Summary
In Matter of Hallihan v Ward, 169 AD2d 542 (1 Dep't 1991), petitioner was injured when he stepped off a curb onto a cobblestone roadway.
Summary of this case from Flood v. KellyOpinion
January 22, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Fingerhood, J.).
An accidental disability, for purposes of pension and retirement (Administrative Code of City of New York § 13-252), must meet the commonsense definition of a sudden and unexpected event (Matter of Lichtenstein v Board of Trustees, 57 N.Y.2d 1010, 1012), as opposed to an injury resulting from routine performance of duty (Matter of McCambridge v McGuire, 62 N.Y.2d 563, 568). It is the precipitating cause of the injury, rather than the job assignment at the time, that determines entitlement to accidental disability benefits (Matter of McCambridge v McGuire, 62 N.Y.2d, supra, at 567).
Petitioner was injured when he stepped off a curb onto a cobblestone roadway. The only contemporaneous reports of the incident (the separate line-of-duty investigation and its accompanying medical evaluations) made no mention of any hazardous condition (cf., Matter of Pratt v Regan, 68 N.Y.2d 746; Matter of Knight v McGuire, 62 N.Y.2d 563). Unauthenticated photographs of the scene, as well as unsworn, self-serving statements by petitioner's companions, submitted fully a year and a half after the incident, were properly given minimal weight. Respondent Board of Trustees' determination by tie vote, resulting in ordinary disability retirement (Caruso v New York City Police Dept. Pension Funds, 72 N.Y.2d 568, 573), can only be disturbed if entitlement to greater benefits can be shown as a matter of law (Matter of Canfora v Board of Trustees, 60 N.Y.2d 347, 352).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Carro, Wallach, Kupferman and Asch, JJ.