NY cop on dialysis fired 6 months before retirement as neighbors rally to restore health benefits

A Mount Vernon cop who was fired just six months shy of retirement is now getting an extension on his health benefits so he can continue life-saving kidney dialysis treatments.

Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said she will give police Officer Derek Williams another six months of benefits so he can keep battling COVID-related kidney failure, the city said in a press release.

“When it comes to serious illness it requires a softer touch of government that goes beyond bureaucracy,” the mayor said in a statement Thursday. “Having a mother who is currently dealing with dialysis, I understand the tough period he is going through.

Mount Vernon Police Officer Derek Williams on the job and during his battle with COVID-related kidney failure.

“In a brief conversation [I] had with Officer Williams today, he indicated a lack of PBA representation during this process,” Patterson-Howard said. “As such, I am granting a six-month extension.”

Williams was told earlier this month he would have to hang up his badge on Dec. 31 after spending two years unable to work due to his debilitating illness, costing him a full pension with continued benefits.

He said the department ordered him back to work because his ailment wasn’t job-related — while city officials claim Williams never filed the paperwork that could have kept him on the job under state law.

At a press conference outside Mount Vernon City Hall on Friday, the ailing cop thanked his supporters.

“I just want to thank everyone for the love and support,” said Williams, who was fired just short of his 20-year retirement date. “For the past two years I was fighting this by myself. I didn’t want to make it public, I didn’t want anybody to know about my sickness. It’s public now.”

Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said she is extending fired cop Derek Williams’ health benefits. Facebook/Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard

Some of his supporters now claim that Williams deserves much more than a health care extension.

Damon Jones, an ex-correction cop and New York rep for Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, told The Post that Williams — a former Emergency Services Unit officer — should have gotten a disability pension and benefits after contracting COVID while on the job.

“Everybody dropped the ball,” he said. “He’s not going to get the full pension because they never gave him job injury for catching COVID. There are federal and state laws protecting first-responders that, if they caught COVID, it’s recognized as a job-related injury.

“He was guaranteed these benefits through federal and state law.”