JOSEPH A. GAGLIARDO, ET AL., APPELLANTS v. DAVID DINKINS , ET AL.,
RESPONDENTS.
EDWARD RANIERI, ET AL., APPELLANTS v. DAVID DINKINS, ET AL., RESPONDESNTS
89 N.Y.2d 62, 674 N.E.2d 298, 651 N.Y.S.2d 368 (1996).
October 22, 1996
1 No. 210 (1996 NY Int.201)
Decided October 22, 1996
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Kevin P. Fitzpatrick, for Appellants Ranieri, et al.
Rodney C. Ward, III, for Appellants Gagliardo, et al.
James J. Dwyer, for Respondents.
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LEVINE, J.:
These cases involve challenges to the statutory scheme that created
variable supplements funds (VSFs) to provide additional financial
benefits to certain retirees of the New York City Housing Police and
the New York City Transit Police, based on attainment of a statutorily
defined period of service.1 Plaintiffs in Gagliardo v Dinkins are
retired New York City Housing Police Officers or Housing Police
Superior Officers who receive New York City Employment Retirement
System ("NYCERS") pension benefits but are statutorily ineligible for
Housing Police VSF benefits. Similarly, in Ranieri v Dinkins,
plaintiffs are retired New York City Transit Police Officers or
Transit Police Superior Officers who receive NYCERS pension benefits
and who are ineligible for Transit Police VSF benefits.
In major part, the challenges to the Housing and Transit Police VSFs
replicate and require us to revisit a similar challenge to the VSFs
earlier created for New York City Police Department retirees in Poggi
v City of New York (109 AD2d 265, affd 67 NY2d 794). First created in
1970 as a result of collective bargaining negotiations between the
City of New York and union representatives for the City's police
officers, the VSF implementing legislation authorized the trustees of
the Police Pension Fund, in their discretion, to invest assets of the
pension fund in common stock rather than exclusively in high- grade
fixed income debt securities (L 1970, ch 876, § 4 (amending former
SNIPPETS:
EDWARD RANIERI, ET AL., APPELLANTS v. DAVID DINKINS, ET AL., RESPONDESNTS
Kevin P. Fitzpatrick, for Appellants Ranieri, et al. Rodney C. Ward, III, for Appellants
These cases involve challenges to the statutory scheme that created variable supplements
Similarly, in Ranieri v Dinkins, plaintiffs are retired New York City Transit Police Officers
In major part, the challenges to the Housing and Transit Police VSFs replicate and require us
First created in 1970 as a result of collective bargaining negotiations between the City of
Thus, by legislative design, the New York City Police VSFs were created and funded from the
Those excess earnings were then transferred to the Police VSFs, subject to offsets from
Thus, to the extent that the challenges here are based on the contention that the transfers
The Appellate Division held that their objection was invalid because none of the pre-existing
11 Hence, the subsequent transfer of surplus earnings had no impairment effect whatsoever on
The term "qualified individual with a disability" is defined as an individual with a
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