Milwaukee police officer Graham Kunisch had to retire as a Milwaukee police officer and begin receiving duty disability payments after he was shot in the face during a routine traffic stop on the city’s south side.
Kunisch, now 41, lost his left eye and much of the frontal lobe in his brain as a result of the 2009 shooting. His wife has testified that the incident changed his personality , leaving him angry and paranoid.
Last year, the city Employees’ Retirement System concluded that it owes Kunisch $32,005.17 in retroactive benefits in light of a recent state Supreme Court decision on how duty disability payments are calculated.
But now a local law firm, MacGillis Wiemer , is asking a Milwaukee County court to order Kunisch and dozens of other retired Milwaukee police officers who were injured in the line of duty to turn over one-third of these retroactive payments to the firm — even though its attorneys don’t even represent them.
The firm is accusing the Milwaukee cops on duty disability of “unjust enrichment” if they don’t fork over the money.