Disability Pension To Preclude Lawsuits If State Approves Bill

Disability Pension To Preclude Lawsuits If State Approves Bill


The State Legislature is considering a bill backed by Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg that would prevent public workers from collecting legal damages from their employers in addition to receiving a disability pension if they are injured on the job. One union official claimed, however, that the bill would reduce the incentive for public employers to provide safe workplaces.

MARK ROSENTHAL: Bill unneeded, may be harmful.

"We must level the playing field and ensure that local governments are treated fairly - the same way private employers are," city Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said in a statement supporting the bill. "This bill will eliminate a windfall to plaintiffs and an entirely unjustifiable financial burden that falls solely on public employers. It makes sense legally and morally."

Collecting Twice From Public

Backers of the bill call the practice double-dipping, saying that public employees under the law currently can receive compensation twice at the taxpayers' expense.

"The facts are sound and confirm that our tort system is out of control and costing the City of New York hundreds of millions of dollars that could otherwise be spent on our children's education, putting more police officers on the street, and lowering our taxes," said Republican State Senator Dale Volker, the bill's sponsor, in a statement. "The collateral source bill will make a positive and immediate impact for the City of New York, which in turn will create a more fair and balanced civil justice system that will protect 'real' victims of negligence, decrease frivolous lawsuits and protect the taxpayers of New York state."

A Law Department statement explained that the bill would "require that any award for lost future earnings made to a public employee suing his or her public employer be reduced by the amount of the accident disability pension or any other collateral source of compensation the employee will receive to replace those very same lost earnings."

In addition to the Bloomberg administration, the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials Citizens Union also support the bill. Assembly Member Harvey Weisenberg, a Long Island Democrat, sponsored the bill in the lower house.

Union Leader's Dissenting View

District Council 37 Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal voiced opposition to the bill in a phone interview, saying that without the potential to hold employers accountable they would not be encouraged to maintain safe working environments.

"The government is not going to care about the conditions that their workers work in," he said.

Mr. Rosenthal added that most public workers hurt on the job do not sue their employer unless their injury is so severe that their disability pension is too small to cover their medical costs. He also noted that often workers sue the manufacturer or third party responsible for their on-the-job accident, not the employer.

"I don't think the compensation from a disability pension could adequately compensate workers for certain injuries, especially traumatic injuries; really brutal, terrible injuries," Mr. Rosenthal said. "How do you compensate someone who gets blinded on the job?"