Jul 20, 2011 12:31 PM

A former Southampton Village Police sergeant who lost his benefits when he was fired more than three and a half years ago is claiming via a complaint filed with the New York State Division of Human Rights that his benefits should be restored, since he was recently awarded accidental disability retirement benefits related to his volunteer work at the World Trade Center site in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.

Christopher Broich, the former officer, is arguing that his disability predates his firing by the village, and thus he should be eligible for all of the benefits he lost upon his termination in December 2007. He said he was first diagnosed with the disability, identified in his complaint as asthma, in February 2007.

Mr. Broich has filed numerous lawsuits against the village following his termination for misconduct and incompetence, none of which has been decided in his favor to date. Officials say the village has spent more than $500,000 to defend those lawsuits, in which he sought, in part, to be reinstated to the force.

But at the same time he also filed applications to the state in May 2008 seeking to be declared eligible for disability pension benefits, both through the World Trade Center disability program and through the state employee retirement system.

Mr. Broich voluntarily responded to the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, as did many East End police officers and rescue workers. What services he performed and the exact dates of his service are unclear, and he declined to say in an interview this week.

On April 26 of this year, the state determined that Mr. Broich was “permanently incapacitated for the performance of duties,” based on an accident that occurred on an “unspecified date and time,” according to a document signed by Kathleen A. Nowak, director of disability services for the state, stating that Mr. Broich’s application had been approved. Presumably, the debilitating injury occurred as a result of rescue and cleanup efforts following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The determination means that Mr. Broich will receive lifetime pension benefits from the state.

In general, the accidental September 11 disability retirement benefit for police officers is 75 percent of the officer’s final average salary, generally an average of the highest three consecutive years, according to Eric Sumberg, press secretary for the state comptroller’s office—and it is not taxable. Mr. Broich’s final average salary was never calculated because he was terminated; his last reported base annual salary was $114,000, according to Village Administrator Stephen Funsch.

Mr. Broich’s benefits were effective retroactively to June 2, 2008, Mr. Sumberg said last month. The office said a Freedom of Information Law request filed by The Press early last month for documents on the matter is still under legal review and could take until October to process.

In a letter to Village Hall dated May 12, Mr. Broich claimed that because of the state’s determination, the village should reinstate a slew of benefits related to his employment on the police force, including payment for accrued sick and vacation time. At the time of his termination, he had 260 unused sick days and 98 vacation days, totaling approximately $156,000, according to Mr. Funsch. In the same letter, Mr. Broich argued that he should receive medical, dental and optical insurance, a retired police sergeant’s identification, shield and pistol permit, and the return of handguns, among other benefits.

In a letter dated May 24, Mr. Funsch replied that Mr. Broich’s status with the village as a terminated employee remains unchanged by the retirement system’s determination, particularly in light of a recent legal upholding of that termination.

In the Human Rights Complaint, filed on July 1, Mr. Broich argues that Mayor Mark Epley and then-Police Captain Thomas Cummings discriminated against him by not restoring his benefits. On the form, Mr. Broich checked off that he believes he was discriminated against because of his disability, which he lists as asthma, and as retaliation for having filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging reverse discrimination years ago. Mr. Broich also checked off that he was discriminated against because of his age (48), and national origin and race (American Indian).

He alleges that the Long Island World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program at Stony Brook University diagnosed his disability on February 17, 2007, and that the village “willfully and intentionally” withheld the results of his pre-employment physical exam—a document needed as part of the disability application—for more than two years, thereby delaying his receipt of state disability benefits.