AUGUSTA — Bill Fournier’s testimony to the Legislature’s Labor Committee on Wednesday was slow and deliberate.
As the former Auburn police officer described the gruesome scene he encountered at an Auburn tenement in 1984, Fournier’s words emerged intermittently, as if stopping to steady themselves from the emotions that still rock the former cop 27 years later.
Fournier was speaking against a bill that would eliminate behavioral, emotional or psychiatric conditions from determining whether workers qualify for permanent disability. Testimony on the proposal was lengthy, dominated by lawyers who argued whether psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder could be effectively diagnosed, and whether such afflictions are temporary or permanent.
Clerks, lawmakers and testifiers drifted in and out of the committee room throughout the hearing.
But the room went still when Fournier stepped to the dais. He recounted the murder scene of 4-year-old Angela Palmer, who was killed when her mother’s boyfriend locked her in an oven.
Fournier was one of the first responders to the Main Street fire call.
“The atmosphere was like nothing I had ever seen before,” Fournier said. “… I was directed to the oven. I will never forget the look — the horrified look was burnt on that child’s face.”
At the time, Fournier was a 19-year veteran. He said the aftermath of Palmer’s death haunted him. He told the labor panel that he had contemplated suicide. At one point, Fournier said, he put his service revolver to his head and cocked the hammer.
His wife stopped him.
Fournier eventually left the force. He and Rick Petrie, a paramedic in the Palmer case, both testified Wednesday against LD 1065.
Rep. Kerri Prescott, R-Topsham, is the bill’s sponsor. Prescott said she wanted to amend the Maine Workers’ Compensation Act of 1992 to redefine permanent impairments such as spine injuries.
Her bill also would eliminate the provision in which long-term disability recipients can claim permanent disability for psychiatric disabilities such as depression and PTSD.
Prescott said psychiatric allegations had greatly increased over the past several years. In some cases, she said, the complaints were used to avoid the limits of part-time disability claims.
She cited an American Medical Association publication that she said advises against using psychiatric causes to determine permanent disability.
She added, “The condition is generally not permanent and will improve or resolve as the individual adjusts to his or her injury, or ages.”
Prescott’s bill is supported by the Workers’ Compensation Coordinating Council and the Maine Council of Self-Insurers. Kevin Gillis testified on behalf of the latter, arguing that psychiatric determinations were unreliable and temporary.
“Depression doesn’t last a lifetime,” Gillis said.
Rep. Robert Hunt, D-Buxton, wondered if the reason for the increased psychiatric claims was because “it was an easy way to get the benefits or because we’re getting better about diagnosing it.”
Petri said first responders are encouraged to come forward with their PTSD. He said first responders were on the front lines of horrific events. Some of the cases, he said, can have a lasting effect.
“When (first responders) don’t deal with psychological issues, they put guns to their heads,” Petri said.
The Maine Medical Association, the Maine Workers’ Compensation Board, the Maine AFL-CIO and public safety groups oppose the bill. Some said the proposal was driven by insurance companies that didn’t want to pay the PTSD claims.
The committee also received testimony from firefighters, EMTs and police officers, who all said depression and PTSD among first responders was real, and in some cases, debilitating.
Fournier may have made the most compelling argument. Many committee members were visibly unsettled during his testimony.
“I did my job and I did it right,” he said.
Prescott said she was willing to hear compromises to her proposal.
A work session was not scheduled.
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