Police Union Wants Workers Comp For First Responders Exposed To Zika
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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - The Florida Fraternal Order of Police wants state lawmakers to approve a measure that would provide workers compensation to first responders who contract Zika on the job.
The police union President Bobby Jenkins said Miami Beach refused workers' compensation for a police sergeant and another first responder for Zika infections apparently acquired from mosquito bites in part of the city identified as an active transmission zone.
Earlier this month, Miami Beach spokeswoman Tonya Daniels said city employees were offered free Zika testing and mosquito repellent. Workers' compensation requires proof of Zika exposure while working, but Daniels said the city would honor any changes legislators made to the law.
Jenkins said the testing "does not mitigate the need for their coverage of the employees that they place at risk."
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