More tests for ‘Feel the Burn’ retiree

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - In a near unanimous decision, members of the Providence Retirement Board voted to send retired firefighter John Sauro to another doctor to undergo further testing on his injured shoulder.

After the meeting, Sauro’s attorney told reporters his client is under no legal obligation to be tested again and will not be subjected to any further exams.

“He doesn’t need to do it, he's in full compliance of the law,” said attorney Joseph Voccola. “The statute the specifically mandates retesting once a year.”

Sauro was ordered by the city to be seen by a specialist after Target 12 aired undercover video showing him taking part in a regular weightlifting routine. Sauro collects a tax-free disability pension for a shoulder injury he said he received on the job.

“It’s turned into a spectacle,” said Voccola. “If the public is truly concerned about Mr. Sauro receiving a pension for the injury he has, then the law needs to be changed and the General Assembly needs to enact a law that doesn’t allow people who sustained the type of injury that Mr .Sauro has to receive a pension.”

Earlier this year Dr. Anthony DeLuise issued a report that said Sauro was still too hurt to work, according to the Retirement Board. Voccola declined to provide Eyewitness News with the report.

But during the meeting board members said DeLuise suggested Sauro undergo further testing to confirm his findings. Voccola told board members he disagreed with their assessment of DeLuise’s findings.

According to the Retirement Board, Sauro did not undergo an x-ray or MRI as part of the examination and asked that Sauro submit to a functional capacity exam.

Voccola also unsuccessfully argued that two board members – Councilman John Igliozzi and Kerion O’Mara – recuse themselves from his client’s case because of comments they made to Eyewitness News.

“We don’t believe that type of behavior by those board members will allow them to be fair and impartial,” Voccola said.

Sauro declined to be interviewed on camera, but told Target 12 he had to call police to his Cranston home because he was being harassed. Cranston police said they have been to Sauro’s home twice this year for a report of “suspicious activity” but no one has been arrested.

Voccola said his office has been working on other cases of potential pension fraud and said the city should be focusing on them rather than his client.

“I can understand the public's concern [about Sauro] and they should have a concern,” Voccola said. “But the bottom line is this, for the type of injury he sustained he's entitled to receive the pension. If they want corrective action, it needs to come at the legislative level.”

twhite@wpri.com

WPRI.com reporter Ted Nesi contributed to this report.