On April 16, 2019, Nick argued this case before Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler. Judge Hagler granted our petition and remanded this case back to the Medical Board for further evaluation.
Our client, a disabled New York City Police Officer, sustained an approved Line-of-Duty (LOD) injury, which led to surgery, physical therapy, and exhaustive pain management. In the middle of his treatment, our client was the victim of an off-duty assault, during which he took police action, but fortunately, was not seriously injured. The Medical Division denied our client's LOD status, but the Medical Board identified the off-duty event as the cause of his disability. The Pension Board then denied his application for Accident Disability Retirement, and ignored a letter from our client's doctor that specifically addressed causation, noting that our client's injury was the result of his earlier LOD injury.
Judge Hagler remanded the matter back to the Medical Board to evaluate the complete medical record. The Court further held that the Medical Board either should attribute our client's disability to his LOD injury; or in the alternative, the Pension Board must give due consideration to the off-duty event and not merely accept the Medical Division's denial of LOD status.
We are now awaiting a new date for our client to appear before the Medical Board.
If you have sustained a LOD injury, you should be mindful that any subsequent injuries can have an effect on your entitlement to benefits, including off-duty events. If you have any questions about this scenario, or have general questions about filing for Accident Disability Retirement ("Three-Quarters"), please contact Nick at (212) 766-5800, or by email at nick@ucjlaw.com.