| Matter of El Hassanein v Yankee Stop Corp. |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 05658 [64 AD3d 824] |
| July 2, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| In the Matter of the Claim of Reda El Hassanein, Appellant, vYankee Stop Corporation, Respondent, et al., Respondent. Workers' Compensation Board,Respondent. |
—[*1] Paul D. Jaffe, White Plains, for Yankee Stop Corporation, respondent.
Lahtinen, J. Appeal from a decision of the Workers' Compensation Board, filed July 3, 2008,which ruled that claimant was not an employee of Yankee Stop Corporation and denied his claimfor workers' compensation benefits.
Claimant alleged that he worked at a delicatessen operated by Yankee Stop Corporation andwas injured while attempting to move a steam table on January 23, 2005. Claimant thereafterapplied for workers' compensation benefits, which were denied by a Workers' CompensationLaw Judge (hereinafter WCLJ) on the ground that claimant was not working for Yankee. Onappeal, the Workers' Compensation Board reopened the record to allow for the submission offurther evidence, following which the WCLJ again found that no employer-employeerelationship existed. The Board affirmed that decision and claimant now appeals.
We affirm. Whether an employer-employee relationship exists is a factual issue for theBoard and its determination will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence (see Matter of [*2]Jara v SMJ Envtl., Inc., 55 AD3d 1157, 1158 [2008]; Matter of Jin Liu v Tak Chan Yeung,15 AD3d 752, 752 [2005]). In this case, two of Yankee's owners testified that claimant didnot work for it. Indeed, one of the owners testified that he did not know claimant and had onlyseen him in connection with legal proceedings. Although claimant and others testified thatclaimant did work for Yankee, the Board was free to credit the owners' testimony and we declineto disturb its decision (see Matter of Jin Liu v Tak Chan Yeung, 15 AD3d at 752).
Lastly, nothing in the record substantiates claimant's assertion that the WCLJ who decidedhis case was biased against him.
Cardona, P.J., Mercure, Malone Jr. and Stein, JJ., concur. Ordered that the decision isaffirmed, without costs.