Santa Ana : City Pays One Claim by Officer, Disputes Second

The City Council has awarded workers compensation benefits of $4,375 to the president of the police officers’ union for a lower-back injury but will seek the advice of outside counsel regarding a second, stress-related claim by the officer.

Robert Brooks, head of the Santa Ana Police Benevolent Assn., will receive a lump-sum payment for the back sprain he suffered 13 months ago while attempting to restrain a suspect.

However, Brooks’ second, $8,995 claim for gastrointestinal problems caused by stress was disputed Thursday by City Atty. Edward Cooper.

Based on reports of two doctors who examined Brooks last year, Cooper said the gastrointestinal problem resulted from Brooks’ role in contract negotiations in late 1983 between the city and the association.

A second cause of the stress, Cooper said, was Brooks’ assignment to the late-night shift during a “normal (work-schedule) rotation.” Brooks, Cooper said, called the assignment “retaliation” for his union activities.

Brooks, 37, said his claim is based on problems he encountered as editor of the union’s newsletter Reliable Source. As editor, he was accused of insubordination in connection with an article extremely critical of Police Chief Raymond C. Davis, he said. He was also questioned by the department’s Internal Affairs Unit regarding his role in publication of the article, he said, but was not punished.

“To my knowledge, the case had nothing to do with wage negotiations,” Brooks said. “It had to do with problems resulting from pressures of my job as editor of the newsletter. . . . I have never negotiated for the Police Benevolent Assn.,” he said.

Brooks also said his assignment to the graveyard shift was anything but “normal rotation.”

“That may be what he’s saying now, but that’s inconsistent with statements he made to the doctors,” Cooper said.

According to a December, 1984, report by Martin Klein, a physician retained by the city, Brooks’ gastrointestinal problems began in mid-1983 when he said he was harassed and threatened with the graveyard shift by an unnamed superior officer. Klein determined that the medical problems were 100% work-related and Brooks “should avoid work situations that are highly stressful.”

Brooks’ personal doctor, Gary M. Stewart, in his report cited the “severe pressure” of the editor’s job and questioning of Brooks by the Internal Affairs Unit as the cause of the officer’s gastrointestinal ailments.

The City Council has directed Cooper to seek outside advice on whether Brooks is an employee of the Police Department or the police union. If it is determined that he was not a municipal employee when the gastrointestinal problem arose, he would not be eligible for benefits charged to the city.