PETITIONER-POLICE-OFFICER’S SLIP AND FALL ON BLACK ICE WAS A COMPENSABLE ACCIDENT UNDER THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW BECAUSE THE METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS WERE SUCH THAT THE PRESENCE OF BLACK ICE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANTICIPATED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing (modifying) the hearing officer’s ruling, determined the petitioner-police-officer’s slip and fall on black ice was a compensable “accident” within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law:

Petitioner testified that, while patrolling his assigned area on the evening in question, he observed a group of youths congregating in a local parking lot. Consistent with his patrol duties, petitioner pulled into what he described as the poorly illuminated parking lot with the intention of instructing the group to disperse. As petitioner exited his vehicle, he slipped on what he later described as black ice and sustained injuries. Petitioner testified that, although it was cold and blustery at the time of his fall, it was not raining or snowing, and he did not recall any precipitation occurring in the days prior to the incident. As petitioner was focused on “[o]bserving the scene,” he also did not recall looking down at the surface of the parking lot prior to exiting his patrol vehicle. * * *

Absent some indication of meteorological conditions that would be amenable to the presence or formation of black ice, respondent’s determination — that petitioner could have reasonably anticipated the slippery condition that he encountered at the time of his fall — is not supported by substantial evidence … . Matter of Castellano v DiNapoli, 2021 NY Slip Op 05148, Third Dept 9-30-21