The New York Disability Law Blog : New York Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Turley, Redmond & Rosasco : Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, Staten Island

As I have done for a number of years now, I will be lecturing tomorrow at the Hilton Hotel in Melville to my fellow NY workers compensation lawyers on "Practice Tips & Ethical Considerations" under the New York State Workers Compensation Law. 

I will be sharing info in my materials on the 2007 NY Workers" Compensation Reform Law including a table explaining the new "caps" on Permanent Partial Disabilities and the new maximum workers' compensation benefit rate, which is $739.83 for all accidents on or after July 1, 2010.

This is a great opportunity for personal injury lawyers to get a basic grounding in the 2007 reform changes and for other New York workers' compensation lawyers to sharpen their skills while earning required Continuing Legal Education credits.  Hope to see you there!

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Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein called the new $625 to $712 million proposed 9/11 settlement for sick first responders and rescue workers a "very good deal" today.  Lawyer fees have now been reduced from 33% to 25%, while the actual settlement has been increased significantly. This will put more money in the hands of seriously sick first responders and their loved ones.

Judge Hellerstein has set a hearing for later this month so that all interested parties can comment on the newly proposed settlement.  After the initial settlement proposal was publicized this past March, both the Judge and certain rescue worker groups claimed the the settlement was not enough and that lawyer fees were too high. It remains to be seen what groups representing injured workers feel about the new settlement proposal, but no one can argue that seriously ill workers will do better under the current proposal.  

If you are a rescue worker or first responder who is currently or potentially sick due to your exposure at Ground Zero, this may be your last opportunity to join the lawsuit.  Feel free to call  Turley, Redmond, Rosasco & Rosasco  Toll Free with any questions at 1-877-693-2529, extension 123.

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Happy First Responders Day??   The heroes from Ground Zero may no longer have much needed mental health benefits from New York City.  The Daily News reports that approximately 4,500 9/11 rescue and recovery workers would lose their mental health benefits beginning January 7, 2011, with no federal safety net in sight.

Unfortunately, this is all about pure "political game playing" and the Bloomberg administration is using the 9/11 heroes in a "game of chicken" with the Obama administration over who will fund this program and for how long.  Read between the lines of this letter from the Bloomberg Administration to the 9/11 heroes.  Shame on the Mayor!

Thankfully,  Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler recently pushed the "Zadroga Act" bill through an important House of Representatives committee and this may provide first responders with some health protection   given the Mayor's current power play.  Let's hope so!

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Today is the first day of the NOSSCR Social Security  Disability Lawyer conference in "The Big Easy", as this fun loving city is affectionately known. Some of the best Social Security disability lawyers  from around the country will be in attendance, including my good friend and current NOSSCR President Larry Wittenberg. 

While I was a presenter on ERISA Long Term Disability claims at the last NOSSCR conference, I am taking a break this conference so I can learn something new myself!  This time out I plan to sharpen my medical knowledge by attending separate seminars on multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome,  fibromyalgia,  lung disease (COPD) and  chronic pain.

In addition, I will be attending two seminars on Veterans Disability claims given by Katrina Eagle, Esq., one of the best in this complicated are of law.  I have seen her speak before at VA Disability Law conferences, and she really knows her stuff.  Finally, I will be attending a seminar on post-traumatic stress disorder, which is now rampant among returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.  I am seeing it weekly in my practice these days

After all this learning, perhaps I will take a much needed diversion to Bourbon Street to catch some New Orleans' jazz.  After all, they don't call it "the Big Easy"  for nothing!  

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Today is Workers' Memorial Day worldwide, a day we solemnly remember all those workers who have died tragically in workplace accidents over the years.  More US workers have died on the job over the course of history than anyone knows or cares to remember. Witness 9/11, but don't forget the workers who die every day in less dramatic fashion. To understand the gravity of this problem, a must read is the 2010 Death On the Job Report from the AFL-CIO. Read it and really weep.

My most recent NY workers' compensation death claim involved a Long Island warehouse worker who had a skid of heavy boxes tip over and land on his head. Despite the heroic efforts of his co-workers, he was dead before he reached the hospital. He left a wife and two children under age ten. Without ant sense of remorse, the workers' compensation insurance carrier was calling me within 10 days of the death to try and settle the claim for less than full value. I told them to take a hike.

We went right to the New York State Workers' Compensation Board and petitioned the court for benefits for the widow and children, including funeral costs. The judge awarded the widow benefits for life and funeral costs, in addition to benefits for the children while they are dependent minors. I bet the claims adjuster on that file doesn't even know its Workers' Memorial Day today!

God bless all the families who have lost loved ones on the job over the years. The most recent large scale tragedy to come to mind was the recent deaths 29 coal miners in West Virginia.  The attorneys at Turley, Redmond Rosasco & Rosasco  wish the families peace and comfort.

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While I am sure that most of the general public has heard about last week's potential $657 million settlement for 9/11 First Responders ( including volunteers), do you want to read the entire 95 page  World Trade Center Settlement Process Agreement ? In addition to the agreement, there are attached to the agreement multiple Exhibits A  through U  (click here and here for examples)which put the total page count in the multiple hundreds of pages. 

Thankfully, the over 10,000 first responders have been given 90 days dissect this important document before the must vote to approve or disapprove the proposed settlement.  Awards to individuals or families could range anywhere from a high of over one million dollars to a low of $3,200.00, with an expected average award according to news reports to be in the $50,000 - $60,000 range.  Finally, U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein must also approve of both the settlement agreement and the amount of attorneys fees. 

As most of my readers know, I have been covering 9/11 workers' compensation and litigation  developments on this blog for over five years now.  After the announcement of the proposed settlement last Thursday night, my office has received another rush of calls. Many want to know if it is too late to join this lawsuit now as plaintiffs.

The answer is "No", it's not too late.  However, time is short for attorneys to review new client medical records for eligibility and make the appropriate claim,if any.  If you have yet to sign up for this litigation and you were a first responder or volunteer who worked at Ground Zero, now may be your last chance to join this potential settlement.  Remember - this lawsuit is separate and apart from any New York Workers Compensation claim you may have in the past, currently or in the future.

Since last Thursday, I have taken numerous phone calls from first responders and/or volunteers with serious lung conditions or cancers who never knew about the existence of this lawsuit. I encourage all  first responders or volunteers who have been diagnosed with a condition potentially related to their exposure to dust and toxins at Ground Zero, and have not already signed on to this lawsuit (you probably would have signed a formal 1/3 retainer agreement), to contact an attorney today.

Readers of this blog can always call me toll free at 1-877-NY-DBLAW (1-877-693-2529) , extension 123 with any questions. Let's hope that this proposed settlement brings some closure for sick first responders and their loved ones. They deserve it.

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Carrie Mason-Draffen is the excellent Workplace Columnist for Newsday and I have been glad to help her over the years with questions from her readers on Social Security disability claims and New York workers compensation claims. Her most recent column in which I was quoted had to do with when a non-working spouse can obtain Social Security benefits. 

Disabled Widow's/Widowers Benefits can be collected on the deceased spouse's earnings record if the disabled widow is: 1)  disabled within 7 years of the deceased worker's death and is between the ages of 50 - 60 when she becomes disabled and 2) was married to the deceased worker for at least 10 years (even if they were divorced prior to the onset of disability).

For example, Joan was married to Jim between 1990 to 2000 (10 years).  Jim dies in 2005 of a heart attack. In 2010, Joan is currently age 52 and becomes disabled by multiple sclerosis. If Joan either never worked (perhaps a stay-at-home Mom) or her work record would produce a smaller disability benefit than on her ex-spouses work record (he was highly paid executive), she can apply for Disabled Widows' Benefits.

This is an often over-looked benefit by many widows/widowers (especially divorced ones who have no reason to go to one of the the Social Security District offices here on Long Island after the death of an ex-spouse) and the help of an experienced Social Security Disability Claim lawyer  can be invaluable in this situation.  

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Photo courtesy of NY Daily News

Whoever thought that a seemingly harmless job at Dunkin Donuts in Smithtown could cause the death of a 17-year old student in his prime? As reported in Newsday, Amiri Zeqiri fell into a cesspool after a metal cover collapsed while he was walking to dump garbage behind the Donut shop.

The bizarre accident is reminds me of the sad death last year on Long Island of the Walmart employee who was trampled by a crowd of over eager customers in Valley Stream. You would not normally think of Walmart as an exceedingly dangerous place to work either, but workers compensation lawyers like myself deal with such unusual death claims on a regular basis. 

So what, if anything, is the family of this young man entitled to from the workers compensation system for the loss of his life? Unfortunately, not much. Assuming he has left no dependents, his life under the New York Workers' Compensation Law is worth a meager $50,000 payable to his estate. In addition, the insurance carrier for Dunkin Donut's will have to pay $6,000 toward his funeral bill (this is the maximum allowed under the law currently, although funerals on Long Island are currently costing at least double that amount). 

So initially, regardless of the family's current financial status, they are going to have to come up with big bucks just to bury their loved one, and wait months for only partial reimbursement through the workers' compensation system.  This obviously just adds insult to injury. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Amiri Zeqiri's family.  However, we are glad that Suffolk County homicide detectives continue to investigate why the sewer cover collapsed. Certainly, the owner of the property, JKH Realty Group in Queens (no stranger to Town of Smithtown violations) , has a lot of explaining to do.

But for the time being, let us all remember that there are no "safe" workplaces here in New York, even if its just the local donut shop.  

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Newsday reports today that Brookhaven National Lab workers with cancer who were exposed to radiation at BNL during the Cold War will finally be able to receive the federal workers' compensation benefits that Congress intended when it set up a special compensation program for these workers in 2000.

The facts surrounding the Brookhaven exposures are eerily similar to the case our office won at trial regarding our clients who were exposed to radiation, TCE and PCE at the old Sylvania Nuclear Fuel Rod plant in Hicksville, New York. The current owner of the property, Verizon, is now fighting off multiple individual and class action lawsuits for cancer and other illnesses arising from the Hicksville nuclear site .

Prior to today's announcement, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act had been a dismal failure for former Brookhaven National Lab employees. In a decade, only 17 of 123 cancer cases had been approved due to the difficulty in establishing "dose exposure". The new "special class" of BNL Cold War workers will make it dramatically easier for those with radiation induced cancers to collect a lump-sum benefit of $150,000 and medical care.

I suppose "better late than never" is the best that can said for the federal government's shoddy treatment of the Brookhaven National Lab  workers.

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