Selecting from among conflicting medical opinions
Bell v NYC Employees’ Retirement System, 273 AD2d 119, Motion for leave to appeal denied, 96 NY2d 701
The New York City Employees’ Retirement System rejected the application for accidental disability retirement filed by Augusta Bell. Bell appealed, contending that the System’s decision was arbitrary and capricious.
The Appellate Division dismissed Bell’s petition, thus sustaining the Systems’ decision. The ruling points out that the System’s Medical Board found that Bell was not disabled while her personal physician had a conflicting opinion.
The court found that the Board’s determination was rationally based on its own examination of Bell. The fact that it chose to rely on the findings of its examiners rather than the conflicting reports of Bell’s physicians is not an indication of arbitrariness.
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NYPPL Blogger Harvey Randall served as Principal Attorney, New York State Department of Civil Service; Director of Personnel, SUNY Central Administration; Director of Research, Governor’s Office of Employee Relations; and Staff Judge Advocate General, New York Guard.
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