PETITIONER, A POLICE PARAMEDIC, INJURED HIS SHOULDER WHEN THE RETRACTABLE PORTION OF A STRETCHER JAMMED; THE UNEXPECTED EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION WAS AN “ACCIDENT” ENTITLING PETITIONER TO ACCIDENTAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFITS (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, over a partial concurrence and dissent, determined petitioner, a police paramedic, was entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits based on an injury caused by the malfunction of the retractable portion of a stretcher:

For purposes of accidental disability retirement benefits, “an accident is defined as ‘a sudden, fortuitous mischance, unexpected, out of the ordinary, and injurious in impact’ ” * * *. “An injury which occurs without an unexpected event as the result of activity undertaken in the performance of ordinary employment duties, considered in view of the particular employment in question, is not an accidental injury” … . * * *

… [P]etitioner testified that when he squeezed the handle to extend the retractable head portion of the stretcher and pulled, which petitioner noted usually required “a little bit of force to push it in and out,” he was able to extend it a little bit before it unexpectedly jammed — something that petitioner testified had never happened before. Petitioner testified that thereafter it took four firefighters banging on the handle with tools to finally extend the head section to the proper position. Although extending the retractable head portion of the stretcher was no doubt part of petitioner’s job duties, the precipitating external event, i.e., the jamming of the retractable head section of the stretcher, was sudden, unexpected and not a risk in his ordinary employment duties. As petitioner’s testimony reflects, this appears to have been a malfunction in the equipment … . Matter of Hamblin v DiNapoli, 2024 NY Slip Op 03787, Third Dept 7-11-24

Practice Point: Injury caused by an equipment malfunction can constitute a compensable “accident” under the Retirement and Social Security Law.