ALTHOUGH DECEDENT, A NEW YORK RESIDENT, WORKED FOR A PENNSYLVANIA COMPANY, NEW YORK HAD JURISDICTION OVER AN INJURY THAT OCCURRED OUTSIDE NEW YORK (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department determined New York could exercise jurisdiction over an injury that occurred outside New York. Decedent was a New York resident working for a Pennsylvania company:
The Board has jurisdiction over a claim for an injury occurring outside of New York where there are “sufficient significant contacts” between the employment and New York … . A variety of factors must be taken into account in the fact-finding required to assess jurisdiction, “including where the employee resides, where the employee was hired, the location of the employee’s employment and the employer’s offices, whether the employee was expected to return to New York after completing out-of-state work for the employer and the extent to which the employer conducted business in New York” … . The Board’s determination as to the existence of jurisdiction will not be disturbed if it is supported by substantial evidence … .
At the hearing, decedent testified that, while he was living in New York, he was hired by the employer during a phone call and that he thereafter went to Pennsylvania for a four-day orientation before he began driving for the employer. He further explained that he continued to live in New York and that, during the two-year period prior to his accident, he had made 17 deliveries to locations in New York, which was significantly more deliveries than he had made to Pennsylvania. Decedent also described his “home base” as being in New York and testified that the employer would contact him at his home in New York about jobs. After decedent was injured, the employer assisted in securing medical care for him in New York and selecting a doctor for him there. Decedent acknowledged that the dispatcher from whom he received calls was located in Pennsylvania. Decedent further explained that, after he was injured, the employer helped secure him light-duty work in New York for which the employer paid him, and the record contains a letter to decedent explaining that the employer had sought assistance in securing him such a position and that it was “an extension of [his] employment” with the employer. Matter of Galster v Keen Transp., Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 01105, Second Dept 2-14-18
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW (JURISDICTION, INJURY OUTSIDE NEW YORK, NEW YORK HAD JURISDICTION OVER AN INJURY THAT OCCURRED OUTSIDE NEW YORK (THIRD DEPT))/JURISDICTION (WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW, INJURY OUTSIDE NEW YORK, NEW YORK HAD JURISDICTION OVER AN INJURY THAT OCCURRED OUTSIDE NEW YORK (THIRD DEPT))