Marillo v. Cantalician Center for Learning
| Decision Date | 15 July 1999 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Claim of James C. MARILLO, Respondent, v. CANTALICIAN CENTER FOR LEARNING et al., Appellants, and Special Funds Conservation Committee, Respondent. Workers' Compensation Board, Respondent. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Williams & Williams (Mary M. Russo of counsel), Buffalo, for appellants.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney-General (Howard B. Friedland of counsel), New York City, for Workers' Compensation Board, respondent.
Before: MIKOLL, J.P., PETERS, CARPINELLO and GRAFFEO, JJ.
Appeal from a decision of the Workers' Compensation Board, filed February 6, 1998, which ruled that claimant sustained a compensable injury and awarded workers' compensation benefits.
Claimant was employed by the Cantalician Center for Learning (hereinafter the Center) as the Assistant to the Executive Director from March 1982 until March 1990. Operated by the Felician Sisters and sponsored by the Diocese of Buffalo, the Center is a not-for-profit service agency designed to provide education services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Over the years claimant gradually assumed more administrative responsibilities due to the advanced age and declining health of the former Executive Director. Eventually, in early 1990, a Co-Executive Director was appointed who became the Center's new Executive Director on March 5, 1990. A week later claimant stopped working and shortly thereafter he filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits contending that the undue emotional stress associated with his work responsibilities had resulted in a mentally disabling injury which constituted a compensable work-related "accident". His position of Assistant to the Executive Director was eliminated on April 3, 1990.
Following a hearing, the Workers' Compensation Law Judge (hereinafter WCLJ) determined that claimant had sustained a compensable injury due to work-related stress. The Workers' Compensation Board panel ruled that claimant's "accidental injury" was sustained on March 13, 1990, triggered by events culminating in a contentious meeting of the Center's Board of Directors. The full Board, however, remitted the claim to the WCLJ for further development of the issues and after further testimony, the WCLJ reinstated his previous determination. The Board affirmed, finding that claimant's psychiatric problems were caused by work-related stress which "constitute[d] an accidental injury arising out of and in the course of employment". The Center and its third-party administrator now appeal.
In order to constitute a viable claim premised on work-related stress, "the stress must be greater than that which usually occurs in the normal work environment" (Matter of Troy v. Prudential Ins. Co., 233 A.D.2d 635, 649 N.Y.S.2d 746; see, Matter of Leggio v. Suffolk County Police Dept., 245 A.D.2d 897, 898-899, 666 N.Y.S.2d 815; Matter of La Mendola v. Butler, 179 A.D.2d 862, 578 N.Y.S.2d 280; Matter of Kaliski v. Fairchild Republic Co., 151 A.D.2d 867, 868, 542 N.Y.S.2d 841, affd. 76 N.Y.2d 1002, 564 N.Y.S.2d 714, 565 N.E.2d 1265). The Board in this case specifically found that claimant was subjected to "undue work-related stress" based on testimony that claimant's involvement in the expansion of the Center caused an extremely tense situation as financial difficulties mounted. Testimony further revealed that claimant had an acrimonious relationship with his superiors regarding the Center's operations which caused him to be depressed and anxious. Claimant also explained that he had been very troubled by the deaths of two children in the Center's care in 1988 and 1989. Because the determination of whether claimant experienced greater than normal work-related stress was a factual issue for the Board to...
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