Caetano v. DiNapoli

• Decision Date: 30 June 2016
• Parties: In the Matter of Sharon A. CAETANO, Petitioner, v. Thomas P. DiNAPOLI, as State Comptroller, et al., Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

140 A.D.3d 1579
35 N.Y.S.3d 526
2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 05222

In the Matter of Sharon A. CAETANO, Petitioner,
v.
Thomas P. DiNAPOLI, as State Comptroller, et al., Respondents.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York.

June 30, 2016.

35 N.Y.S.3d 527

Flaherty & Shea, Buffalo (James P. Shea of counsel), for petitioner.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (William E. Storrs of counsel), for respondents.

Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., EGAN JR., LYNCH, DEVINE and MULVEY, JJ.

LAHTINEN, J.P.

140 A.D.3d 1579

Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (transferred to this Court by order of the Supreme Court, entered in Albany County) to review a determination of respondent Comptroller denying petitioner's application for disability retirement benefits.

In September 2012, petitioner, a senior election clerk for the Erie County Board of Elections, applied for disability retirement benefits alleging that she was permanently incapacitated

140 A.D.3d 1580

from performing her job duties due to injuries she suffered as the result of a fall she took at work in 2007. The application was initially denied on the grounds that petitioner had less than 10 years of service credit and that she had not established that the 2007 incident constituted an accident within the meaning of the Retirement and Social Security Law. Petitioner requested a hearing and redetermination and, following a hearing, the Hearing Officer upheld the denial. Upon review, respondent Comptroller adopted the Hearing Officer's decision, and petitioner then commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding.

We confirm. A member of respondent New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System may apply for disability retirement benefits if the member has “at least [10] years of total service credit” (Retirement and Social Security Law § 605[b][1] ). Members with less than 10 years of total service credit may also apply for disability retirement benefits if they can show that their disability was “the natural and proximate result of an accident not caused by his [or her] own willful negligence sustained in the performance of his [or her] duties” (Retirement and Social Security Law § 605[b][3] ; see Matter of Quevedo v. Office of the N.Y. State Comptroller, 101 A.D.3d 1209, 1209, 955 N.Y.S.2d 440 [2012] ).

Initially, petitioner contends that the Comptroller erred in calculating her total service credit. “The Comptroller is charged with the responsibility of determining service credits for retirement purposes and his determination will be upheld if rational and supported by substantial evidence” (Matter of Cohen v. New York

35 N.Y.S.3d 528

State & Local Employees' Retirement Sys., 117 A.D.3d 1370, 1370, 986 N.Y.S.2d 703 [2014] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted], lv. dismissed and denied 24 N.Y.3d 1028, 997 N.Y.S.2d 679, 22 N.E.3d 187 [2014] ; see Matter of Westmorland v. New York State & Local Retirement Sys., 129 A.D.3d 1402, 1403, 12 N.Y.S.3d 631 [2015] ). Moreover, petitioner has the burden of establishing an entitlement to...