Justia New York Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

This case arose when plaintiff worked as a collision shop technician and suffered several injuries on the job. Workers' Compensation Law 15(6) provided that compensation for any disability, partial or total, shall not exceed a fixed maximum per week. At issue was whether the application of the cap when an employee has received several awards for different injuries, at least one of which was a so-called "schedule loss of use" award being paid periodically pursuant to the pre-2009 version of Workers' Compensation Law 25. The court held that in such cases an employee's total weekly payment could not exceed the cap. The schedule award was not nullified by the other awards, but must be deferred until the time comes when the cap would not be exceeded. Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and the case remitted with directions to remand to the Board for further proceedings. View "Matter of Schmidt v Falls Dodge, Inc." on Justia Law

This case arose when claimant was working as a phlebotomist for New York Neurologic Associates when a computer monitor fell off a shelf and struck her upper back. At issue was whether the Worker's Compensation Board must infer, from the finding that a claimant withdrew from her employment due to an accident at her work place, that her post-accident loss of wages was attributable to physical limitations caused by the accident. The court held that the Board was not required to draw that inference. The Board could, but need not, infer that the claimant could not find a suitable job because of her disability. The court could not weigh the evidence or reject the Board's choice simply because a contrary determination would have been reasonable. Here, the evidence concerning the types of work that claimant had attempted to find and her lack of success in those endeavors, together with the absence of evidence of attempts to find less physically taxing work, constituted relevant proof adequately supporting the Board's determination. Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and the decision of the Board reinstated. View "Matter of Zamora v New York Neurologic Assoc." on Justia Law

Defendant was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree and the issue on appeal was whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. Defendant maintained that there was insufficient evidence that he intended to cause serious physical injury when he fired a gun into a crowd of people. The court held that a reasonable jury could have concluded that defendant fired his gun with the intent to cause serious physical injury and, as a result, caused the victim's death. The court rejected defendant's remaining claims and affirmed the judgment. View "People v Ramos" on Justia Law