Legal glitch keeping Kim, Gordon families from benefits

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A legal glitch is preventing the families of fallen Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim and Firefighter Daryl Gordon from receiving full benefits normally provided to spouses of Ohio officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty, according to the director of the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum.

"I think it's probably a legal oversight. But what's upsetting is that the potential earnings of law enforcement families and widows are being determined by an assassin's bullet instead of the family," said retired Cincinnati Police Lt. Steve Kramer, the museum's director.

"Now, the family is not getting anywhere near what they would have. We're not supposed to lose money when we die. We are supposed to have a benefit when we give a full measure and die in the line of duty in the police, fire service and military."

When a firefighter or police officer dies in the line of duty in Ohio, their spouses automatically continue to receive their full paycheck until they would have retired.

But Kim, 48, and Gordon, 54, entered into a deferred retirement option plan, or DROP, which allows them to set up an IRA that takes their paycheck retirement contributions plus the pension payments, according to Kramer.

Those who enter it must commit to staying with their current employer at least five years and a maximum of eight years.

At the end of the eight years, they retire and begin to collect pension checks based on earnings and percentages when they entered DROP.

However, it also sets their retirement dates as the dates they entered the program, not when they actually would have stopped working several years later.

Gordon died March 26, 2015, after falling down an elevator shaft inside a burning Madisonville apartment building.

Kim was killed, also in Madisonville, in what has been described as an evil ambush on June 19, 2015, after he responded to reports of a gunman acting belligerently.

Because Kim and Gordon entered DROP, their families lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's because their spouses only receive survivor benefits, which essentially cuts their benefits by half or more, Kramer said.

For instance, he said, Kim's potential for earnings were close to $900,000.

Instead, his widow will be lucky now to get $300,000 to $400,000 in those eight years, Kramer said.

To eradicate this glitch, Kramer is taking action by appealing to a state lawmaker for help.

He also reached out to Ohio's pension board and local police and fire union leaders and asked for their support.

The leader of Cincinnati's police union, Sgt. Dan Hils, said he is all for it.

"It's a no-brainer," he said. "Now even more than ever, people are going to work much longer than they had before. You are dealing with a very heavy emotional blow and then, at the same time, to be notified your income is being changed drastically is insult to injury.

"It's a very difficult time for folks to have to re-gauge their financial planning at a time when they are just trying to get up out of bed in the morning after dealing with tragedy."

Speaking on behalf of the Kim family, Cincinnati Police Specialist Buddy Blankenship said Kim's wife, Jessica, has been overwhelmed by and is appreciative for the tremendous outpouring of support and donations from Cincinnatians for her family.

But, Blankenship said, Jessica Kim also sees the need for this loophole to be closed. She recognizes the support she has received is not available to all survivors of fallen police and firefighters throughout Ohio who would be impacted by this legal glitch in the future.

Late last week, Kramer mailed a letter to Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz (R-Green Township). The document was copied to Gov. John Kasich, Cincinnati FOP President Dan Hils, Cincinnati Firefighters Union Matt Atler and FOX19 NOW.

"You can imagine my shock when informed that Officer Kim’s widow did not receive all the benefits normally provided to the spouses of officers who have died in the line duty - probably due to a legal glitch," Kramer wrote.

"When he was shot to death last year, he was considered in “retirement status” because he had opted for the Deferred Retirement Option Plan; a plan of which I am sure you are aware, passed by the State about 2003.

"I was furthermore advised that Cincinnati Firefighter Daryl Gordon, who also heroically died last year, was also in DROP and his spouse is similarly denied active line of duty death spousal status.

"America is the only country in the world where law enforcement is conducted by and for The People.  It is exceptionally difficult to determine who is an “on duty law enforcement officer” when we all have the responsibility.

"But there is no doubt when a fully-uniformed police officer responds to a call for service regarding an irate man with a gun and is ambushed and killed

"You have helped me out in the past with property disposal and Crime Stoppers issues and I hope that you may again.

"We need a change in legislation to state that whenever any law enforcement officer dies in the line of duty, regardless as to whether he he/she has 1-day in or 35 years and/or opted for DROP, that the spouse will be compensated with his/her salary as if he/she completed his/her full commitment and is still alive."

Story provided by our media partner, Fox19.