GLENDALE — On Thursday, Mayor Jerry Weiers announced the approval of a workman’s compensation claim for job-related cancer filed by Glendale Firefighter Kevin Thompson. The claim had been denied by a third-party administrator.
Thompson, a 26-year veteran first responder has been battling multiple myeloma. Weiers has been battling the bureaucrats and the United Phoenix Firefighter union in an effort to secure assistance for Thompson.
Thanks to a ruling from the Industrial Commission of Arizona, the City of Glendale was allowed to override the denial of claim that was blocking the City from helping to cover Thompson’s medical expenses.
In a statement issued on City letterhead, Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said that the City asked for just such a reversal and that the City’s request had been approved. The case had attracted a great deal of media attention since the third-party administrator first ruled against the firefighter.
United Phoenix Firefighters union, which has long been attacking the Mayor and some of the City Council, used the story to start beating on them all over again, aided in part by State Senator Paul Boyer, who wrote the law the City was following.
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While the decision helps Thompson and other first responders it does put a kink into the union’s plans to use the issue in upcoming elections.