After 28 years...

I just received an email from a retired Transit Police officer. I have listed it below. He retired from NYCERS on an accident disability benefit in 1984.

Generally a transit police accident disability benefit is offset by the workers’ compensation (WC) award granted to the police officer, but only if that award was for the same disability for which NYCERS granted the accident disability pension.

As part of the process of paying the accident disability benefit NYCERS initially lowers the ¾’s benefit by the amount of a full WC award. I remember it being $400/week. NYCERS then waits for the documentation on the WC award. When NYCERS receives the notice of award, it finalizes the monthly accident disability award for the pensioner. In this case, finalized in 1984, NYCERS did not offset the NYCERS benefit by the WC award.

Most likely this was done because the WC award was not related to the disability on which NYCERS was retiring the member. It appears from the retiree’s comments below that that was the case.

In February, NYCERS initially suspended this retiree’s pension for four months with the resulting health insurance nightmare. In June NYCERS has notified the retiree that it will restore the pension but with a 75% reduction in order to recoup the WC payments for the last 28 years. This will take 8 years. The retiree is now 70 years old.

NYCERS is legally required to correct its errors and this can be very harsh sometimes on members and retirees. Any corrective action, however, needs to be supported by clear evidence and proper notice. Failure to file out a discretionary form does not create the legal authority to suspend and/or reduce a pension benefit.

NYCERS in the last seven years has adopted an autocratic atitude towards its members and pensioners. It has forgotten that the purpose of the agency is to serve the members and retirees, not the other way around. I directly have seen many mistakes by NYCERS and failures to communicate to its members and retirees.

The ironic part of this disregard is that NYCERS has an independent administrative budget which the legislature granted the agency to insure that there was sufficient resources so that the agency could properly serve the members and retirees.

As this case stands right now, in order to restore his full pension this retiree may have to mount a legal challenge against NYCERS. Where does a retiree with a reduced pension get the money to hire a lawyer?

If the NYCERS trustees are unaware of this arbitrary and capricious behavior, they are now on notice.

Sent 5/26/2012

Dear Mr. Murphy,

NYCERS has suspended my pension. They claim since I am receiving Workers' Comp it should be deducted from my Accidental Disability pension. I told them the Workers' Comp is for a different injury than what I received my Accidental Disability pension. I have not received a written response from NYCERS to any of my written requests. I have constantly been given the run around from them. Promised phone calls never materialize. Requests for my file were ignored until recently when I received 3 pages after repeated letters and phone calls from me.

The suspension of my pension was initiated when I didn't return a form they allegedly sent me. On Feb 1, 2012 I checked my bank account before writing checks to pay my bills. I discovered that my pension had not been deposited. I called NYCERS and they said I had to fill out form F354 asking if I was receiving Workers' Comp payments and if I was I had to also submit the most recent "Notice of Decision" from Workers' Compensation Board.

I told them any "Notice of Decision" would be over 28 years old or more and I didn't have it and would have to get it from Workers' Comp. They said they would not restore my pension until NYCERS received both form F354 and and the "Notice of Decision".

I asked NYCERS to send me a form F354 and called the Workers' Compensation Board who said my files were archived in Albany. I wrote to Albany requesting my files. What I eventually received was the "Notice of Decision", a statement of discontinuance of other cases and a letter stating that my file had been destroyed. The "Notice of Decision" said I was receiving Workers' Comp for injury to my "right thumb".

I requested my retirement records from NYCERS to see if that was the same injury as I was granted my Accidental Disability pension for. I was given a run around, medical said payroll had it, payroll said medical had it, then I was told it was archived etc etc. Without that information, I could not complete form F354. The suspension of my pension continued.

In addition, earlier this month I went for a medical exam and was told I needed an MRI to see if I had a tumor in my head, I was also told my health insurance was discontinued as of April 1st of this year. Neither NYCERS nor the NYC Health Benefits Program Retirees Unit notified me that my health insurance would be cut off, or of this discontinuance of my health plan. So as of this date, every medical visit I made had unknowingly to me at the time, has gone unpaid by my insurance plan and I cannot afford to seek medical attention without my pension. This put me a horrible position, no pension, no medical insurance for my wife and my self.

When I finally received some information from NYCERS, I discovered that the records indicate that I received my Accidental Disability pension for injury to my right wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome) and my back, there was no mention of injury to my right thumb as the "Notice of Decision" granted me Workers' Comp for. I filled out form F354 and wrote on it that the Workers' Comp payment may not be related to my pension and followed that up with calls to NYCERS payroll and legal telling them I believed the Workers' Comp and Accidental disability were from different injuries. My statements fell on deaf ears. They said they were going to start deducting my current Workers Comp payment from my pension starting with the June check which they said they will send barring any problem, and they will have to figure out how much I owe going back 28 years and how they were going to get it.

I called the NYC Health Benefits Program Retirees Unit who told me that in order to get my health insurance reinstated they needed a letter of reinstatement from NYCERS and that it could be faxed to them.

I called NYCERS and spoke to the Legal Dept who said that Payroll Dept would have to issue the letter of reinstatement, that they would email and phone Payroll to have them fax the letter and explain to them the urgency of it.

As of this date my insurance has not been reinstated, I have received no mailing of a letter of reinstatement that I could send to the Health Benefits program. Certified letters, emails requesting this have been ignored. Phone calls to legal only gets me an answering machine, but my message has gone unanswered.

Workers Comp records have been destroyed, my 28 to 30 year old records from the medical facility where I was treated have been destroyed. It seems patently unfair for NYCERS to wait this long when most of the evidence supporting my position has been destroyed to raise this issue. It seems also unfair that my pension was suspended without my receiving due process.

I was a very active cop, making many arrests of violent suspects and received many injuries over the course of my career serving the people of NY City. Besides the financial and medical hardships NYCERS has imposed on me and my family, I took their actions very personal.

I learned CPR on my own time to better serve the community and recommended that the Dept. have all police officers learn it and that resuscitators should be placed in every RMP, which the Dept followed up on and I used to save lives. I gave up two weeks of my vacation time to attend a course in practical Spanish language authorized by the Dept. to help the Spanish speaking community in NYC.

I have received many commendations for my actions as a police officer including Cop of the Month and Cop of the Year awards. So you can see why I find it hurtful to be treated by NYCERS in this manner after all the good work I did for the City.

Even if I were able to work, at my age, in my medical condition and in this economy I doubt if I could find a job that I could do to make up for any reduction in my pension

I would appreciate any assistance you can give me.

Respectfully,