An administrative body may overrule its own administrative precedent
2014 NY Slip Op 04550, Appellate Division, Third Department
In this appeal one of the issued concerned an administrative agency, the Workers’ Compensation Board, overruling its own precedent. The Appellate Division sustained the Board’s action, noting that in so doing:
1. The Board discussed its precedent at length and overruled it;
2. The Board was free to overrule its precedent given that it "set forth its reasons for doing so;" and
3. The Board had considered appropriate statutory and judicial authorities in concluding that its precedent should be overruled.
The Appellate Division said that the interpretation of the relevant Workers' Compensation Law presents a question "of pure statutory reading and analysis, dependent only on accurate apprehension of legislative intent" and thus it need not defer to the Board's reading of the statute. However, said the court, “We nevertheless agree with the Board's present interpretation thereof.”