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AN INCIDENT WHICH “COULD OR SHOULD HAVE REASONABLY BEEN ANTICIPATED” IS NOT AN “ACCIDENT” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (CT APP). ​

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Halligan, affirming the Appellate Division, determined petitioner, a former police officer, was not entitled to accidental disability retirement (ADR) benefits for injuries suffered when a wheel on his desk chair caught in a rut and the chair began to tip over backwards. Petitioner, who was aware of the ruts in the floor, was able to stop the chair from tipping over by grabbing the desk, injuring his shoulder and neck:

An event which is “a risk inherent” in the work performed is not an “accident” for purposes of ADR benefits … . Further, an event that is not a risk inherent in one’s job must be a “sudden, unexpected” occurrence in order to amount to an “accident” … . We held in Matter of Rizzo v DiNapoli that a known danger cannot be the cause of a compensable accident, but we left open whether an event that could or should have reasonably been anticipated by the claimant can result in an accident for purposes of section 363 (see 39 NY3d 991, 992 [2022]). We answer that question today.

We hold that a precipitating event that could or should have reasonably been anticipated by a person in the claimant’s circumstances is not an “accident” for purposes of ADR benefits. It is well established that “an injury which occurs without an unexpected event . . . is not an accidental injury” for purposes of section 363 (Lichtenstein, 57 NY2d at 1012). The unexpected nature of the precipitating event is key to this definition. * * *

… [W]e conclude that substantial evidence supports the Comptroller’s determination that petitioner could or should have reasonably anticipated the near-fall from his desk chair. Matter of Bodenmiller v DiNapoli, 2024 NY Slip Op 06234, CtApp 12-12-24

Practice Point: Here petitioner was aware of ruts in the floor in which the wheels on his desk chair could catch. Therefore injuries stemming from a wheel catching in a rut were not the result of a compensable “accident” under the Retirement and Social Security Law.

 

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