Opinion
14330 Index No. 157128/19 Case No. 2020-03468
10-12-2021
In the Matterof Jose VEGA, Petitioner–Appellant, v. James P. O'NEILL, etc., et al., Respondents–Respondents.
Schwab & Gasparini, PLLC, White Plains (Warren J. Roth of counsel), for appellant. Georgia M. Pestana, Corporation Counsel, New York (Nwamaka Ejebe of counsel), for respondents.
Schwab & Gasparini, PLLC, White Plains (Warren J. Roth of counsel), for appellant.
Georgia M. Pestana, Corporation Counsel, New York (Nwamaka Ejebe of counsel), for respondents.
Renwick, J.P., Kern, Oing, Mendez, Rodriguez, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Arthur F. Engoron, J.), entered on or about July 1, 2020, denying the petition to annul respondents’ determination, dated February 13, 2019, which denied petitioner's application for accident disability retirement benefits and dismissed the proceeding brought pursuant to CPLR article 78, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The determination of the Medical Board is supported by the medical evidence and therefore has a rational basis (see Matter of Borenstein v. New York City Employees’ Retirement Sys., 88 N.Y.2d 756, 760, 650 N.Y.S.2d 614, 673 N.E.2d 899 [1996] ; Matter of Goodacre v. Kelly, 96 A.D.3d 625, 626, 947 N.Y.S.2d 463 [1st Dept. 2012], lv denied 20 N.Y.3d 860, 2013 WL 599656 [2013] ). The Board conducted five reviews of petitioner's application over the course of almost five years, considering the medical records and conducting its own interviews and examinations of petitioner. While the Board acknowledged the opinion of petitioner's private physician that petitioner had cardiomyopathy arising from stress-related hypertension, it found that other aspects of petitioner's heart condition, such as atypical chest pain, episodes of pericarditis, and an enlarged left ventricular chamber, could not be explained by hypertension. Furthermore, the Board noted that although petitioner did have hypertension, his cardiomyopathy may have been caused by his history of pericarditis rather than by his hypertension. The Board also found no reason to assume that petitioner's hypertension caused his cardiomyopathy, since petitioner had many other risk factors, including obstructive sleep apnea and morbid obesity. The Board was entitled to reach this conclusion based on its own examination of petitioner that included a review of petitioner's medical records (see Matter of Bradley v. New York City Employees’ Retirement Sys., 193 A.D.3d 847, 849, 148 N.Y.S.3d 141 [2d Dept. 2021] ). The medical evidence rebutted the statutory presumption set forth in General Municipal Law § 207–k that petitioner's heart condition was related to the stress of his job (see Uniformed Firefighters Assn., Local 94, IAFF, AFL–CIO v. Beekman, 52 N.Y.2d 463, 472–473, 438 N.Y.S.2d 746, 420 N.E.2d 938 [1981] ).