Matter of Traxler v. DiNapoli ( 2016 )


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  •                           State of New York
    Supreme Court, Appellate Division
    Third Judicial Department
    Decided and Entered: May 19, 2016                      522066
    ________________________________
    In the Matter of SHEILA
    TRAXLER,
    Petitioner,
    v                                     MEMORANDUM AND JUDGMENT
    THOMAS P. DiNAPOLI, as State
    Comptroller, et al.,
    Respondents.
    ________________________________
    Calendar Date:   April 19, 2016
    Before:   Peters, P.J., Garry, Rose, Clark and Aarons, JJ.
    __________
    Sherman, Federman, Sambur & McIntyre, New York City (Sean
    Patrick Riordan of counsel), for petitioner.
    Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Laura
    Etlinger of counsel), for respondents.
    __________
    Clark, J.
    Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this
    Court by order of the Supreme Court, entered in Albany County) to
    review a determination of respondent Comptroller denying
    petitioner's request for performance of duty disability
    retirement benefits.
    Petitioner, a correction officer, applied for performance
    of duty disability retirement benefits alleging that she was
    permanently incapacitated due to work-related injuries to her
    neck, back and shoulders, as well as chronic headaches, sustained
    when a self-closing gate struck her after an inmate accidently
    let go of it while petitioner was standing in the doorway. The
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    application was initially denied, and petitioner requested a
    hearing and redetermination. Following the hearing, the Hearing
    Officer upheld the denial, concluding that petitioner failed to
    establish that her injuries were the result of an act of an
    inmate. Respondent Comptroller accepted the findings and
    conclusions of the Hearing Officer, and this CPLR article 78
    proceeding ensued.
    We annul. Petitioner bore the burden of demonstrating that
    the incident in which she sustained her injuries was "the natural
    and proximate result of any act of any inmate" (Retirement and
    Social Security Law § 607-c [a]; see Matter of Naughton v
    DiNapoli, 127 AD3d 137, 139 [2015]; Matter of Marello v DiNapoli,
    111 AD3d 1052, 1052 [2013]). We have repeatedly held that "the
    statute requires that the petitioner demonstrate that his or her
    injuries were caused by direct interaction with an inmate"
    (Matter of Naughton v DiNapoli, 127 AD3d at 139 [internal
    quotation marks and citations omitted]; see Matter of Palmateer v
    DiNapoli, 117 AD3d 1228, 1229 [2014], lv denied 24 NY3d 901
    [2014]). Petitioner testified that, in June 2010, she was
    escorting three inmates to the female clothing room from the
    visiting room and instructed the inmates to line up against the
    wall prior to entering the clothing room. Upon doing so, another
    correction officer informed petitioner that someone was calling
    for her, at which time petitioner turned to see who that person
    was. At that moment, petitioner heard the gate to the clothing
    room unlock, and one of the inmates walked through the gate
    unsupervised and without permission. Petitioner commanded the
    inmate to stop, but the inmate proceeded through the gate and
    then released the gate, causing it to close, strike and injure
    petitioner. Although petitioner did not believe that the inmate
    intended to injure her and was aware that the self-closing of the
    gate was a normal and foreseeable result of the process of the
    unlocking and opening of the gate, the inmate, by disobeying
    petitioner's instruction to remain where she was standing, caused
    the gate to close and strike petitioner at the moment that the
    inmate released the gate. Under these circumstances, there is no
    evidentiary basis in the record to conclude that petitioner's
    injuries did not occur "contemporaneously with, and flowed
    directly, naturally and proximately from, the inmate's"
    disobedient and affirmative act of opening and then releasing the
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    gate (Matter of Naughton v DiNapoli, 127 AD3d at 140; compare
    Matter of Arcuri v New York State & Local Retirement Sys., 291
    AD2d 621, 622-623 [2002]). 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 (see
    Retirement and Social Security Law § 607-c [a]; Matter of
    Naughton v DiNapoli, 127 AD3d at 141).
    Peters, P.J., Garry, Rose and Aarons, JJ., concur.
    ADJUDGED that the determination is annulled, without costs,
    petition granted to that extent, and matter remitted to
    respondent Comptroller for further proceedings not inconsistent
    with this Court's decision.
    ENTER:
    Robert D. Mayberger
    Clerk of the Court
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 522066

Judges: Clark, Peters, Garry, Rose, Aarons

Filed Date: 5/19/2016

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 11/1/2024