Traffic enforcement agent's activity falls within comp

In New York, a worker's job of transporting police officers and volunteers from a staging area to ground zero satisfies the definition of a participant in rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations.

Case name: New York City Police Department/Traffic Agency, 111 NYWCLR 291 (N.Y.W.C.B. 2011).

Ruling: The New York Workers' Compensation Board held that a traffic enforcement agent who transported police officers and volunteers for one month to and from ground zero could participate in workers' compensation benefits for those in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations of the disaster site.

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What it means: In New York, a worker's job of transporting police officers and volunteers from a staging area to ground zero satisfies the requirements of the definition of a participant in rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations.

Summary: The board held that workers' compensation covered a traffic enforcement agent who transported police officers and volunteers for one month to and from ground zero. While at work, she observed human remains. She later resigned. Six years later, she filed a petition alleging psychological problems due to her work at ground zero. The board found that she satisfied the requirements of the definition of a participant in rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations. Therefore, she was covered by workers' compensation. The board restored the case for the resolution of outstanding issues, including notice, timely filing, and whether her psychological condition was a qualifying condition.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

March 15, 2012

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