New York injured workers bill sent to governor

A New York bill to allow injured workers to pursue litigation in the court system following administrative workers compensation rulings has been sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Senate Bill 9149 would amend the state’s workers compensation law to state that, “no finding or decision by the workers’ compensation board, judge or other arbiter shall be given collateral estoppel effect in any other action or proceeding arising out of the same occurrence, other than the determination of the existence of an employer-employee relationship.”

Collateral estoppel, also known as ‘issue preclusion,’ prevents an individual from relitigating an issue.

Sponsors of the measure said the law needed updating after cases in which judges precluded injured workers from the court system due to prior administrative decisions by the Workers’ Compensation Board.

The bill passed both chambers of the legislature in June and was sent to Gov. Hochul’s office Monday.

It was not immediately clear if the governor would sign the bill into law.