Outfitted in a protective suit and goggles, Local 237 member Joseph Workman* went to work one day last year, doing what he has done for more than six years: stripping old paint from overhead pipes to prepare them for repainting. Later, when hoisted up on a moving platform, Workman applied the chemicals to the pipes. He does not recall much of what happened next, except that the wheeled platform moved and he tumbled to the ground below.

He was lucky to be alive, but required extensive surgery to repair his broken body. In the end, his injuries left him permanently disabled and unable to resume his work. So Workman filed for an accident disability pension from the New York City Employee Retirement Systems NYCERS). When NYCERS rejected his application, Workman turned to the union for help.

“He got back a letter from NYCERS stating that the Medical Board had found him to be disabled but that he did not qualify for an accident disability pension because the situation was not deemed to have been caused by an accident,” said Local 237 Trustee Patricia Stryker. "Clearly, what happened to this member was an accident, but the Medical Board rejected his application because he did not prove to them that his disability was indeed the result of an accident.”

After calling the union, Workman met with Ms. Stryker, who went over the case with him and reviewed the paperwork he had submitted to NYCERS. Stryker sits on the NYCERS Board of Trustees on behalf of President Carl Haynes. Local 237 is one of three unions with a seat on the pension board.

“We sat down together and went over the case,” Stryker said. “By law, if NYCERS Medical Board determines that you are disabled, but denies your application for a pension, you have a right to appear before the NYCERS’ Board of Trustees to plead your case. That is exactly what he had to do in this instance.”

Based on that provision, Workman presented his case to the NYCERS Board of Trustees and his application for a disability pension was approved.

“The difference between winning and losing a case for disability can depend on your presentation,” Stryker said. “There was no question this member had a case. We just had to prepare our case so that the circumstances of the accident were made clear.”

Stryker added: “Preparing for your appearance before the Board is essential, primarily because it can be an intimidating experience for some people. The boardroom itself is intimidating just by the sheer size of it, and sometimes individuals who don’t understand the process or know what to expect when they come in to testify are overwhelmed and unable to explain clearly and completely the circumstances of the accident.”

The concern, said Stryker, is that members reach out to the union much too late in the process, “when all the avenues are closed. There’s not much the union can do when that happens. Our Retiree Division knows this disability pension process inside out.”

Retiree Division Director Nancy True said active members who are planning for retirement come in contact with her division for the first time when they attend the retirement planning seminars, held three times a year at the union hall. “In fact,” she said, “we also handle retirement issues that members don’t plan for, but are forced into because of a disability.”

The Retiree Division has been helping members navigate what can be a complicated and sometimes difficult process of claiming disability retirement benefits for many years.

When members are denied accident disability it is often because they failed to prove their injury was caused by an accident. NYCERS’ definition of what constitutes an “accident” is very narrow and specific. True said it’s not uncommon for members to spend good money on hiring an attorney to help them figure out the difference between a disability caused by an accident and one related to an incident. That expense, True added, is really not necessary because the union does all that and more for free. Not to mention that the attorney fees will eat up a percentage of the member’s benefit.

Page 34 of NYCERS’ Summary Plan Description for Tier 4 Members defines an “accident” thus:

“The term Accident has been defined by the courts as: A sudden, fortuitous, mischance, unexpected, out of the ordinary, and injurious in impact. Not every line of duty injury results in the award of an Accident Disability Retirement Benefit. Injuries sustained while performing routine duties, not resulting from unexpected events, are not Accidents. Injuries sustained by sudden, unexpected events which are not a risk of the work performed, are usually considered to be Accidents.

“For example: