Leary v. New York City Employees' Retirement System

**What Happened** Patrick Leary, a New York City employee, injured his knee when he slipped on wet stairs at work. He applied for disability retirement benefits through the city's retirement system, but the Board of Trustees denied his request. The board apparently didn't consider his slip-and-fall incident to qualify as an "accident" under the rules that govern disability benefits for city workers. **What the Court Decided** The appellate court sided with Leary and overturned the board's decision. The court ruled that slipping on wet stairs absolutely counts as an accident under the law governing disability retirement benefits. The court sent the case back to the retirement system board to reconsider Leary's application with this clarification in mind. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling is important because it clarifies that workplace slip-and-fall incidents qualify as accidents for disability benefit purposes. Many workers might worry that common workplace injuries like slipping on wet surfaces wouldn't be covered, but this decision confirms they can be. If you're a public employee who gets injured in a similar accident at work, this case shows that retirement systems cannot automatically dismiss slip-and-fall injuries when evaluating disability benefit claims.