Blog

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer who was denied a tax-free injury pension after she was shot in the hand will get $325,000.

The award settles a federal lawsuit filed by Officer Pamela Walker. Walker was shot during an annual weapons inspection at a Manhattan precinct in 2002.

Court papers say Walker claimed another officer accidentally depressed the trigger while handing her a .38-caliber gun.

The papers say she said the officer didn’t get aid after she was shot.

The NYPD insisted her injury was self-inflected. She was approved for a line-of-duty pension but the pension board deadlocked on the issue. She wound up with a pension that is taxable.

A Law Department spokeswoman told the Daily News the settlement was in the best interest of all parties.

(CBS/WCBS) – The outraged family of New York murder victim Caroline Wimmer is taking on Facebook.

A paramedic took a cell phone photo of the crime scene and posted it on the site in a case of what parents Martha and Ronald Wimmer are calling “disrespecting the dead.”

“This is on the second anniversary of our daughter’s death. I just want to get by, day by day,” Martha Wimmer said.

Her 26-year-old daughter Caroline was strangled with an electric cord in March 2009 on Staten Island. The convicted killer, Calvin Lawson, got 25 years to life. One of the first on the scene, former emergency medical technician Mark Musarella, used his cell phone camera to snap a grisly photo of the corpse, which he then uploaded to Facebook. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct and lost his job, reports CBS station WCBS.

A civil suit now names Musarella and Facebook.

“I found my daughter. I seen what she looked like. She was horrible. And I know that people at night are looking at it,” Ronald Wimmer said.

Facebook may be protected by the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which could give the social-networking giant immunity. The Wimmers’ attorney said what Facebook did was wrong.

“Just like a jewelry store cannot resell stolen property, neither can Facebook,” attorney Ravi Batra said.

The victim’s older sister was equally upset.

“Of the pictures on Facebook…for anyone to see, it kills me,” Christina Criscitiello said.

Later this week a bill is expected to be introduced in Albany that will attempt to reign in the broad immunity Facebook currently enjoys.

A spokesperson from Facebook told WCBS, “We haven’t been served or seen the complaint so we have no comment at this time.”

ALBANY — If all goes as planned, New York state will begin paying off a $45 million settlement in a month to resolve a little-publicized civil rights lawsuit.

Known as Simpson v. NYS Civil Service Commission, the battle dates to the late 1990s and involved more than 4,000 black and Hispanic state workers and job applicants who took a civil service test that plaintiffs subsequently claimed was biased.

“I believe the ultimate objective of returning New York state to the merit system has been moved forward,” said Merton D. Simpson of Albany, one of the lead plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit.

Under the December agreement, which came at the end of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term as attorney general, the state assumed no fault or liability but agreed to pay $45 million over four years starting with the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Friday.

The annual payments of $11,250,000 will be split among 4,706 plaintiffs and lawyers, who will get 25 percent as well as $800,000 in expenses.

“Given the circumstances, it’s a reasonable settlement,” said Michael Sussman, a Goshen attorney who worked on the case with flamboyant Florida-based lawyer Willie Gary.

A March 7 letter Sussman and Gary sent to plaintiffs urges them to accept the deal.

“We engaged in extensive negotiations with counsel for the State of New York and have concluded that the proposed settlement is the best we can obtain. The alternative of reaching no agreement poses substantial litigation risks, the prospect of years of additional delay and no guarantee of a better result,” reads part of the letter, which also acknowledges that New York is under “uncommon economic distress” which “affects the capacity of the State to provide additional financial relief to class members and suggests the wisdom of compromise.”

Next month, plaintiffs will have a chance to opt out of the settlement.

If more than 7.5 percent opt out, the settlement could be voided by the defendants, although neither Sussman nor Simpson said they expect that to happen.

The $11.25 million payment is funded in the 2011-12 budget as part of a $142 million pool to pay for litigation expenses.

The suit had its origins in 1996 when Simpson, who at the time worked for the state Civil Service Department, failed a test needed for promotions.

He believed the exam, or Promotion Test Battery, was overly subjective in that it probed attitudes of people seeking supervisory or management positions.

“Your worldview has no correlation to your ability to do the job,” said Simpson, who also complained that test-takers weren’t given the customary “review and challenge” opportunity. Under that system, people can question and argue about whether some of the answers on the test are correct.

Simpson had written civil service exams and worked as a trainer on issues of discrimination. “I was a stickler for adherence to the merit system,” he said.

He initially took his complaint to the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, but that failed to resolve the issue. A lawsuit was filed in 2003 in New York’s Northern District federal court.

Simpson eventually lost his state job, contending he was let go for being a troublemaker. Since then, he’s worked as a trainer and mediator. “I stay busy,” said the 56-year-old.

Some of the plaintiffs under the proposed settlement should get between $7,000 and $20,000 depending on their civil service status during and after the test.

Simpson and 10 other “class representatives,” or lead plaintiffs, could get up to $150,000.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.

And with the test in question no longer being used, Gustavo Santos, another plaintiff, hopes the lawsuit will result in permanent improvements to the civil service system.

“We were looking for fairness in the testing and to make sure the test is job-related,” said Santos, who works as a minority business specialist for the Department of Transportation.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/New-York-state-offers-45M-to-end-civil-service-1313866.php#ixzz1I64DsDQI

NEW YORK—A federal judge ruled National Football League team owners cannot apply a certain offset against workers compensation benefits paid to former players injured while playing.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, ruled Friday that contract language does not allow the team owners to apply a “dollar-for-dollar” calculation to offset other benefits the players received.

 

In an Associated Press report, the NFL said the ruling only pertains to the proper calculation of workers compensation benefits for players who also receive injury protection payments.

The NFL Players Assn. said in a statement released Monday that it brought litigation because “workers compensation is a significant benefit for former players who suffered severe injuries during their playing days.”