MOUNT VERNON, New York (WABC) — A 19-year police veteran in Mount Vernon, who is six months from retirement and has kidney failure, is being terminated at the end of the month.
Derek Williams is on dialysis, and his doctors say he can work on light duty, but the Mount Vernon Police Department says he can’t work and is terminating him on December 31st.
“I do 9 hours of dialysis, seven days a week, to maintain my health. Without that, I wouldn’t survive,” Williams said.
Williams described his declining health surrounded by retired Mount Vernon police officers who are supporting their brother in blue.
Williams, a 19-year veteran and former member of the Elite Emergency Service Unit, contracted COVID-19 in 2020 after months of working double shifts.
“Derek’s character caused him to come to work to support this city and the residents of this city during the worst pandemic that we’ve had,” Shawn Harris, the former Mount Vernon police commissioner, said.
The department has classified Williams’ kidney failure as a non-job-related illness and stopped paying him when he became too sick to work.
Doctors have cleared the 45-year-old for desk duty, and he is just six months shy of qualifying for a reduced pension.
His request has been denied.
“I begged for my job back. I begged to come in whatever hours I’m capable of doing, and I was told there’s no light duty for me,” Williams said.
Earlier this month, he received a termination letter effective December 31, which would not only end his career but would also cut off his health insurance.
“I just feel like they have no empathy, they have no compassion,” Williams said.
Mount Vernon says it can’t comment on personnel matters.
“To be blunt, if you’re terminating his employment, you’re terminating his life, in so many words,” Harris said.
Williams has a pending application for a state disability pension and is on a kidney transplant waiting list.