DECEDENT’S WIFE’S CLAIM FOR DEATH BENEFITS BASED UPON DECEDENT’S WORK AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AFTER 9-11 IS SUBJECT TO THE TWO-YEAR DEADLINE FOR NOTICE IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW 28; BECAUSE THE NOTICE REQUIREMENT WAS NOT COMPLIED WITH, THE DEATH BENEFITS CLAIM WAS PROPERLY DENIED; THERE WAS A DISSENT (THIRD DEPT). ​

The Third Department, over a dissent, determined the claim by decedent’s wife for death benefits pursuant to Workers’ Compensation Law Article 8-a (re: disability due to work at the World Trade Center after 9-11) was properly denied because the two-year notice requirement in Worker’s Compensation Law 28 applies and was not complied with:

… [G]iven that decedent, not claimant, was a participant within the meaning of Workers’ Compensation Law § 161, it was decedent who was entitled to file a claim for benefits outside of the period allowed by Workers’ Compensation Law § 28. Claimant cannot piggyback upon that entitlement, as her claim for death benefits “accrue[d] at the time of [decedent’s] death and ‘is a separate and distinct legal proceeding’ from [decedent’s] original disability claim” … .The language of the … statutory provisions … clearly reflects that claimant cannot avail herself of the exception to the two-year filing requirement created by Workers’ Compensation Law § 168. Matter of Garcia v WTC Volunteer, 2022 NY Slip Op 07110 Third Dept 12-15-22

Practice Point: Here decedent’s wife sough death benefits stemming from decedent’s work at the World Trade Center after 9-11. The claim was deemed subject to the two-year notice deadline in Workers’ Compensation Law 28 and properly denied.