Opinion ID: 158744
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deborah Clair

Text: 18 Ms. Clair served as a police officer with the DPD from 1980 to April 1992. For several years prior to that, she had worked in the reserve force of the police department, assisting and augmenting the regular force officers in their duties. While working for the DPD, Ms. Clair received commendations and good evaluations for her performance. In March 1982, she was responding to a domestic violence call when her vehicle was struck broadside by a drunk driver who had run a stop sign. The impact forced Ms. Clair's vehicle into a telephone pole and she sustained numerous injuries. 19 After the accident, Ms. Clair sought treatment for the injuries to her leg, back and neck, and did physical therapy for several years. She continued to work for the DPD, but her pain worsened throughout the years, especially in her back and neck. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with degenerative disk disease and in 1991 performed surgery on her back to remedy her condition. Although the surgery did relieve some of the pain, Ms. Clair did not recover enough to return to her position as a police officer. Like Mr. Davoll, she risks paralysis if she is involved in an altercation. She has difficulty sitting, standing, and walking. 20 The DPD decided to retire Ms. Clair effective April 15, 1992. At that time, she knew there was a policy prohibiting the transfer of officers with disabilities to civilian positions, and Sargent George Maes told Ms. Clair that neither the DPD nor the city administration would help Ms. Clair find another job. Had the reassignment policy been otherwise, she would have pursued further employment with the city. Ms. Clair's years of experience with the DPD qualified her for numerous City vacancies existing around the time of her retirement, including Victim Advocate, Senior Criminal/ Civil Investigator, Staff Probation Officer and Criminal Justice Specialty Clerk. No one at the DPD alerted Ms. Clair to these openings, and Ms. Clair did not apply for them because she knew of the city's policy forbidding reassignment of disabled police officers. Instead, Ms. Clair moved outside of Denver and took over a horse-drawn carriage company.