Hurt on the job, or diagnosed with a disease the job caused? Maryland gives paid and volunteer firefighters, fire fighting instructors, rescue squad members and advanced life support members something almost no other worker gets — a statutory presumption.
Maryland firefighters filed 735 workers’ compensation claims in FY2023, about 3.4% of every claim in the state and among the top ten industry categories. Source: Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission, FY2023 Annual Report
Heart disease, hypertension and lung disease are presumed work-related, and fourteen enumerated cancers are too after ten years of service. There is no cost to talk to us.
At Pinder Plotkin, the initial consultation is free, whether by phone or in person. You have the right to an attorney, and we work on a contingency basis — you do not pay attorney fees up front while dealing with medical bills and lost wages, and our fee comes only after you win.
Md. Code, Labor & Employment § 9-503 gives fire service personnel the broadest presumption in Maryland law. Here is exactly what it reaches, and where it stops.
Presumed to be an occupational disease suffered in the line of duty for paid firefighters, fire fighting instructors, rescue squad members, advanced life support unit members and sworn members of the Office of the State Fire Marshal — employed by an airport authority, county, fire control district, municipality or the State.
Volunteers in those same roles are covered when they are covered employees under § 9-234, provided they met a suitable standard of physical examination before service.
There is no service-length requirement and no exposure-linkage element for these three conditions.L&E § 9-503(a)
Leukemia, or prostate, rectal, throat, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, brain, testicular, bladder, kidney or renal cell, thyroid, colon, ovarian, or breast cancer.
Two extra elements apply here that do not apply to heart, hypertension or lung: ten years of cumulative service within the State as a firefighter, instructor, rescue squad member or ALS member (or a combination of those roles), and the disease must be caused by contact with a toxic substance encountered in the line of duty.L&E § 9-503(c)
For every branch of § 9-503, the condition has to result in partial or total disability or death. A diagnosis on its own does not carry the presumption.L&E § 9-503(a)(2), (c)(3)
A permanency award for a public safety employee is also paid at a higher rate — a Tier 1 award is paid at the Tier 2 rate under § 9-628(h). That matters more than it sounds: about three quarters of Maryland permanency awards fall in the 0–74 week band (6,479 of 8,611 in FY2024), which is exactly where the bump applies.
The burden never comes back to you. Maryland’s highest court applied that rule in City of Frederick v. Shankle, 367 Md. 5, 785 A.2d 749 (2001), which rests on Montgomery County Fire Board v. Fisher, 298 Md. 245, 468 A.2d 625 (1983): this is a presumption of fact that stays in the case as affirmative evidence throughout, and that both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion remain fixed on the employer — neither ever shifts to the claimant. An employer’s expert may not simply deny or contradict the presumption because the expert disagrees with the premise behind it. Rebuttal has to be claimant-specific evidence about you, not a general attack on the legislature’s reasoning.
The mesothelioma gap. In 2022 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified occupational exposure as a firefighter as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), and found sufficient evidence in humans for exactly two cancers: mesothelioma and bladder cancer. Maryland’s statutory list includes bladder and omits mesothelioma entirely. So the cancer with the strongest international evidence base of any firefighter cancer is the one Maryland does not presume. That claim has to be built on causation evidence under the ordinary occupational disease provisions, anchored on IARC Monograph 132 and the NIOSH firefighter cohort studies. If you have been told there is no case because mesothelioma is not on the list, that is not the end of the analysis.
As of October 1, 2026 — the hypertension track. Chapter 300 of the 2026 laws (HB 347, approved by the Governor on 28 April 2026) adds a distinct hypertension provision to § 9-503(a). A paid firefighter, fire fighting instructor, rescue squad member, advanced life support unit member or Office of the State Fire Marshal member is presumed to have a compensable occupational disease and is presumed disabled on four conditions: diagnosis by an authorized provider, 90 or more consecutive days of prescribed hypertension medication, at least two years of cumulative service, and current employment in a qualifying position.
What that removes is the requirement to show lost work time. Under the earlier text, § 9-503(a)(2) required the condition to result in partial or total disability or death, so a firefighter on blood pressure medication who never missed a shift had no claim. Two scope limits apply: the track covers paid personnel only, and it covers the fire service classes only — police officers, deputy sheriffs and correctional officers under § 9-503(b) are not included. Chapter 300 also bars disability retirement benefits for the same condition, subject to collective bargaining exceptions, and requires a separate claim application for heart or lung disease.
Maryland law presumes certain illnesses — hypertension, heart disease, and specific cancers after 10 years of service — are caused by the job for firefighters, rescue squad members, firefighting instructors, and some volunteer firefighters. It’s the employer’s or insurer’s burden to prove otherwise (§ 9-503).
If a firefighter suffers a partial disability, the benefit is calculated on a higher tier — in many cases, roughly double what a civilian worker would receive for a similar injury.
Report it in writing or verbally within ten days of the injury. If you develop an occupational disease, you must report it to your employer within one year of discovering the illness.
Get to a doctor as soon as you can and follow your healthcare provider's instructions. Tell them about your injury in detail so you get the proper treatment — and so the record ties your condition to the job.
Your healthcare provider will record your injury, but it helps to document it yourself too — how it happened, your symptoms, and the treatment you're getting.
Photograph the injury if it's visible. Photos can serve as evidence of the extent of your injuries even after they heal, and can help show the cause of the injury.
File your claim with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission with the help of a workers' compensation attorney, who can handle the paperwork and legal steps needed within the filing deadline.
Hypertension and heart disease are presumed to have occurred on the job for firefighters, rescue squad members, firefighting instructors, employees of the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and some volunteer firefighters — though you must show the condition impairs your ability to perform your job duties.
Hearing loss or tinnitus isn't a presumed occupational illness, but Maryland's workers' comp benefits cover it if you can show the severity of the loss, the damages it caused, and that on-the-job conditions caused it.
If you're retired, you may still be entitled to file a claim for one of these conditions. Some firefighters diagnosed before joining the department may also be entitled to benefits — take steps to protect your rights.
Rescue squad members, firefighting instructors, employees of the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and some volunteer firefighters may also receive benefits under this provision, alongside career firefighters and EMTs.
Joshua Fannon, Esq. is a 25-year Baltimore City Fire Department Battalion Chief and the elected President of IAFF Local 964. He reads incident reports and medical records the way they were written — from inside the firehouse.
As a Maryland-certified Cardiac Rescue Technician and the elected Active Fire Trustee on the Baltimore City Fire & Police Employees Retirement System, he understands how a presumption claim fits with your pension.
Managing attorney Jason Plotkin, who comes from a family of first responders, leads the team behind him — so your claim gets both an insider's read and firm-wide support.
Unlike a typical injury claim, Maryland workers' comp benefits are set by statute — not negotiated case-by-case with an insurance adjuster. You may be entitled to:
As with other workers' comp claims, you generally receive two-thirds of your average weekly wage as compensation while you're out of work.
Temporary total disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you’re unable to work, capped at the state average weekly wage (§ 9-621). Under the 14-day/3-day waiting rule (§ 9-620), if you’re out fewer than 14 days, the first 3 days aren’t paid unless your disability continues 14 days or more.
Maryland pays permanent partial disability awards in tiers based on the length of the award: under 75 weeks is paid at one-third of your average weekly wage (§ 9-628); 75 weeks or more is paid at two-thirds of your average weekly wage, with a higher cap on longer awards (§ 9-629, § 9-630).
Your workers’ comp claim is against your employer’s insurer and doesn’t depend on fault — but it also doesn’t pay for pain and suffering. If someone other than your employer helped cause your injury, you may also have a separate third-party claim that can recover more. We look at both so you don’t leave money on the table.
Maryland workers’ comp generally covers employees, not true independent contractors. But workers are often misclassified — if your employer controlled how and when you did your work, you may be covered even if you were labeled a contractor. It’s worth letting us take a look before you assume you have no claim.
Whatever your role, if you were hurt on the job across Maryland, Maryland's workers' compensation system is built to get you medical care and wage-replacement benefits. Some public-safety roles carry additional statutory protections — see our pages for firefighters & EMTs, police officers, correctional officers, and public safety employees below.
Workplace injuries are more common than most people realize, and Maryland’s no-fault system gives injured workers real protections — including some added protections for public-safety roles.
These occupational-disease presumptions come from Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. § 9-503, and presumption claims are filed with the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission — the same agency that handles every Maryland workers’ comp claim.
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Estimate Your Settlement ValueFor firefighters and EMTs, Maryland law presumes certain cancers, heart, and lung diseases are work-related. Our firm uses this legal presumption to build your case and fight for the full benefits you are owed for these occupational illnesses.
Insurers often dispute these complex claims. Our job is to fight back by using the powerful legal presumptions and medical evidence to prove your condition is job-related and secure the compensation you deserve.
Public safety officers are entitled to enhanced compensation for permanent disabilities. We have specific experience with these unique benefits and fight to ensure your final award reflects the higher level of compensation you are owed by law.
These cases are governed by special rules and presumptions not found in typical workers' comp claims. Our focused experience ensures we know how to navigate this unique system and maximize the benefits available only to public safety personnel.
From filing the initial claim to fighting a denial in court, we manage every step. This allows you to focus on your health and family while we handle the complex legal work required to win your case.
Only for cancer. The cancer presumption requires at least 10 years of cumulative service plus contact with a toxic substance in the line of duty. Heart disease, hypertension, and lung disease have no minimum years-of-service requirement — what matters is that the condition results in disability.
Often, yes. An occupational-disease claim generally must be filed within two years of “disablement” — when the condition disables you or you first learn it is work-related (§ 9-711) — not from your last shift. A disease that manifests after you leave the department can still be timely, so do not assume you have missed your window.
Covered. The same § 9-503 presumptions reach advanced life support unit members (EMTs and paramedics), rescue squad members, and fire instructors — not just firefighters. Qualifying volunteers must have passed a pre-service physical.
Three Maryland offices — Baltimore (Nottingham), Laurel and Bel Air — and we travel statewide to meet clients who cannot travel to us. Call (888) 844-5373 to schedule a visit.
Three places tell you. The hearing notice the Commission sends names the site, the room and the time. The same details sit next to your claim in CompHub, the Commission’s online claim system. And the Commission posts its daily dockets online, so you can look the site up the day before. If we represent you, we confirm the location with the Commission before every hearing and tell you exactly where to go and when to be there.
A Maryland workers’ compensation case starts when you file an Employee Claim Form with the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission. You can file it online through CompHub — there is an option for people who would rather not set up an account — or file by mail or in person at the Commission’s office, 10 East Baltimore Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. The Commission’s number is (410) 864-5100, or 1-800-492-0479 toll free from outside the Baltimore area. Reporting the injury to your employer is a separate step — telling your boss does not file your claim.
The Commission hears cases in Baltimore City and at six regional sites.
Sites and hearing rooms change. Always go by the location on your hearing notice, and call the Commission or your attorney if anything about it is unclear.
We handle workers' compensation cases for Maryland firefighters and EMTs throughout Maryland.
We take cases anywhere in Maryland. The figure on each card is the number of workers' compensation claims the Commission received from that jurisdiction in fiscal year 2023 — the last year the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission published a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction breakdown. Claim volume tracks how many people work in a jurisdiction, not how dangerous it is. Each name links to its official local government website.
Statewide, Maryland workers filed 21,837 claims with the Commission in fiscal year 2025, down from 22,149 in fiscal year 2024. The Commission no longer publishes that total broken down by jurisdiction, which is why the figures above are dated FY2023.
Source: MDOT Zero Deaths Maryland jurisdiction crash data summaries, 2023. Statewide totals: 577 fatal crashes and 621 traffic deaths.
Jason Plotkin was born and raised here, and he has lived in six Maryland jurisdictions — Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, Howard County, Allegany County and Worcester County. Mountains to shore. That is not a marketing line; it is where he has actually lived.
Marc Hassan, Tony Balasamo and Joshua Fannon were born and raised in Maryland too, and Christian Miele served in the Maryland House of Delegates. When you work with our firm, you are working with people who know this state — its roads, its courts and its neighbors.
Free case review, no pressure, no fee unless we win. Reach out and one of our attorneys will walk you through your options.
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