BILL NUMBER: S6264

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to judg-
ments in favor of a petitioner in article 78 proceedings relating to
disability pensions

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to allow a court to annul a finding by a
retirement system denying a disability pension if the finding was arbi-
trary and capricious.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section I amends Section 7806 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules to
provide that a reviewing court is empowered, upon a finding that a
retirement system's denial of an application for a disability pension
was arbitrary and capricious, to order that application be granted and
the affected individual be found entitled to the pension sought.
              

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Public employees disabled from the performance of their duties are, in
appropriate circumstances, entitled to disability pensions. Public
retirement systems have established review boards to determine whether
an applicant for a disability pension has met the criteria for the grant
of the petition. An applicant denied such a pension may seek review
pursuant to Article 78 to overturn that decision. The standard of review
applied by the court in such cases is exacting:  the court may overturn
the decision only upon finding that the retirement system acted arbi-
trarily or capriciously.

Unfortunately, even when an individual meets this burden and establishes
that the retirement system's decision was arbitrary or capricious,
courts often refrain from granting the employee the pension sought but,
instead, remand the matter to the retirement system for further action.
The remand results in delay and further expense to the employee. Worse,
retirement systems are hereby afforded the opportunity to deny the
application for a different reason, forcing the employee to undertake
yet another legal challenge. There is no remedy if a retirement system
acts with impunity in these circumstances. Employees frequently just
give up the fight, even though their claims are well-supported by
medical and other evidence.

This Act will make clear that a court has the power, when it finds a
retirement system has acted arbitrarily or capriciously, not just to
invalidate the system's decision but to go further and order that the
employee's application for a disability pension be granted. Justice
really demands no less.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all appeals
that have been filed but not yet adjudicated.