Matthew Ladd won lawsuit for PTSD still waiting for justice

Matthew Ladd won lawsuit for PTSD still waiting for justice
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 6, 2014

Matthew Ladd has still not received a dime of the money the jury awarded him in August. He has not been given his job back and has not been able to find another one working as a police officer. Why? For heaven's sake this man risked his life in combat then was ready to continue risking his life in West Palm Beach. What he was not willing to do was give up. He still isn't even though he lost everything he owned.

Can you imagine what it has been like for him? I only know because he contacted me to update me on what is going on and with his permission I have posted this update because no matter what he's been thru, he isn't ready to give up on justice.

He still believes there is right and wrong in this world. That belief compelled him to enter into military service and what has compelled him to want to do whatever it takes to protect citizens. He still believes that he can be of service no matter how many have betrayed him in the past. Why? Because he has seen the worst people can do to each other along with the magnificence of what they can do for each other. His life has always been about doing for so he doesn't want revenge, he wants what the court said was justice for what was done to him.

If you want to contact Matthew, here is his email address matthewladd85@gmail.com. He needs our prayers and he needs support but right now he needs to be able to get past this darkness hanging over his head so that he can do what he was created to do, serve others.

Some want to think that PTSD is some kind of thing to be ashamed of but they ignore the fact that many police officers are also veterans and many have PTSD. That police work is dangerous enough to cause PTSD even without military service. They want to ignore that the vast majority of these men and women have earned awards for their service but then again, they seem all too willing to ignore the fact that many of the Medal of Honor Heroes have not only been heroes, they did with with PTSD.

Here is a reminder of Matthew's story.

Jury awards former West Palm Beach officer, fired on PTSD rumors, $880,000
Palm Beach Post
Jane Msgrave
August 30, 2013

WEST PALM BEACH — For three years, Matthew Ladd insisted that his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan shouldn’t have disqualified him from the ranks of the city’s police force.

Late Friday, a Palm Beach County jury agreed, ordering West Palm Beach to pay the 28-year-old Army veteran $880,000 for firing him on the basis of rumors that he had post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I’m stunned,” Ladd said shortly after the verdict was announced. “I’ve just been so stressed out about this case. Finally, I can get some sleep. My wife can get some sleep.”

His attorney Sid Garcia said Ladd was the victim of “malicious gossips” who lied about the trauma the rookie officer suffered while serving in the Middle East. They ultimately persuaded then-Police Chief Delsa Bush that Ladd was a danger to himself and others even though a psychiatrist who examined the rookie officer at the request of police brass found no evidence of mental distress and declared him fit for duty.

“Former Chief Bush did not take time to treat him like a human being,” Garcia said. Instead of believing the doctor, he said, she believed a vicious memo a sergeant wrote, claiming Ladd was mentally ill.
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