Are dual-role public safety officers (who serve as both firefighters and law enforcement officers) eligible for Florida's firefighter cancer benefits?

Plain-English summary

Daytona Beach Shores asked whether Public Safety Officers who serve as both firefighters and law-enforcement officers qualify for cancer benefits under section 112.1816, Florida Statutes. The city said their law-enforcement function was predominant and that most did not serve as full-time firefighters. Some officers worked full-time as firefighters until they obtained law-enforcement certification.

The AG read the statute as a two-part test. The employee must be "employed as a full-time firefighter" within a fire or public safety department, and the employer's primary responsibilities must include the listed fire-related functions. The letter says the city's Public Safety Department appeared to meet the employer part because a primary purpose was firefighting and prevention.

For the employee part, the opinion says officers "whose full-time duties are firefighting, fire safety, and fire code enforcement would satisfy the definition." Officers whose duties are law enforcement and whose firefighting duties are not full-time appear excluded. The employing agency must determine each officer's full-time, primary responsibilities. The letter does not report individual benefit decisions.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Later law or decisions may have changed the analysis. Verify current law before relying on it.

Background and statutory framework

Section 112.1816, enacted in 2019, provides specified cancer benefits to qualifying firefighters in lieu of pursuing workers' compensation coverage. Section 112.1816(1)(c) defines a firefighter as an individual employed full-time as a firefighter within a fire or public safety department of an employer whose primary responsibilities include preventing and extinguishing fires, protecting life and property, and enforcing fire prevention laws.

The opinion separates the employee's full-time firefighting duties from the employer's primary responsibilities. It found that the city's Public Safety Department appeared to meet the employer part. The factual determination of each officer's duties belongs to the employing agency.

Common questions

Does a public safety department satisfy the employer part of the test?

The opinion says Daytona Beach Shores' department appeared to satisfy that part because a primary purpose was firefighting and prevention. It does not decide the status of other departments.

What about officers temporarily working full-time as firefighters before law-enforcement certification?

The letter notes such officers and says Public Safety Officers whose full-time duties are firefighting, fire safety, and fire code enforcement "would satisfy the definition" in section 112.1816(1)(c). The employing agency must make the factual determination for each officer.

What if law enforcement is an officer's duty and firefighting is not full-time?

The AG said the Legislature "appears to have excluded" those employees from section 112.1816 coverage.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/firefighters-public-safety-officers-cancer-benefits
• Official print view: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1461

Original opinion text

June 5, 2020

Lonnie N. Groot

City of Attorney, City of Daytona Beach Shores

300 International Parkway, Suite 100

Lake Mary, Florida 32746

Dear Mr. Groot:

On behalf of the City Council of the City of Daytona Beach Shores, you have asked Attorney General Ashley Moody for an opinion on the following question:

Are the City’s Public Safety Officers, who serve both as firefighters and law-enforcement officers, eligible for the benefits provided in section 112.1816, Florida Statutes?

In sum:

The City’s Public Safety Officers whose primary responsibilities are law enforcement rather than firefighting are not eligible for benefits provided to firefighters under section 112.1816, Florida Statutes.

The City of Daytona Shores employs Public Safety Officers who serve as both firefighters and law enforcement officers. The City has a Public Safety Department but not a Police Department or a Fire Department. You state that their law enforcement function is “predominant.” The Public Safety Officers do not serve as full-time firefighters and their primary responsibilities are not the prevention and extinguishing of fires. Some of the Public Safety Officers are not yet certified as law enforcement officers and are working full-time as firefighters until such certification.
Effective July 1, 2019, the Legislature enacted section 112.1816, which makes firefighters diagnosed with certain cancers eligible to receive disability or death benefits in lieu of pursuing workers’ compensation coverage. Chapter 2019-21, Laws of Fla. (2019). Section 112.1816(1)(c) defines “firefighter” as:

an individual employed as a full-time firefighter within the fire department or public safety department of an employer whose primary responsibilities are the prevention and extinguishing of fires; the protection of life and property; and the enforcement of municipal, county, and state fire prevention codes and laws pertaining to the prevention and control of fires.

Terms in a statute that are not defined therein must be given their plain and ordinary meaning. See Nehme v. Smithkline Beecham Clinical Laboratories, 863 So. 2d 201, 204 (Fla. 2003).
The statutory definition as drafted sets forth a two-part test. The employee must: (1) be “employed as a full-time firefighter”; and (2) be employed “within the fire department or public safety department of an employer whose primary responsibilities are the prevention and extinguishing of fires; the protection of life and property; and the enforcement of municipal, county, and state fire prevention codes and laws pertaining to the prevention and control of fires.” The first part of the test looks at the employee’s duties. The second part of the test looks at the employer’s primary responsibilities. A primary purpose of the City’s Public Safety Department is firefighting and prevention. Thus, the employing agency appears to meet the second part of the test.
Public Safety Officers whose full-time duties are firefighting, fire safety, and fire code enforcement would satisfy the definition in section 112.1816(1)(c). If, however, the duties of public safety officers are law enforcement, and their firefighting duties are not full-time, by using the term “full-time firefighter”, the legislature appears to have excluded those employees from coverage under section 112.1816. The factual determination of a Public Safety Officer’s full-time, primary responsibilities must be made by the employing agency.
The definition in section 112.1816(1)(c) does not affect the benefits available to firefighters under sections 112.18, Florida Statutes (conditions caused by tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension suffered in the line of duty), 112.18, Florida Statutes (conditions caused by hepatitis, meningococcal meningitis, or tuberculosis suffered in the line of duty), or 112.1815, Florida Statutes (diseases arising out of employment as a first responder).

I hope this opinion is helpful to the City Council.

Sincerely,

Ashley Moody

Attorney General