The widow of an FDNY lieutenant has scored an estimated $3 million payday after a judge ruled that “shocking and unconscionable” actions by the city denied her his rightful pension.
Jackie Kaht Fernandez spent nine years fighting the Fire Department’s pension board and its doctors to prove that the sudden death of her husband, Lt. Cruz Fernandez, in 2006 at age 52 was related to his time spent at Ground Zero.
“The word ‘no’ is not in my vocabulary,” Jackie Fernandez, 53, told The Post. In an unusually harsh ruling March 2, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Daniel Velasquez ripped the city for not siding with her sooner and said it operated in “bad faith” with her.
Fernandez said her husband — known as “Bombero” (Spanish for “firefighter”) — competed in nine New York City Marathons before his work at the World Trade Center site.
He retired in November 2002 after 24 years of service, feeling run down and having trouble catching his breath, she said.
He was diagnosed with acid reflux and had periodontal disease, but the maladies were attributed to allergies and sinus problems, she said.
In 2006, at a beach picnic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., he collapsed in shallow water and died.
It was initially classified a drowning, but a medical examiner later concluded Fernandez had a heart attack brought on by anthracosis, commonly known as “coal miner’s disease.”