Starnella v. Bratton, 92 N.Y.2d 837 (1998)

For a police officer’s injury to be considered an ‘accidental injury’ entitling them to accidental disability benefits, the injury must result from a sudden, fortuitous mischance that is unexpected and out of the ordinary, not simply from performing routine duties.

Summary

This case involves two police officers seeking accidental disability retirement benefits. Officer Starnella fell down stairs, while Sergeant Gasparino slipped on water in a bathroom. The Medical Board found both incidents to be accidental injuries. However, the Board of Trustees deadlocked on the issue, denying them accidental disability pensions. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision regarding Gasparino, finding his injury accidental as a matter of law, but affirmed the denial of benefits to Starnella, holding his fall was not sufficiently unexpected or out of the ordinary.

Facts

Officer Starnella fell down a flight of stairs while on duty. Sergeant Gasparino slipped on a pool of water in a police station bathroom while on duty. Both officers sought accidental disability retirement benefits under the Administrative Code of the City of New York.

Procedural History

The Medical Board initially concluded that both officers had suffered accidental injuries. The Board of Trustees, however, reached a tie vote on whether the injuries were accidental, effectively denying the officers accidental disability pensions. The officers then filed CPLR article 78 challenges. The lower courts upheld the Board of Trustees’ determinations. The Court of Appeals heard the consolidated appeals.

Issue(s)

1. Whether Sergeant Gasparino’s slip and fall on water in a bathroom constitutes an ‘accidental injury’ as a matter of law, entitling him to accidental disability benefits.
2. Whether Officer Starnella’s fall down a flight of stairs constitutes an ‘accidental injury’ as a matter of law, entitling him to accidental disability benefits.

Holding

1. Yes, because Sergeant Gasparino’s injury resulted from an unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary event analogous to slipping on wet pavement.
2. No, because Officer Starnella’s fall down the stairs, without more, was not sufficiently out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected to qualify as an accidental injury.

Court’s Reasoning

The Court relied on its prior decisions in Matter of Lichtenstein v. Board of Trustees and Matter of McCambridge v. McGuire, which defined an accident as a “sudden, fortuitous mischance, unexpected, out of the ordinary, and injurious in impact.” The court distinguished between injuries resulting from routine duties and those stemming from unexpected events. Regarding Gasparino, the Court reasoned that slipping on water in a bathroom was similar to the accidental injury in McCambridge, where an officer slipped on wet pavement. The Court stated, “Indeed, slipping and falling on wet pavement on a rainy day is no less a sudden and unexpected event than Sergeant Gasparino’s misadventure involving a pool of water in the bathroom.” However, the court found that Starnella’s fall down the stairs, absent any extraordinary circumstances, was not an ‘accident’ as contemplated by the statute. As the court noted, “A fall down the stairs as a result of one’s own misstep, without more, is not so out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected as to constitute an accidental injury as a matter of law.” This case clarifies that to qualify for accidental disability benefits, the injury must be the result of an unforeseen event that is not a normal risk of police work. The court emphasized the need for a “precipitating accidental event * * * which was not a risk of the work performed.”