The Board of Trustees [Board] denied a Plaintiff's application for accidental disability retirement [ADR] benefits pursuant to the World Trade Center [WTC] Disability Law, Administrative Code of City of NY §13-252.1 based on its finding that the official New York Police Department [NYPD] records showed that Petitioner was not working at a WTC-qualifying site during the first 48 hours after the November 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center or for 40 hours any time during the qualifying time period.
Plaintiff appealed the Board's decision. Supreme Court, however, dismissed Plaintiff's CPLR Article 78 proceeding seeking to annul the Board's determination. The Supreme Court's ruling was unanimously affirmed by the Appellate Division.
The Appellate Division's decision notes that official NYPD records showed that Plaintiff worked at various nonqualifying locations in New York City during the relevant time period. The court explained that the Board "was entitled to discount [Plaintiff's] affidavit concerning his presence at WTC-qualifying locations, since the averments in that affidavit were contradicted by NYPD records, including roll call records that [Plaintiff] signed."
In addition, the Appellate Division's decision indicates:
[1] Plaintiff's "affidavit was at odds with the WTC Notice of Participation form that [Plaintiff] completed with respect to his activities on 9/11; and
[2] "The Board was entitled to reject affidavits from [Plaintiff's] family and friends on the grounds that they were conclusory, insufficiently specific, or not based on the affiants' personal knowledge."
Click HERE to access the Appellate Division's decision posted on the Internet.