§ 605-C — Accidental disability retirement for deputy sheriffs employed by the city of New York

§ 605-c. Accidental disability retirement for deputy sheriffs employed\nby the city of New York. a. A member of the New York city employees'\nretirement system employed by the city of New York as a deputy city\nsheriff, level one, deputy city sheriff, level two, supervising deputy\nsheriff or administrative sheriff, who becomes physically or mentally\nincapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate\nresult of an accident, sustained in the performance of his or her\nduties, not caused by his or her willful negligence, sustained in such\nservice and while actually a member of the retirement system, shall be\npaid an accidental disability retirement allowance equal to\nthree-quarters of final average compensation as defined in subdivision e\nof section six hundred eight of this article, subject to the provisions\nof section 13-176 of the administrative code of the city of New York.\n b. 1. (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is\ncaused by a qualifying World Trade Center condition, as defined in\nsection two of this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it\nwas incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural\nand proximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own\nwillful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.\n (b) The head of the retirement system is hereby authorized to\npromulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this\nparagraph.\n 2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery or cleanup operations as defined in section two\nof this chapter, and subsequently retired on a service retirement, an\nordinary disability retirement, a performance of duty disability\nretirement, or was separated from service with a vested right to\ndeferred payability of a retirement allowance and subsequent to such\nretirement or separation is determined by the head of the retirement\nsystem to have a qualifying World Trade Center condition as defined in\nsection two of this chapter, upon such determination by the head of the\nretirement system, it shall be presumed that such disability was\nincurred in the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and\nproximate result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful\nnegligence, and that the member would have been physically or mentally\nincapacitated for the performance and discharge of duty of the position\nfrom which he or she retired had the condition been known and fully\ndeveloped at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is\nproven by competent evidence.\n (b) The head of the retirement system shall consider a\nreclassification of the member's retirement or vesting as an accidental\ndisability retirement effective as of the date of such reclassification.\n (c) Such member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result\nof such reclassification.\n (d) The member's former employer at the time of the member's\nretirement shall have an opportunity to be heard on the member's\napplication for reclassification by the head of the retirement system\naccording to procedures developed by the comptroller.\n (e) The head of the retirement system is hereby authorized to\npromulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this\nparagraph.\n c. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a retiree or vestee who: (1) has met the\ncriteria of subdivision b of this section and retired on a service or\ndisability retirement, would have met the criteria if not already\nretired on an accidental disability, or was separated from service with\na vested right to deferred payability of a retirement allowance; and (2)\nhas not been retired for more than twenty-five years; and (3) dies from\na qualifying World Trade Center condition as defined in section two of\nthis chapter, as determined by the applicable head of the retirement\nsystem or applicable medical board, then unless the contrary be proven\nby competent evidence, such retiree or vestee shall be deemed to have\ndied as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the\nperformance of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his or\nher part. Such retiree's or vestee's eligible beneficiary, as set forth\nin section six hundred one of this article, shall be entitled to an\naccidental death benefit as provided by section six hundred seven of\nthis article, however, for the purposes of determining the salary base\nupon which the accidental death benefit is calculated, the retiree or\nvestee shall be deemed to have died on the date of his or her retirement\nor separation from service with vested rights. Upon the retiree's or\nvestee's death, the eligible beneficiary shall make a written\napplication to the head of the retirement system within the time for\nfiling an application for an accidental death benefit as set forth in\nsection six hundred seven of this article requesting conversion of such\nretiree's service, vested right or disability retirement benefit to an\naccidental death benefit. At the time of such conversion, the eligible\nbeneficiary shall relinquish all rights to the prospective benefits\npayable under the service or disability retirement benefit, or vested\nright to such benefit, including any post-retirement death benefits,\nsince the retiree's or vestee's death. If the eligible beneficiary is\nnot the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit\nunder the service or disability retirement benefit (including, but not\nlimited to, post-retirement death benefits or benefits paid or payable\npursuant to the retiree's option selection), or that will be eligible\nunder the vested right, the accidental death benefit payments to the\neligible beneficiary will be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to\nany other beneficiary.\n d. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any\ngeneral, special or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or\nregulation to the contrary, if a member who: (1) has met the criteria of\nsubdivision b of this section; (2) dies in active service or after\nseparating from service with a vested right to deferred payability of a\nretirement allowance, but prior to the payability of that retirement\nallowance; and (3) dies from a qualifying World Trade Center condition,\nas defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by the\napplicable head of the retirement system or applicable medical board to\nhave been caused by such member's participation in the World Trade\nCenter rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined in section two\nof this chapter, then unless the contrary be proven by competent\nevidence, such member shall be deemed to have died as a natural and\nproximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty and\nnot as a result of willful negligence on his or her part. Such member's\neligible beneficiary, as set forth in section six hundred one of this\narticle, shall be entitled to an accidental death benefit provided he or\nshe makes written application to the head of the retirement system\nwithin the time for filing an application for an accidental death\nbenefit as set forth in section six hundred seven of this article.\n