Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 4:53 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Ken Gager says his legal battle with the state for the last three years has been worse than the mail bomb that maimed him in 1993, costing him an eye and a hand.
Gager was hailed as a hero after the bomb exploded in his home in Douglas County in September 1993. He endured 21 surgeries -- about half of them major.
He returned to work in September 1994, a year after the tragedy, and was roundly praised for his bravery.
But for the last 3 1/2 years, Gager has battled the state in a legal slugfest over his on-the-job treatment and whether he should be allowed to keep his status as a patrolman even though he can't perform the duties. And he has alleged he suffered emotional distress because of the conduct by others on the job.
Gager's lawyer, Jack Kennedy, says, "He's 88 percent disabled. He wants to work, and they have taken that right away from him. We ought to be proud of our heroes."
But Deputy Attorney General Stephen Quinn, who has handled the case since 1998, says the state has bent over backward to accommodate Gager. The efforts, he said, have backfired and have been used in two suits seeking large judgments against the state.
At one time, Gager said, the state offered him an early retirement buyout worth $42,000 up front and a pension equaling 50 percent of his pay as a trooper. The settlement would have been fine with him, Gager said, but there was the matter of paying his attorney, who has invested $500,000 worth of time in the case.
"I could have taken that and been OK, but my attorney would have been screwed big time," Gager said. "Jack Kennedy has been loyal to me. I can't do that to him." Kennedy would not have gotten any money for his effort.
Kennedy would not comment on settlement offers. He said the appropriate position for the state is to use this and future cases of injured workers as a "positive thing, rather than push (the victims) out or push them under the rug because they are unsightly to someone."
"If the governor can't make this policy, then perhaps the Supreme Court can," Kennedy said, adding he does not expect any out-of-court settlement. "I anticipate the Supreme Court making the decision three years from now."
That upsets Quinn, who questions why the state should pay Kennedy's legal fee.
"He never had a good claim," Quinn said. "We have a lawsuit where the lawyer is seeking money for the benefit of the lawyer."
He said the $500,000 for Kennedy was a highly inflated figure, and he noted the two suits have cost the taxpayers money in paying the lawyers assigned to defend them.
Gager's ordeal began in 1991 with a routine traffic stop of Robert Collins. Stolen property was found in the vehicle, and Collins was convicted of burglary and insurance fraud. While in prison, Collins convinced an acquaintance, Avrom Finkel, who was not then an inmate, to mail a packaged bomb to Gager's home in Douglas County.
When Gager opened it in his kitchen, the bomb exploded, critically injuring him. In March 1996, Collins was sentenced to 75 years in prison for the crime, and Finkel got 80 years.
Unable to perform the duties of a patrolman, Gager was reassigned to the criminal history repository in the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. But he kept his status as a Highway Patrol trooper, enabling him to retain the early retirement benefits that are bestowed on law enforcement officers.
Things started to deteriorate in 1998.
Ray Sparks, DMVPS deputy director, noted the inconsistency of a Highway Patrol officer working in a civilian job. Gager said Sparks tried to have Gager's job classified as a civilian position. Gager viewed that as a way to strip him of his law enforcement retirement.
Quinn said DMVPS officials talked with State Public Retirement System representatives. And there were assurances, he said, that Gager's retirement would not be threatened. The attorney general's office then wrote a letter, saying that Gager's status as a patrolman would not be changed.
Gager says Sparks tried to get at him from another direction. According to Gager, Sparks sought to force him to take examinations required of law enforcement officials to update their certifications in such areas as arrests, target shooting and taking down a criminal suspect.
Gager said he faced losing his Highway Patrol status and enhanced pension.
Quinn says Sparks had nothing to do with the orders from the Peace Officer Standards Training agency, which issued a directive to all police agencies about getting officers current on certifications that may have lapsed.
Quinn said Gager was one of 16 patrolman whose certification was in question. Gager wrote letters to his superiors but maintains they did nothing. Quinn said the superiors sought a waiver for Gager from the standards agency. And the department later learned a waiver was not required to protect Gager.
But those two incidents prompted suits by Gager and counterclaims by the state. The cases may be years away from a resolution.
"This (legal) fight has been worse than the bombing," Gager said. He said he felt betrayed by the Highway Patrol that he had loved.
Gager's early years working in the criminal history repository was without problems.
"They thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread," he says. "The office efficiency improved by 60 percent."
But things turned sour. "All of a sudden they said I couldn't do anything right," he said.
He maintains he was the victim of verbal abuse and efforts to strip him of his patrolman status and extra pension benefits. It was then he filed suit.
An arbitration hearing was held, and Gager was awarded $37,500 on the grounds that he was the victim of "intentional infliction of emotional distress." Gager rejected the arbitration award. His lawyer said, "The value of the case exceeds that." The major issue of discrimination, Kennedy said, was not addressed.
"The major issue is: Should be peace officers have some guarantees if they are injured in the line of duty?" Kennedy said.
Quinn moved to dismiss this suit on grounds the facts do not support a legal claim. He said District Judge Archie Blake, who has been assigned the case, has dismissed four of the 13 counts. And the judge is considering a motion to toss out the other nine counts.
Things continued to deteriorate. A report from a psychiatrist suggested Gager suffered a delayed post-traumatic stress disorder from the bombing. And it recommended Gager be transferred within the agency.
Quinn said the language in the letter was ambiguous about the health problems.
There is disagreement what happened next. Quinn said the department decided to place him on administrative leave with full pay rather than reassign him. Gager accepted that. And the department intended to do a vocational assessment to determine what job Gager might fill that would not harm his health.
That was a year ago. Quinn says Gager would not talk with the department.
But Kennedy said this was a move to eliminate his position. A second suit was filed.
So Gager has been sitting home for a year, drawing full pay. He attended college full time last semester, works around the house and does some writing.
"I've got to keep my mind off the people who have caused me problems," he said.
Kennedy says the doctor felt Gager would be better off taking a medical-disability retirement.
"He (Gager) sought to do that," Kennedy said. "The employer sought not to process his paper but to keep him on salary. We have been unable to get the attorney general to even go into mediation to resolve this."
Quinn says Gager's position is that the misconduct of the DMVPS brought about the delayed post-traumatic stress disorder. If the department admitted that, it would open itself up to liability.
Quinn said if it can be proven the state was at fault, he would be willing to sit down and negotiate.
Meanwhile, Quinn says that District Judge David Huff, who was assigned the second suit, ordered Gager undergo an occupational evaluation to assess what jobs he might be qualified for.
Gager, who turns 50 on Sept. 10, faces another surgery. He lost one eye in the explosion and his remaining good eye has cataracts, also the result of the blast.
So far, Gager says it has cost him "out of pocket" $65,000 to finance the costs of the litigation for such things as depositions and transcripts.
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