N.Y. Retirement & Social Security Law § 607-b: Performance of duty disability retirement

§ 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 thirty-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 such

retiree's or vestee's 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 such retiree's or vestee's 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.