FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 1995                            (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


  POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS WITH DISABILITIES IN ILLINOIS
 TO GET ACCESS TO BENEFIT PLANS DUE TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EFFORTS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  An Illinois law that prevented police
officers and firefighters who had a disability at the time of their
hiring from participating in retirement and disability plans has
been dropped as a result of a lawsuit settled today between the
Justice Department and the state of Illinois.
     The suit was the first one filed by the Justice Department
under a federal law that became effective in 1992 that protects
persons with disabilities from employment discrimination.  In the
December 1993 suit the Justice Department accused Illinois, the
City of Aurora, and the Board of Trustees of the Aurora Police
Pension Fund, of denying pension and retirement benefits to
qualified police officers and firefighters with disabilities, in
violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  
     It alleged that the state pension code discriminated against
persons with disabilities by requiring all hired police officers
and firefighters to undergo a separate physical exam to become a
member of a pension fund.  As a result of the requirement,
employees with disabilities, or those who were perceived to be
"more prone to disability", were denied membership despite their
ability to perform.  The rejected employees could not have received
disability benefits even if they were injured in the line of duty.
     After 18 months of litigation, the state in June repealed the
challenged provisions of its pension code and permitted police
officers and firefighters with disabilities to join their local
pension fund.  It also allowed them to obtain membership
retroactive to the date they were originally denied entry into the
pension fund provided that the retroactive payment was made to the
pension fund.
     Under today's agreement, the state will:
    advise every municipality and every police and fire pension
     board of the rights of excluded police officers and
     firefighters to gain membership in pension funds;

    distribute copies of the agreement to every municipality and
     local police and firefighter pension board to be posted in
     prominent locations and provided to affected individuals;

    permit formerly excluded employees to gain membership
     retroactive to the date they started work, provided they pay
     into the fund, or have paid on their behalf the total amount
     they would have paid had they been a member since that date.

     "This change is a major victory for police officers and fire
fighters with disabilities who now -- like their fellow officers --
can receive retirement and disability benefits," said Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.  "This
agreement closes a chapter in the state's history of discrimination
against employees with disabilities."
     The Justice Department became aware of the discriminatory
practices after receiving a complaint from Kevin Holmes, a 10-year
veteran of the Aurora police department.  He claimed he had been
denied membership in his pension fund because he had diabetes and
that he could not get disability benefits if he were shot in the
line of duty.
     The agreement, filed today with Judge Blanche Manning in U.S.
District Court in Chicago, must still be approved by the court. 
                              # # #
95-437