THE ARBITRATION AWARD WAS “IRRATIONAL;” THE CORRECTIONS OFFICERS WERE TREATED ONLY ON THE DAY OF THEIR INJURIES, LOST NO WORK AND HAD NO OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES; THEY WERE NOT ENTITLED TO MEDICAL BENEFITS PURSUANT TO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT (CBA) AND THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the arbitration award which found that the county corrections officers were entitled to medical benefits for work-related injuries pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and the General Municipal Law, was “irrational.” The officers were treated on the day of their injuries, received no further treatment, lost no work, and had no out-of-pocket expenses:

“An award is irrational only where there is no proof whatever to justify the award” … . Here, the union asserted that the County violated the CBA by improperly denying General Municipal Law § 207-c benefits to the claimants, and the parties agreed that the arbitrator would decide whether this [*3]assertion was correct. “General Municipal Law § 207-c(1) entitles corrections officers to certain enumerated benefits, including the payment of salary or wages and the cost of medical treatment and hospital care, where the officer ‘is injured in the performance of his [or her] duties or . . . is taken sick as a result of the performance of his [or her] duties'”… . By definition, an officer seeking benefits under the statute must demonstrate, among other things, that he or she requires payment of salary or wages, or payment for the cost of medical treatment, whether in the form of reimbursement for funds expended or direct payment to an unpaid provider … . Here, the claimants did not seek payment of salary or wages pursuant to the statute, since they were each paid their regular salary or wages for the time spent visiting a medical provider on the date of the occurrence and missed no time thereafter. The claimants also did not seek payment of, or reimbursement for, the cost of the medical treatment they each received on the day of their respective occurrences, conceding that they did not sustain any out-of-pocket medical expenses. The arbitrator’s decision to award the claimants a designation that their injuries or illnesses qualified for statutory benefits was therefore irrational, considering that there was no proof that any such benefits were required … . Matter of County of Nassau v Nassau County Sheriff’s Corr. Officers’ Benevolent Assn., 2024 NY Slip Op 00069, Second Dept 1-11-24

Practice Point: This case is rare example of a judicial finding that an arbitration award was “irrational.”