New York Case Law Update

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 | 0

NEW! Matter of McCabe v. Albany County Sheriff's Department, 518891, (06/18/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a municipal employer's credit for the amount of workers' compensation benefits due to an employee who is receiving wage-replacement benefits can be reduced by the amount of a fee award to the employee's attorney.

NEW! Matter of Lattanzio v. Consolidated Edison of New York, 518375, (06/18/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an employer was not entitled to apportion part of an employee's disability after a workplace fall to his preexisting, nonindustrial neck condition.

NEW! Patrikis v. Arniotis, No. 2014-07674, (06/17/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a property owner was not entitled to summary judgment on a worker's negligence claim based on the owner's provision of an allegedly defective ladder for him to use.

NEW! Cohen v. State, 2014-01405, (06/17/2015): A New York appellate court revived a former correctional officer's claim that her employer had discriminated against her because of her disability from a prior work-related injury.

NEW! Lopez v. Fahs Construction Group, 569 CA 14-02024, (06/12/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a general contractor and subcontractor were not entitled to summary judgment on the Labor Law claims filed by a worker who had fallen after stepping into a hole in a counter where a sink had once been.

NEW! Barros v. Bette & Cring, 520041, (06/11/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an ironworker was not entitled to a recovery under the Labor Law or through negligence for his injuries from falling while clearing snow at a jobsite, as a matter of law.

NEW! Ronkese v. Tilcon New York, 520025, (06/11/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an injured worker was entitled to enforcement of the terms of his settlement requiring his employer to satisfy an outstanding workers' compensation lien.

NEW! Matter of Greenwood v. Inland Fisher Guide, 519152, (06/11/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that substantial evidence did not support a decision of the Workers' Compensation Board to increase the rate of benefits payable to an injured worker for his permanent partial disability.

NEW! Casasola v. State of New York, 2013-06760, (06/10/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to summary judgment against the state on his Labor Law claim for his fall off a ladder.

NEW! Regency Oaks Corp. v. Norman-Spencer McKernan, 496 CA 14-01911, (06/12/2015): A divided New York appellate court panel ruled that an insurance agency could be held liable for the acts of a former employee in providing a customer with a falsified workers' compensation insurance policy.

NEW! Smith v. The Girls Club of New York, 15353 570657/10, (06/09/2015): A volunteer in a community service program failed to establish he was an "employee" of The Girls Club of New York for purposes of his Labor Law and workers' compensation claims, the Appellate Division ruled.

NEW! Serowik v. Leardon Boiler Works Inc., 5350 309306/10 83704/11, (06/09/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law Section 240(1) claim after the weight of a tank being lowered down a flight of stairs with a rope caused the rope to sever two of his fingers.

NEW! Matter of Liberius v. New York City Health & Hospitals Corp., 519872, (06/04/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an employer's failure to timely pay a worker an award that was reached through the conciliation process was subject to a penalty representing 20% of the unpaid award.

NEW! Doto v. Astoria Energy, 2013-09187, (06/03/2015): A New York appellate court revived a worker's Labor Law and negligence claims for a fall while climbing over a gate onto an elevated platform at a power plant.

NEW! Christiansen v. Bonacio Construction, 2015 NY Slip Op 04700, (06/04/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a construction worker couldn't proceed with a Labor Law Section 240(1) claim based on his injury from a falling piece of scaffold, but that he should have been allowed to pursue his claims for negligence and under Sections 200 and 241(6).

NEW! Matter of Lamb v. DiNapoli, No. 520101, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an injured police detective was not entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits since the evidence did not establish that he was unable to perform the duties of the light-duty position he had held ever since he got hurt.

NEW! Matter of Venditti v. D'Annunzio & Sons, 519440, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an injured worker failed to prove he had a compensable injury to his neck or back following an on-the-job car accident.

Ouderkirk v. Nestle Food Co., 519209, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that substantial evidence did not support a finding that an injured worker had involuntarily removed himself from the labor market in 2003.

Vitolo v. City of New York, 15251 305451/11, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that an employer's failure to designate a supervisor for a worker's use of a scaffold did not change his own act of moving the scaffold platform while standing on the scaffold's braces from being the proximate cause of his fall from it.

LaClaire v. Birds Eye Foods, 519070, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court upheld an award of permanent partial disability benefits to a worker for her bilateral knee condition.

Francis v. Jewelry Box Corp. of America, 518343, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a worker was not entitled to reopen his claim for a 1987 hand injury.

Schirizzo v. Citibank N.A.-Banking, 518693, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court upheld a finding that a long-time bank teller had involuntarily retired after suffering a back injury.

Kuczynski v. Trinity Foundry, 51938, (05/28/2015): A New York appeals court ruled in favor of a State Workers' Compensation Board decision to split up liability amounts among multiple employers that had contributed to an injured workers’ illness. 

Beck v. Consolidated Edison Co., 517808, (05/28/2015): A New York appellate court ordered the State Workers' Compensation Board to re-evaluate whether an employer might be eligible for reimbursement from the Special Disability Fund for its payment of death benefits to the widow of a worker who had died from lung cancer.

Schottenstein v. Silverman, 15216 158186/13, (05/26/2015): A New York appellate court revived a doctor's defamation claim against another physician's unfavorable review of his treatment of a workers' compensation claimant.

Pacheco v. Smith, 2013-07203, (05/20/2015): A New York appellate court ruled that a property owner was not entitled to summary judgment on the Labor Law claim filed by a worker who fell from a ladder while installing a roof at the house on the property.