Summary
getting a desk chair caught on a wire running across the floor not an accident
Summary of this case from In Matter of Brenes v. KellyOpinion
November 1, 2001.
Order and judgment (one paper), Supreme Court, New York County (Richard Lowe III, J.), entered August 2, 2000, which denied petitioner's application pursuant to CPLR article 78 to annul respondents' determination denying her application for an accident disability pension, and dismissed the petition, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Rosemary Carroll, for petitioner-appellant.
Cheryl Payer, for respondents-respondents.
Before: Nardelli, J.P., Williams, Ellerin, Friedman, Marlow, JJ.
Petitioner, a police detective, was injured when her wheeled swivel chair, which she was rolling backward to plug in the cord for an electric typewriter, was stopped by a wire on the floor, causing petitioner and the chair to topple over. Such an occurrence is not so out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected as to constitute an accident as a matter of law (see, Matter of Starnella v. Bratton, 92 N.Y.2d 836, 839;Matter of Hess v. Board of Trustees, 255 A.D.2d 163; Matter of Rosenthal v. Board of Trustees, 252 A.D.2d 388, lv denied 93 N.Y.2d 801). Accordingly, the denial of accidental benefits having been the result of a tie vote, the proceeding was properly dismissed (see, Matter of Hess v. Board of Trustees, supra). No basis exists for disturbing respondent's determination that petitioner had not proved her claim that her injury was caused by the failure of the chair's backrest due to a loose screw.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.