Officer Sara Hall, with the Dublin Police Department, has been battling breast cancer since August. In February, the city of Dublin notified her that they would no longer pay for her health insurance.
Since her diagnosis she has received support from the department including co-workers donating their sick time while she fights to survive.
According to WBNS-10TV, Hall joined the police force in 1994 and after having served on the force for 20 years was shocked to receive such horrible news from the city.
“I was stunned, probably more hurt than anything…It just wasn’t something that I was expecting.” Hall said.
In her two decades with the department, Hall served numerous roles including the bike patrol and being a school resource officer.
“It’s been a great 20 years,” she added.
The Fraternal Order of Police has filed a grievance with the city fighting their decision. Keith Ferrell, Executive VP of FOP Lodge #9, explains that Administrative Order 2.55 states that she is still entitled to continue receiving insurance benefits despite using donated leave time.
Prior to this past year, Hall hadn’t missed work since June, only missing time due to injuries before being diagnosed with breast cancer in August.
“I remember where I was. I remember what I was doing. I didn’t expect it,” she said.
City officials informed Hall in February, just a week before her surgery, that they would stop paying her premiums as of March 1st. Since then, she has had to pay for her medical expenses herself. After trying to fight the city on her own and making no progress, Hall looked to the Fraternal Order of Police for help. The grievance that they filed is requesting the city to reinstate her insurance and reimburse her for expenses made out-of-pocket explaining that she was still entitled to insurance according to city statutes.
“I just don’t understand it from a human being standpoint why they’d want to do something like that for someone that’s done so much for that organization,” said Keith Ferrell.
While the city of Dublin made no comments concerning the grievance, city manager Dana McDaniel offered the following statement.
“Officer Hall is our employee. She’s part of our family. The City is striving to help her transition toward disability retirement, within the limitations of the law and City policy. The possibility of not having Officer Hall as a member of our police force would be unfortunate for the City. We admire her courage both on and off the job.”
UPDATE: ACCORDING TO WBNS 10 DUE TO MEDIA OUTRAGE THE CITY OF DUBLIN OHIO HAS NOW AGREED TO COVER OFFICER HALL’S INSURANCE PREMIUMS UNTIL SHE RETIRES APRIL 29TH, 2015.
