYC who worked at Fresh Kills sifting through debris from the collapsed World Trade Center. She is now suffering from site-related ovarian cancer, but was forced to retire once all her sick leave was used. Her disability pension is caught up in red tape, because her illness is less than a year old.
Firefighters, police officers and city Sanitation workers have unlimited sick leave for line-of-duty illnesses; EMTs and the Transport Workers Union do not have this benefit. A bill that would grant these unlimited sick leave to these workers has passed the Senate, but is not law yet.
“I’m feeling like I was kicked twice,” “I worked for this city and I always gave them everything I could, but it’s not good enough,” Dougherty told New York Daily News reporter Thomas Tracy.
A spokesperson for the city said a solution was pending, but did not elaborate.
