PSOB Rulings Sometimes Difficult for Justice Department

As the World Trade Center burned, Glenn Winuk rushed to the scene from his law office to offer his skills as a veteran paramedic. He died with surgical gloves on and a medic's bag at his side. A card in his wallet identified him as a volunteer firefighter.

"He died a hero," said his brother, Jay.

Yet, in the eyes of the federal government, he did not die in the line of duty.

In a decision sent to Winuk's parents days before the fifth anniversary of his death, the Justice Department rejected their application for a $250,000 benefit for public safety officers killed on the job.

Its reasoning was apologetically bureaucratic: While Winuk was an associate member of the Jericho Fire Department on Long Island, he had not been on active duty since 1998, and thus died a civilian.

The denial is one of several difficult rulings the Justice Department has made while administering the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act, a 30-year-old federal program that provides a one-time payment to the families of dead police, firefighters and government rescue workers.

Since the program's inception, disputes have arisen over deaths that were due to medical conditions, self-inflicted gunshots or auto wrecks or that happened while an officer was off-duty and far from home.

There has been debate, too, over precisely who counts as a public safety officer.

"I recognize the decedent's heroism that day and readily acknowledge and salute his bravery: Glenn J. Winuk gave unstintingly of himself, under the most dreadful circumstances, and gave unto death itself," wrote Domingo S. Herraiz, director of the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

"The law does not entrust me, however, with authority to distribute federal benefits in recognition of the ultimate sacrifice paid by Good Samaritans, no matter how deserving."

In a case out of California, the family of a civilian pilot killed battling a wildfire went to court after the department ruled the program didn't cover private contractors. A federal judge sided with the family in July.

In March, a judge overturned a decision to deny benefits to a 14-year-old junior firefighter hit by a car while answering an alarm on his bicycle. Christopher Kangas of Brookhaven, Pa., was a volunteer whose duties were limited to drills and firehouse chores.

Jay Winuk said his family also plans a court challenge.

"It just adds salt to a wound that's about the biggest wound you could have," he said. "It's like they're trying to find every which way not to honor this guy."

A Justice Department spokeswoman said that, on average, about 10 percent of those who apply each year are ineligible.

An even thornier decision may lie ahead: whether payments should go to rescue workers who inhaled trade center dust and were later diagnosed with fatal lung ailments.

An attorney for the family of New York Detective James Zadroga, who died in January, said he plans to seek a payment under the program. Doctors blamed the 34-year-old's fatal lung problems on his work at ground zero.

"This guy deserves it," said attorney Michael Barasch. "He is no different than a cop who got shot in the chest, lingers for a year and then dies."

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act prohibits claims for long-term, job-related illness, but guidelines published this year said payments can be made if a death is directly caused by exposure to chemicals while on duty.

The Justice Department said that so far, it has paid 435 claims related to the terrorist attack, mostly to full-time police and firefighters. Department officials said they had denied only three claims related to the attacks.

The rejection of Winuk's claim came despite lobbying by Thomas Von Essen, New York fire commissioner on Sept. 11.

"I can assure you that true firemen don't care about their `membership status' when life is at stake, and every indication is that Glenn Winuk was a true fireman," Von Essen wrote in a letter to the Justice Department.

New York passed a law last year declaring Winuk died in the line of duty. But that did not sway the Justice Department.

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