Retirement and Social Security Law Archives

PETITIONER, A POLICE OFFICER, WAS ASKED BY HER SUPERVISOR TO PICK UP A LARGE BREAKFAST ORDER FOR THE PRECINCT; PETITIONER SLIPPED AND FELL ON ICE IN THE PARKING LOT WHEN RETURNING WITH THE ORDER; PETITIONER WAS “IN SERVICE” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW WHEN SHE FELL (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined the petitioner, a police officer, was in service when she slipped on ice and her application for accidental disability benefits should not have been denied on that ground. The matter was sent back for a determination when the fall was an “accident” within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law:

Respondent’s determination that petitioner was not in service because she was performing “a personal activity” at the time of her 2011 injury is not supported by substantial evidence. Petitioner testified that, on the day of the incident, her supervisor asked if the desk duty officers were going to get breakfast. According to petitioner, the supervisor then requested that someone contact a patrol officer that was on the road and have him or her pick up breakfast for the precinct. … A fellow officer that was in the precinct at the time volunteered to go and asked petitioner to accompany him to help carry the large order. According to petitioner, her supervisor then gave her permission to go and he paid for the breakfast order. Upon her return to the precinct with the breakfast order, she slipped on ice while walking in the parking lot. In our view, by going out to pick up a breakfast order for the precinct at the behest of her supervisor, petitioner was performing a work duty rather than engaged in a personal activity … . Matter of Arroyo v DiNapoli, 2021 NY Slip Op 03895, Third Dept 6-17-21

June 17, 2021/by Bruce Freeman

Evidence, Municipal Law, Retirement and Social Security Law

NYC POLICE OFFICERS IN THE TIER 3 RETIREMENT SYSTEM ARE ENTITLED TO CREDIT FOR PERIODS OF UNPAID CHILDCARE LEAVE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, reversing the Appellate Division, over a two-judge dissent, determined that retiring police officers are entitled to credit for the unpaid leave for child care. The appeal raised a question of statutory interpretation. The Court of Appeals found that the relevant provision of the NYC Administrative Code was not preempted by the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL):

The Appellate Division order should be reversed and Supreme Court’s judgment declaring that defendants violated the second subdivision (h) of Administrative Code of the City of New York § 13-218 by excluding police officers in tier 3 of the state retirement system from the retirement benefits conferred by that subdivision reinstated. Applying longstanding, basic rules of statutory interpretation, we conclude that the relevant part of Administrative Code § 13-218 renders officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) who are members of the tier 3 retirement system eligible for credit for certain periods of unpaid childcare leave, and that the grant of such benefits for those officers is consistent with the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). Lynch v City of New York, 2020 NY Slip Op 05841, Ct App 10-20-20

October 20, 2020/by Bruce Freeman

Administrative Law, Retirement and Social Security Law

INCREASES IN PAY TO PORT AUTHORITY EXECUTIVE EMPLOYEES, AIMED AT RETAINING THOSE EMPLOYEES IN THE WAKE OF THE 9-11 ATTACKS, SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS SALARY IN THE CALCULATION OF THOSE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT BENEFITS (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, reversing the Appellate Division, determined certain increases in pay to executive employees of the Port Authority, aimed at retaining those employees in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, should not be treated as salary in the calculation of those employees’ retirement benefits. ” … Retirement and Social Security Law § 431 provides that “[i]n any retirement or pension plan to which the state or municipality thereof contributes, the salary base for the computation of retirement benefits shall in no event include . . . any additional compensation paid in anticipation of retirement” (Retirement and Social Security Law § 431 [3] [emphasis added]):”

… [W]e must … ask whether there is substantial evidence in the record to support the Comptroller’s determination that the Port Authority’s compensation adjustment program constituted “additional compensation paid in anticipation of retirement” (Retirement and Social Security Law § 431 [3]). Under this standard, where substantial evidence exists to support the administrative agency’s determination, a court may not substitute its judgment for that of the agency, even if there is evidence supporting a contrary conclusion … . In order to determine whether the purpose of the compensation was “to circumvent the provisions of Retirement and Social Security Law § 431,” courts ” must look to the substance of the transaction and not to what the parties may label it’ ” … .

Here, the record contains substantial evidence supporting the Comptroller’s determination that the Port Authority provided the compensation adjustments to artificially increase the executive employees’ final average salaries so that, upon retirement, they would receive pension increases roughly equivalent to those they would have received under the retirement incentive program. Indeed, the letter agreements signed by petitioner employees directly referred to a program “designed to provide a limited number of staff members with a parity’ benefit” to make their “pension calculation[s] . . . roughly equivalent to the calculation[s] if [they] had been eligible to retire with the incentive.” Plainly, substantial evidence supports the conclusion that the compensation, by design, was made in anticipation of petitioner employees’ retirement within the meaning of the statute. Matter of Bohlen v DiNapoli, 2020 NY Slip Op 00997, CtApp 2-13-20

February 13, 2020/by Bruce Freeman

Retirement and Social Security Law

PETITIONER, A COUNTY CORRECTION OFFICER, WAS ENTITLED TO DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFITS; AN INMATE, WHO WAS UNSTEADY ON HER FEET AND MAY HAVE BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS, FELL HEAD FIRST FROM A TRANSPORT VAN ONTO PETITIONER (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Feinman, over a concurring opinion and a three-judge dissenting opinion, reversing the Appellate Division, determined that petitioner, a Nassau County correction officer, was entitled to performance-of-duty disability retirement benefits. An inmate, apparently under the influence of drugs, was unsteady on her feet and had to be helped from the transport van to the court, and then back to the van. Upon arrival at the jail, when the transport doors were opened, the inmate fell head first out of the van on top of petitioner, who suffered rotator cuff and cervical spine injuries. The applicable statute refers to injury caused by “any act of any inmate.” The majority concluded the act need not be intentional:

Our task … is to give effect to the text [of the statute, Retirement and Social Security Law § 607-c (a) ]. … [E]ven if we were to consider the legislative history, it is inconclusive. While we agree with the dissent insofar as there seemed to have been a desire to provide protections to correction officers because they “come into daily contact with certain persons who are dangerous, profoundly anti-social and who pose a serious threat to their health and safety” (Governor’s Approval Mem, Bill Jacket, L 1996, ch 722 at 9), inmates may be “dangerous” and pose a “serious threat” as much through their involuntary acts as by their voluntary acts.

Here, the inmate took one to two steps, lost her balance, and landed on petitioner, injuring her. Petitioner’s injuries were thus sustained by “any act of any inmate,” i.e., the inmate’s fall on petitioner. Matter of Walsh v New York State Comptroller, 2019 NY Slip Op 08518, CtApp 11-25-19

November 25, 2019/by Bruce Freeman

Retirement and Social Security Law

POLICE OFFICER ENTITLED TO ACCIDENTAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR INJURIES CAUSED BY STEPPING IN A SNOW-COVERED POTHOLE AS HE RESPONDED TO A SERIES OF VEHICLE ACCIDENTS DURING A SNOWSTORM (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department. over a dissent, determined petitioner police officer was entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits for injuries caused by stepping in a snow-covered pothole while he responded to a series of vehicle accidents during a snowstorm:

As this Court has stated, “[t]o be deemed accidental, an injury must not have been the result of activities undertaken in the ordinary course of one’s job duties but, rather, must be due to a precipitating accidental event which is not a risk of the work performed” … .

There can be no dispute that, at the time of the incident, petitioner was performing his ordinary job duties of responding to a series of traffic accidents that had occurred during his shift and that falling on a slippery snow- and ice-covered road may be a risk of petitioner’s ordinary job duties. However, we find that falling due to a pothole concealed under the snow and ice is not such a risk … . Accordingly, given these circumstances, petitioner’s fall was a sudden and unexpected event that constitutes an accident as matter of law … . Matter of Lewis v New York State Comptroller, 2019 NY Slip Op 07828, Third Dept 10-31-19

October 31, 2019/by Bruce Freeman

Evidence, Retirement and Social Security Law

FINDING THAT PETITIONER’S BACK INJURY WAS NOT RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE EXPERT TESTIMONY (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing the comptroller, determined the petitioner, a police crossing guard, was entitled to disability benefits resulting from her being struck by a car. The finding that petitioner’s back injuries were not related to the accident was not supported by the record:

… [I]nasmuch as the parties concede that petitioner is permanently incapacitated from performing her duties, the only issue to be resolved is whether she met her burden of demonstrating that her back injuries were causally related to the … accident… . Notably, the medical experts who examined petitioner all agreed that she suffers from degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, including spinal stenosis and disc displacement. These experts, however, provided conflicting medical opinions as to the cause of petitioner’s disabling back condition. Although the Comptroller retains the authority to resolve conflicting medical opinions and to credit the opinion of one expert over another … , the credited expert must articulate a “rational and fact-based opinion founded upon a physical examination and review of the pertinent medical records” … . Matter of Petras-Ross v DiNapoli, 2019 NY Slip Op 00939, Third Dept 2-7-19

February 7, 2019/by Bruce Freeman

Retirement and Social Security Law

ALTHOUGH PETITIONER SLIPPED AND FELL ON ICE STEPPING OFF A BUS SHE WAS CLEANING, THE INCIDENT QUALIFIED AS AN ACCIDENT WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW ENTITLING PETITIONER TO ACCIDENTAL DISABILITY RETIREMENT BENEFITS, CLEANING BUSES WAS NOT PETITIONER’S NORMAL FUNCTION AND SHE HAD NEVER BEEN IN THE PARKING AREA WHERE SHE SLIPPED AND FELL (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, annulling the Comptroller’s ruling, determined that petitioner was injured in an accident as defined by the Retirement and Social Security Law and was therefore entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits. Petitioner, a school bus attendant, was injured when she slipped and fell on ice exiting a bus she had been asked to clean. Petitioner’s job was to help disabled kids on the bus and was cleaning a bus when she slipped and fell:

The record reveals that petitioner had never been directed to wash buses as part of her duties as a bus attendant. She was normally involved in assisting disabled children get on and off the bus, and ensuring their safety while riding the bus. Notably, her job description made no mention of tasks involving either cleaning or maintaining the buses. Moreover, and significantly, except for the date in question, petitioner had never been to the parking lot where the buses were kept. She was therefore wholly unfamiliar with the surface conditions. According to petitioner, on the date of the incident, it was cold with a few snow flurries and there were a few piles of old snow a couple of bus widths away ,,, . She testified that, as she exited the bus, her view of the ground was obstructed by the final step, which was longer than usual to accommodate disabled children getting on and off the bus. It was then that her foot made contact with the ice beneath the step, and she slipped and fell.

Under the circumstances presented, the incident was clearly sudden, unexpected and not a risk of petitioner’s ordinary job duties … . Matter of Larivey v DiNapoli, 2019 NY Slip Op 00018, Third Dept 1-3-19

January 3, 2019/by Bruce Freeman

Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Retirement and Social Security Law

POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS CAN BE REDACTED TO REMOVE PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined that the police personnel records sought in the FOIL request could be redacted to remove personal identifying information:

When this case was previously before this Court, we remitted the matter to Supreme Court for an in camera inspection of records related to the hiring of certain individuals for high-ranking positions within the police departments of the four respondent institutions that are operated by respondent State University of New York … . The matter was remitted with the directive that the court determine the extent to which the requested documents contain information exempt from disclosure and whether such information can be redacted while still protecting the personal privacy of those individuals … . On remittal, Supreme Court reviewed 1,344 pages of resumes, applications and related correspondence sent by applicants for the subject police department positions and, in May 2017, it maintained that redaction was not possible. * * *

While respondents argue that such extreme redaction renders the remaining information useless in determining whether the four respondent institutions complied with Retirement and Social Security Law § 211 in issuing waivers to the incumbents of the subject police department positions, petitioner need not demonstrate the information’s potential efficacy to obtain disclosure … Further, as the identifying information falls squarely within a personal privacy Freedom of Information Law exemption, the court need not engage in a “balancing [of] the privacy interests at stake against the public interest in disclosure of the information” … , which would have required a review of the purpose of the request and the relevancy of the records. As such, we reject respondents’ notion that all substantive information is identifying, and, while we acknowledge that the task is arduous, the four respondent institutions must review the data once again, delete identifying information while leaving nonidentifying metrics intact and disclose the same. By way of guidance, much of the information concerning particular states, schools and police departments can be easily redacted, leaving the raw data, including positions held, education level, rank and other relevant experience. Matter of Police Benevolent Assn. of N.Y. State, Inc. v State of New York, 2018 NY Slip Op 07019, Third Dept 10-18-18

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW (FOIL) (POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS CAN BE REDACTED TO REMOVE PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (THIRD DEPT))/RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS CAN BE REDACTED TO REMOVE PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (THIRD DEPT))/POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS CAN BE REDACTED TO REMOVE PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (THIRD DEPT))/PERSONAL PRIVACY EXEMPTION (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW, POLICE PERSONNEL RECORDS CAN BE REDACTED TO REMOVE PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION (THIRD DEPT))

October 18, 2018/by Bruce Freeman

Retirement and Social Security Law

CORRECTION OFFICER’S FALL DOWN A STAIRWAY WAS PROXIMATELY CAUSED BY THE ACT OF AN INMATE, THE RESULTING DISABILITY IS THEREFORE COMPENSABLE (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, annulling the hearing officer’s decision, determined that petitioner, a county correction officer, suffered a disability that resulted from the act of an inmate and was therefore compensable:

… [W]e find that petitioner has demonstrated that the injuries that he sustained from his fall occurred “contemporaneously with, and flowed directly, naturally and proximately from, the inmate’s” disobedient and affirmative act of descending down the stairs unexpectedly prior to receiving permission to do so … . Although “losing one’s footing — without more — does not constitute an affirmative act” … , petitioner’s misstep and fall flowed directly, naturally and proximately from the inmate’s act of being out of place without permission and startling petitioner by running down the stairs … . Having determined that petitioner’s injury was a natural and proximate result of an act of an inmate, the matter must be remitted for further proceedings on the issue of the permanency of petitioner’s alleged disability … . Matter of Garcia v DiNapoli, 2018 NY Slip Op 06602, Third Dept 10-4-18

RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (CORRECTION OFFICER’S FALL DOWN A STAIRWAY WAS PROXIMATELY CAUSED BY THE ACT OF AN INMATE, THE RESULTING DISABILITY IS THEREFORE COMPENSABLE (THIRD DEPT))/CORRECTION OFFICERS (RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW, CORRECTION OFFICER’S FALL DOWN A STAIRWAY WAS PROXIMATELY CAUSED BY THE ACT OF AN INMATE, THE RESULTING DISABILITY IS THEREFORE COMPENSABLE (THIRD DEPT))

October 4, 2018/by Bruce Freeman

Retirement and Social Security Law

FIREFIGHTER’S FALL EXITING AN AMBULANCE WAS AN ACCIDENT WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department determined the incident in which petitioner firefighter was injured constituted an accident within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law:

Petitioner testified that he had entered and exited ambulances hundreds of times during the course of his career as a firefighter. He was familiar with the folding step located at the rear of the ambulance and indicated that it was usually down and in an open position so that people could safely get in and out of the ambulance. He explained that the step was designed to flip up temporarily when a stretcher was being loaded into the ambulance to keep the wheels from striking the step and then to flip back down. Petitioner stated that, when he entered the ambulance on the date in question, the stretcher had already been removed, so he assumed that the step was down when he went to exit. He indicated that, as he was exiting the ambulance, he placed his foot on the edge of the step, which was a color similar to the bumper, while it was flipped up and flush against the bumper. When he did so, it collapsed downward, causing him to fall to the ground.

Under these circumstances, the precipitating external event, i.e., the flipping down of the folding step, was sudden, unexpected and not a risk inherent in petitioner's ordinary job duties … . Likewise, petitioner's fall was not attributable to inattention or a mere misstep , but rather to an apparently malfunctioning piece of equipment that was designed, under normal circumstances, to promote safety … . Accordingly, respondent's denial of petitioner's application on the ground that the incident was not an accident within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law is not supported by substantial evidence and must be annulled. Matter of Loia v DiNapoliI, 2018 NY Slip Op 05984, Third Dept 9-6-18

RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (FIREFIGHTER'S FALL EXITING AN AMBULANCE WAS AN ACCIDENT WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (THIRD DEPT))/FIREFIGHTERS (RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW, FIREFIGHTER'S FALL EXITING AN AMBULANCE WAS AN ACCIDENT WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL SECURITY LAW (THIRD DEPT))

September 6, 2018/by Bruce Freeman

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