I recently traveled to Virginia with most of my immediate family to celebrate my father’s 80^th birthday. While he is not in the best physical shape, he was clearly touched that we all came to wish him well as he celebrated this milestone birthday. As an added bonus, we also got to visit with my grandmother, Mary Walsh, who will celebrate her 109^th birthday in August. 

My dad was a New York City firefighter for many years. Unfortunately, quite a few of his current health issues were caused by his exposure to smoke while battling fires during the worst years – the 1970s and 1980s – the City of New York has seen in terms of firefighting calls. Along with the smoke inhalation, years of carrying heavy packs, rescuing people and sustaining burns, broken bones, and other injuries have wreaked havoc on his body. While he saw more than his share of death and destruction, it pales in comparison to the losses the City sustained on September 11, 2001, when 411 emergency responders, including 343 firefighters, lost their lives. Even more distressing is that according to statistics, more than 850 additional first responders have died as a result of 9/11 related illness since that day. Just two weeks ago in fact, retired firefighter Robert Newman from Patchogue, Long Island, died from cancer as a result of breathing in toxins at the World Trade Center.

Many of these first responders initially retired without realizing the extent of their illnesses, and that they were entitled to compensation for their injuries. While Workers’ Compensation benefits are not available to uniformed employees of the FDNY or NYPD who participated in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations, they are still eligible for certain benefits.

In 2005, the World Trade Center (WTC) Disability Law took effect in New York State. This law establishes a presumption that certain disabilities for those who participated in the rescue, recovery, and cleanup at the World Trade Center and other specified sites would entitle them to accidental disability retirement benefits subject to certain criteria including when, where, and for how long they worked at a WTC site. Subsequent amendments expanded the list of individuals eligible, extended the filing deadline, and added qualifying conditions.

The bill allows many police officers and firefighters who retired with non-WTC accidental disabilities to have their retirement reclassified as an accidental disability related to the WTC disaster. Death benefit legislation enacted in 2006 provides an accidental death benefit to certain city and state employees within this same eligibility group. If approved, World Trade Center accidental disability retirement will become effective as of the date of reclassification and not retroactive to the date of retirement.  

If you are disabled, you should file an Application for World Trade Center Accidental Disability

Presumption. If you have not already done so, you must file this Notice on or before September 11, 2018. In order to preserve your right to file at some time in the future if you are presently not disabled, you will also need to file an Application for World Trade Center Notice on or before September 11, 2018.  While you do not need an attorney to represent you, it may be in your best interest to seek the advice of a professional as there are certain restrictions, deadlines, various forms, and qualifying conditions that could make filing the application difficult. 

The after effects of 9/11 continue to take their toll even after all these years, with no immediate end in sight.  We are grateful that there is at least some small consolation for our first responders who should at least not have to be worried about financial issues for themselves and their families. 

Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.

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