In Matter of Romero v. DHL Holdings (USA) Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 00936 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 7, 2019), the court affirmed the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board’s determination that the claimant was discharged for cause, and not in violation of the Workers’ Compensation Law. The court summarized the law: Workers’ Compensation Law…
Read More Workers’ Compensation Retaliatory Discharge Claim Dismissal AffirmedA recent upstate appellate decision addresses the correlation between a sexual harassment claim, on the one hand, and workers’ compensation benefits, on the other. In Shiner v. Suny at Buffalo, No. 522762, 2016 WL 6782717, (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dept. Nov. 17, 2016), the court affirmed the Workers Compensation Board’s decision that claimant’s failure to obtain…
Read More Sexual Harassment Settlement Bars Further Workers Compensation Benefits, DeIn Guzman v. Concavage Marine Constr. Inc., No. 14-CV-8587 (KMK), 2016 WL 1273285 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2016), the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss/strike plaintiff’s allegation that he suffered a physical workplace injury as a result of his employer’s owner’s racist attitude towards him, in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1981. This decision is instructive as…
Read More Hostile Work Environment Claim Arising From Alleged Racism-Caused Bodily Injury ProceedsIn a recent decision (Sloth v. Constellation Brands), the Western District of New York declined to give collateral estoppel effect to the findings of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). Plaintiff alleged that she was subjected to sexual harassment at work. The WCB denied her benefits, finding in part that she made false…
Read More Workers’ Compensation Board Findings Not Entitled to Collateral Estoppel Effect in Sexual Harassment CaseIn Auqui v Seven Thirty One Ltd. Partnership, decided December 10, 2013, the New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) held that the determination by the Workers’ Compensation Board that plaintiff had “no further causally-related disability since January 24, 2006” and no further need for treatment was not entitled to collateral estoppel effect in…
Read More Court of Appeals Declines, in Negligence Case, to Give Collateral Estoppel Effect to Workers’ Compensation Board Finding