A recent case from a New York City-area appeals court is going to have a significant effect on injured workers’ cases in New York. Specifically, it’s helpful for personal injury cases brought on behalf of injured workers.
The case concerned the New York Justice for Injured Workers Act and addressed whether the law can apply retroactively. “Retroactively” simply means can the law apply to injuries that occurred or workers’ compensation decisions that were made before the law became effective.
Justice for Injured Workers Act
In December 2022, the Justice for Injured Workers Act (JIWA) went into effect. It added to New York’s Workers Compensation Law and provided that workers’ compensation law decisions don’t have collateral estoppel effect on the third party claims of injured workers.
Collateral estoppel is a rule of law that prevents parties from re-litigating issues that have already been decided in a previous case. The JIWA said that even if a Workers’ Compensation Board or a workers’ compensation judge’s decision is against an injured worker, that worker can still file a lawsuit – and potentially win it – as a result of their accident.
Stated differently, the JIWA stops New York courts from preventing injured people from re-litigating issues simply because of a previous decision of a workers’ compensation law judge. In other words, a court can’t prevent an injured worker from bringing a lawsuit just because the Workers’ Compensation Board rejected the worker’s claim. The law says that any worker gets a fresh shot at his claim.
The New Case and Its Claimant-Favorable Conclusions
The recent case was called Garcia v. Monadnock Construction, and there the court said the JIWA applies retroactively, meaning that the statute protects injured workers, even if their injury occurred prior to when it became law, that is, prior to its enactment and effective date in December 2022.
In reaching this conclusion, the court looked at four factors to determine whether the Legislature intended for the statute to apply retroactively:
“(1) whether the statute is remedial in nature; (2) whether the Legislature conveyed a sense of urgency in enacting the statute; (3) whether the statute was designed to rewrite an unintended judicial interpretation; and (4) whether the enactment reaffirms the Legislature’s judgement about what the law should be.”
Because the purpose of the JIWA was to correct an injustice to injured workers, and because the law became effective immediately upon enactment, the appeals court found that the Legislature clearly intended for the JIWA to apply retroactively.
The court found that the claimant, who suffered workplace injuries in August of 2020 and brought suit in September of 2020, was not precluded from filing suit simply because of an unfavorable Workers’ Compensation Board decision, even though the injuries occurred prior to the enactment of JIWA.
What This Means for Injured Workers in New York State
This appellate case addresses the use of the collateral estoppel defense based on findings and decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Board and workers’ compensation judges in the First Department, which is a geographic region around New York City. It says that a defendant can’t try to get an injured worker’s case dismissed simply because a workers’ comp judge decided something differently. An injured worker now can pursue his personal injury case and seek justice for his injuries even in the face of a prior, unfavorable Workers’ Compensation Board decision.
The Appellate Division, First Department isn’t the highest court in New York (that’s called the Court of Appeals). Because of this, the decision isn’t yet binding on all courts in New York.
However, other appellate courts will look at this decision when examining similar cases. Equally important is that the case applies to the lower trial courts in our State. This new case also provides valuable insight into the potential interpretations other courts might have on JIWA. Most importantly, the case will help workers seek justice when litigating their accident cases.
The Coppola Firm has long stood for the rights and protections of injured workers. Should you or a loved one be involved in a work related injury, we can help you. Please reach out to us if we may ever be of assistance to you. Feel free to call 716.839.9700 or email us at your convenience.
We’re here to help.
