ROBERT G. MEYER, RESPONDENT, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE
DEPARTMENT, ARTICLE 1-B PENSION FUND,&, C., ET AL., APPELLANTS.
GEORGE W. HACKER, RESPONDENT, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE
DEPARTMENT, ARTICLE 1-B PENSION FUND, ET AL., APPELLANT.
WALTER SORRENTI, RESPONDENT, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE
DEPARTMENT, ARTICLE 1-B PENSION FUND, ET AL., APPELLANT.
CHARLES J. POMILLA, RESPONDENT, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK CITY
FIRE DEPARTMENT, ARTICLE 1-B PENSION FUND, &, C., ET AL., APPELLANT.
90 N.Y.2d 139, 681 N.E.2d 382, 659 N.Y.S.2d 215 (1997).
May 8, 1997
2 No. 70, 71, 72, 73 (1997 NY Int. 76)
Decided May 8, 1997
______________________________________________________________________
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Nos. 70 and 73:
Mordecai Newman, for Appellants.
Martina I. Schmidt, for Respondent.
No. 71:
Mordecai Newman, for Appellants.
Thomas F. McCarthy, for Respondent.
No. 72:
Mordecai Newman, for Appellant.
Noah A. Kinigstein, for Respondent.
LEVINE, J.:
These appeals involve a recurring question concerning the standard of
judicial review when the Board of Trustees of the New York City Fire
Department Pension Fund denies, by tie vote, a firefighter's
application for service-related accidental disability retirement and
grants only the lesser ordinary disability retirement benefits. In
each case, the pension fund Medical Board found the firefighter
incapacitated for the performance of duty (Administrative Code of the
City of New York § 352), but further concluded that the
service-related injuries had not caused each firefighter's disabling
condition, either directly or by precipitating a latent condition or
SNIPPETS:
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIRE
GEORGE W. HACKER, RESPONDENT, v.
DEPARTMENT, ARTICLE 1-B PENSION FUND, ET AL., APPELLANT.
WALTER SORRENTI, RESPONDENT, v.
No. 71: Mordecai Newman, for Appellants.
These appeals involve a recurring question concerning the standard of judicial review when
In each case, the pension fund Medical Board found the firefighter incapacitated for the
This recommendation was upheld by tie vote when the Board of Trustees could not agree on the
On the firefighters' article 78 petitions for review, the Appellate Division concluded in
By relying exclusively on the reports of examining physicians who were of the opinion that a
First, we reject the Appellate Division's analysis to the extent it is based on the premise
Following a referral to impartial consultants for an EMG and neurosurgical evaluation, the
In response to questions from Board members, Dr. Jones testified that a lumbar disc condition
Dr. Jones' opinion was expressly premised on underlying objective evidence in Meyer's medical
The Medical Board's report indicates that it based this conclusion upon the accident reports
|
