HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A union lawyer says the private charitable fund to help cover the mental health-related costs of first responders and other workers affected by the Connecticut elementary school mass shooting falls short.
Eric Brown is a staff attorney for the union representing Newtown police officers. He says one officer is too emotionally traumatized to return to work and faces possible termination.
Newtown Police Chief Michael Kehoe says he can't comment on the case but says the town is looking into benefits that might be available to officers whose doctors say they can't return to work.
Brown says the charitable fund created by Connecticut lawmakers is inadequate and lawmakers should allow workers' compensation benefits for work-related mental or emotional impairments. That proposal failed to gain traction in the legislative session this year.
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