Uniformed Fire Officers Ass'n of Paid Fire Dept. of City of Yonkers, N. Y. v. Mutual Aid Ass'n of Paid Fire Dept. of City of Yonkers, N. Y., Inc.-Local 628, I. A. F. F. AFL-CIO.
| Decision Date | 29 June 1981 |
| Docket Number | R,AFL-CI |
| Parties | UNIFORMED FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF the PAID FIRE DEPARTMENT OF the CITY OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, et al., Appellants, v. MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION OF the PAID FIRE DEPARTMENT OF the CITY OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, INC.--LOCAL 628, I. A. F. F.espondent. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Weingard & Broudny, New York City (Roy Broudny and L. Jeffrey Weingard, New York City, of counsel), for appellants.
Belson, Connolly & Belson, New York City (Thomas F. DeSoye and John J. Connolly, New York City, of counsel), for respondent.
Before DAMIANI, J. P., and LAZER, MANGANO and GIBBONS, JJ.
In an action for declaratory and injunctive relief, the plaintiffs appeal, as limited by their notices of appeal and brief, from those portions of an order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County dated December 13, 1978, and the judgment entered thereon on April 23, 1979, which declared that the defendant could limit participation in tax funds under sections 553 and554 of the Insurance Law to indigent members of its organization.
Appeal from the order dismissed as academic (see Matter of Aho, 39 N.Y.2d 241, 383 N.Y.S.2d 285, 347 N.E.2d 647).
Judgment reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law, and it is declared that the defendant must use the moneys in question "for the care of indigent and disabled firemen and their families" irrespective of their membership or lack thereof in the defendant organization.
Appellants are awarded one bill of $50 costs and disbursements to cover both appeals.
In accordance with the provisions of chapter 920 of the Laws of 1962, the defendant became the recipient of Yonkers' share of tax moneys amassed pursuant to sections 553 and 554 of the Insurance Law. At that time, the defendant was the designated bargaining representative of all paid firemen in the City of Yonkers. Recipient status had been formerly held by the Exempt Firemen's Benevolent Association.
While the special enactment changed the recipient of the funds, it did not change their purpose. The moneys were to be continued to be used "for the care of indigent and disabled firemen and their families" (L. 1962, ch. 920, § 1).
In 1971 the plaintiff association was certified as the bargaining representative for all fire officers in the City of Yonkers. Firemen continued to be represented by the defendant. Apparently in an effort to protect its membership roster, the defendant passed a by-law which limited the use of the subject funds to indigent and disabled members of the defendant and thereafter refused to distribute moneys from the fund to members of the plaintiff association who had canceled their membership in the defendant.
The plaintiff association and its members who have been denied benefits on that rationale, have chosen to litigate the question of benefit eligibility in this action.
In its analysis, Special Term compared the policy underlying the change in the defendant's by-law to the policy underlying the amendment of the certificate of incorporation by the recipient organization in Matter of Crohn v. Firemen's Benevolent Fund Assn. of City of Mount Vernon, 79 Misc.2d 536, 359 N.Y.S.2d 599, affd., 45 A.D.2d 955, 359 N.Y.S.2d 247. That amendment limited membership in the recipient organization and participation in the benefits of a similar fund to volunteer firemen. Special Term found that the purpose of the defendant's by-law was the inclusion of fire officers in the firemen's union while the purpose of the amendment in Matter of Crohn was the exclusion of paid firemen from the benefits of the fund. Special Term concluded that since the amendment in Crohn was valid, the by-law herein was also valid because it did not create a preference between firemen. The by-law required...
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Volunteer & Exempt Firemen's Ass'n of Garden City v. Local 1588 of Prof'l Firefighters Ass'n of
... ... The Insurance Law imposes a 2% tax on fire insurance premiums paid to foreign and alien ... ( see Insurance Law 9104) and to foreign mutual fire insurance companies ( see Insurance Law ... Town of Mamaroneck Professional Firefighters Assn., Local 898 v. Volunteer & Exempt Firemen's ... Poughkeepsie Associated Fire Dept., 125 A.D.2d 522, 509 N.Y.S.2d 601). The intent ... must be clearly expressed ( see Uniformed Fire Officers Assn. of Paid Fire Dept. of City of Yonkers v. Mutual Aid Assn. of Paid Fire Dept. of City of ... ...
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