Ex-officer fights DC's rigid disability rule – could your leave policy be next?
A federal court has allowed a former DC police officer to seek damages over his disability retirement, putting rigid disability leave policies under closer scrutiny.
In Pappas v. District of Columbia, dated January 9, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted former Metropolitan Police Department officer Vincent Hopkins permission to intervene in a pending class action. The lawsuit alleges that the department’s disability retirement practices violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Hopkins’s experience is at the center of the latest ruling. According to his proposed complaint, he went on sick leave in August 2020 after a family member tested positive for COVID-19. He later contracted COVID-19 himself and developed what he describes as post-viral COVID syndrome, with ongoing fatigue and pain. In August 2021, he was referred for disability retirement and was disability retired in March 2022.
His situation is tied to a specific Metropolitan Police Department rule. Under that rule, employees with disabilities who spend 172 cumulative workdays over a two-year period in less than full-duty status are forcibly retired. The plaintiffs, including Hopkins, allege this policy violates federal disability laws because it was implemented without providing reasonable accommodations. Hopkins alleges that the department failed to...
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