Haywood

Anthony Haywood’s employment with American River Fire Protection District (the District) was terminated for cause following a series of increasingly serious disciplinary actions against him. After his discharge, he applied for disability retirement, claiming that stress from the disciplinary actions caused him to suffer a major depression, which rendered him incapable of performing his usual duties with the District.

Evidence presented at the administrative .hearing on the application for disability retirement established that, by the time of the hearing, Haywood had recovered from his depression and was fully capable of performing the duties of his former job for any other fire department. Nonetheless, he claimed he was entitled to disability retirement because, if he were to return to work for the District under the current administration that he believed had treated him unfairly, he would likely suffer additional depression that would make him unable to perform his usual duties.

The District denied the application for disability retirement, adopting the administrative law judge’s finding that Haywood had “failed to demonstrate by competent medical evidence that he is…