New York: Truck “Monitor” Was Not Engaged in “9/11 Cleanup”

A worker hired to monitor the truck traffic hauling debris from the site of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center was not a participant in the “rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations” at the World Trade Center site and, accordingly, could not qualify for special benefits under N.Y. Work. Comp. Law article 8-A, held a state appellate court. Affirming the Board’s finding, the appellate court agreed that he could not recover under his claim for COPD and other conditions. The court observed that the claimant testified that his job consisted of logging trucks in as they passed him on their way into the site and, after they filled up, he logged them out as they left the site. He did not indicate that he actually inspected the contents of the trucks and described that his job was “to take the information down” regarding the truck number and driver as they passed him. Claimant was not involved with debris removal or loading and unloading the trucks. There was no testimony that claimant directly aided or supported the drivers or first responders or that he engaged in the recovery or rescue in any respect. The Board’s determination was supported by substantial evidence.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Matter of Kearns v Decisions Strategies Envt., 2018 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 8531 (3d Dept., Dec. 13, 2018)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 7.02.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law