Gehm v. Board of Trustees of New York City Fire Department

158 A.D.2d 687, 551 N.Y.S.2d 856, 1990 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2330

Opinion

The Board of Trustees denied the petitioner’s application for an accident disability pension following a vote of six in favor and six against. Under such circumstances, the decision of the Board of Trustees must stand "[u]nless it can be determined as a matter of law on the record that the disability was the natural and proximate result of a service-related accident” (Matter of Canfora v Board of Trustees, 60 NY2d 347, 352; see also, Matter of McCambridge v McGuire, 62 NY2d 563; Matter of Quill v Ward, 138 AD2d 305). Though the petitioner claims that his accident precipitated the development of the latent disabling condition (see generally, Matter of Tobin v Steisel, 64 NY2d 254, 257; Matter of Whitton v Spinnato, 143 AD2d 274; Matter of Petrella v Board of Trustees, 141 AD2d 361; Matter of Wygand v Regan, 135 AD2d 1060), the record is equivocal in that regard. Therefore, it cannot be said as a matter of law that the petitioner sustained his burden of establishing a causal relation between the accident and his disabling condition. Accordingly, the Board of Trustees’ determination was properly confirmed (see, Matter of Whitton v Spinnato, supra; Matter of Martucci v Fire Dept., 123 AD2d 630; Matter of Tarr v Board of Trustees, 98 AD2d 687). Kooper, J. P., Harwood, Rosenblatt and Miller, JJ., concur.