Opinion
March 28, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Rosato, J.).
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
The petitioners are firefighters employed by the City of White Plains who claim they were injured in the performance of their duties. The Commissioner of Public Safety of the City of White Plains determined that any time lost as a result of those injuries should be allocated to sick leave, and consequently denied the petitioners benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a. The Supreme Court found that the issue as to whether the firefighters were injured in the course of performance of their duties was necessarily decided by the ruling of the Workers' Compensation Board which rendered awards in favor of the firefighters. Therefore, the court annulled the determinations and directed the appellants to calculate the petitioners' benefits in accordance with General Municipal Law § 207-a.
We have previously found that law enforcement personnel are entitled to benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-c based on determinations made in Workers' Compensation proceedings (see, Matter of Maresco v. Rozzi, 162 A.D.2d 534; Matter of Crawford v. Sheriff's Dept., 152 A.D.2d 382). General Municipal Law § 207-c, applicable to law enforcement personnel, is a counterpart to General Municipal Law § 207-a. Both statutes are remedial in nature and were enacted for the benefit of law enforcement personnel and firefighters injured and disabled while in the performance of their duties (see, Matter of Curley v Dilworth, 96 A.D.2d 903; Pease v. Colucci, 59 A.D.2d 233). Therefore, our reasoning in Maresco and Crawford is equally applicable to this proceeding. Here, as in those cases, the issue as to whether the petitioners' injuries occurred in the performance of their duties was necessarily decided in their favor by the Workers' Compensation Board.
Furthermore, we also find the respondents' determination to be arbitrary and capricious (see, Matter of Pell v. Board of Educ., 34 N.Y.2d 222). The facts established that the petitioners were injured in the performance of their duties and were therefore entitled to benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a. Bracken, J.P., O'Brien, Pizzuto and Altman, JJ., concur.