Volunteer police officers statewide won a victory Thursday when the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled as unconstitutional a state law that excludes them from workers’ compensation.
The volunteer officer, Booth Pepper, was working with the Florence Police Department on Sept. 28, 2001, when he claimed to have suffered stress and mental impairment as a result of a shooting.
The appellate court noted that many volunteers in Colorado are covered by workers’ compensation, including firefighters and members of rescue, disaster and ambulance teams.
The court said it made no sense for volunteer police officers to be excluded and struck down that portion of the workers’ compensation law that gives towns and counties, such as Florence, the option to exclude volunteer police.
Pepper had argued that volunteer police face the same perils as regularly employed police officers and firefighters, and perhaps more perils than some of the other volunteer groups.
Paul Krueger, the lawyer who represented Florence, declined to comment.
The court ordered that an administrative law judge consider Pepper’s claim for workers’ compensation benefits.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
