Article 78 Disability Benefits Granted
Schmidt v Putnam County Office of the Sheriff
Index No. 1432/06
Petitioner Jeffrey Schmidt brought this Article 78 proceeding to review the Putnam County Sheriff’s denial of disability benefits. The Supreme Court granted the petition and awarded the petitioner disability benefits.
Petitioner suffered an on-the-job fall on January 31, 2003 causing medial meniscal tears requiring subsequent surgical repair. In order to be eligible for disability benefits, a covered municipal employee must prove direct causal relationship between job duties and the resulting injury. Though the petitioner had a preexisting knee injury, the medical records unequivocally established that the injuries sustained were a result of his on-the-job fall and that these line-of-duty injuries were a direct cause of his disability.
Accordingly, the Putnam County Sheriff’s denial was not rationally based on evidence presented and thus, the Court dismissed the denial as arbitrary and capricious.
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