2022 New York Laws
RSS - Retirement and Social Security
Article 15 - Coordinated Retirement Plan
607-B - Performance of Duty Disability Retirement.

Universal Citation: NY Ret & SS L § 607-B (2022)
§  607-b.  Performance of duty disability retirement. a. Any member of
the New York city employees' retirement system who is  employed  by  the
city of New York or by the New York city health and hospital corporation
in  the  position  of emergency medical technician or advanced emergency
medical technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand
one of the public health  law,  who,  on  or  after  March  seventeenth,
nineteen    hundred   ninety-six,   becomes   physically   or   mentally
incapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate
result of an injury, sustained in the performance or discharge of his or
her duties shall be paid a performance  of  duty  disability  retirement
allowance  equal  to  three-quarters of final average salary, subject to
section 13-176 of the administrative code of the city of New  York.  Any
member  who has made application or who, after the effective date of the
chapter of the laws of two thousand four which amended this subdivision,
makes application for such performance of duty pension shall be entitled
to invoke the medical review procedure provided for in subdivision e  of
section  six  hundred  five  of  this  article, subject to the terms and
conditions set forth in such subdivision.
  b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general  or
special  law  to  the  contrary,  a  member  covered by this section who
contracts HIV (where the member may have been exposed to a bodily  fluid
of  a  person  under  his  or her care or treatment, or while the member
examined, transported or otherwise had contact with such person, in  the
performance  of  his  or  her duties) tuberculosis or hepatitis, will be
presumed to have contracted such disease in the performance or discharge
of his or her  duties,  unless  the  contrary  be  proved  by  competent
evidence.
  c.  1.  (a)  Notwithstanding  any provisions of this chapter or of any
general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or  rule  or
regulation  to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is
caused by a qualifying  World  Trade  Center  condition  as  defined  in
section  two  of  this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it
was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty  and  the  natural
and  proximate  result  of  an  accident not caused by such member's own
willful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.

(b) the head of each retirement system is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph. 2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or regulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations as defined in section two of this chapter, and subsequently retired on a service retirement, an ordinary disability retirement, a performance of duty disability retirement, or was separated from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance, and subsequent to such retirement or separation is determined by the comptroller to have a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination by the head of the retirement system, it shall be presumed that such disability was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and proximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful negligence, and that the member would have been physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance and discharge of duty of the position from which he or she retired had the condition been known and fully developed at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is proven by competent evidence.

(b) The head of the retirement system shall consider a reclassification of the member's retirement or vesting as an accidental disability retirement effective as of the date of such reclassification.

(c) Such member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result of such reclassification.

(d) The member's former employer at the time of the member's retirement shall have an opportunity to be heard on the member's application for reclassification by the NYCERS board of trustees according to procedures developed by the NYCERS board of trustees.

(e) The head of each retirement system is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this paragraph. d. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or regulation to the contrary, if a retiree or vestee who: (1) has met the criteria of subdivision c of this section and retired on a service or disability retirement, would have met the criteria if not already retired on an accidental disability, or was separated from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance; and (2) has not been retired for more than twenty-five years; and (3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the retirement system or applicable medical board, then unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such retiree or vestee shall be deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or her part. Such retiree's or vestee's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section six hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an accidental death benefit as provided by section six hundred seven of this article, however, for the purposes of determining the salary base upon which the accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree or vestee shall be deemed to have died on the date of his or her retirement or separation from service with vested rights. Upon the retiree's or vestee's death, the eligible beneficiary shall make a written application to the head of the retirement system within the time for filing an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in section six hundred seven of this article requesting conversion of such retiree's service, vested right or disability retirement benefit to an accidental death benefit. At the time of such conversion, the eligible beneficiary shall relinquish all rights to the prospective benefits payable under the service or disability retirement benefit, or vested right to such benefit, including any post-retirement death benefits, since the retiree's or vestee's death. If the eligible beneficiary is not the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit under the service or disability retirement benefit (including, but not limited to, post-retirement death benefits or benefits paid or payable pursuant to the retiree's option selection), or that will be eligible under the vested right, the accidental death benefit payments to the eligible beneficiary will be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to any other beneficiary. e. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or regulation to the contrary, if a member who: (1) has met the criteria of subdivision c of this section; (2) dies in active service or after separating from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance, but prior to the payability of that retirement allowance; and (3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the retirement system or applicable medical board to have been caused by such member's participation in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two of this chapter, then unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such member shall be deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or her part. Such member's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section six hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an accidental death benefit provided he or she makes written application to the head of the retirement system within the time for filing an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in section six hundred seven of this article.

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