THE 10-DAY PERIOD DURING WHICH PETITIONER POLICE OFFICER MUST APPLY FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS STARTED TO RUN WHEN HE LEARNED HE HAD SUFFERED PERMANENT LUNG DAMAGE, NOT WHEN HE FIRST CONTRACTED COVID; PETITIONER’S APPLICATION FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED AS UNTIMELY (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department, reversing Sullivan County’s denial of disability benefits for petitioner police officer (Ramos), determined the time when petitioner learned he had permanent lung damage (September 9, 2021), not the time when he contracted COVID (August 9, 2021), was the operative date for timely application for General Municipal Law 207-c disability benefits:
Code of the County of Sullivan § 70-7 requires, among other things, applications for benefits under General Municipal Law § 207-c to be made “within 10 days from the date of the incident alleged to have given rise to the claim of disability or illness, or from the time such condition is discovered, whichever date is later. * * *
… [I]t was improper for the Director to use August 9, 2021 as the incident date that commenced the 10-day period within which Ramos was required to file his application for benefits. Ramos’ application clearly stated that he was informed on September 9, 2021 about his lung damage stemming from his contraction of COVID-19, and it was on this date that Ramos first discovered the disability (i.e., possible lung damage) that gave rise to his claim and application for benefits. Ramos’ September 17, 2021 application was made within 10 days of September 9, 2021 … . Matter of Sullivan County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Assn., Inc. v County of Sullivan, 2024 NY Slip Op 00481, Third Dept 2-1-24
Practice Point: Any time period during which a police officer must apply for disability benefits starts to run when the officer first learns of his permanent disability, not when the officer first became ill.