| Matter of Ward v City of Long Beach |
| 2011 NY Slip Op 07067 [88 AD3d 734] |
| October 4, 2011 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| In the Matter of Brian Ward, Respondent, v City of LongBeach, Appellant. |
—[*1] Louis D. Stober, Jr., LLC, Garden City, N.Y., for respondent.
In a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, inter alia, to review a determination of the Cityof Long Beach dated September 16, 2008, which denied the petitioner's application forsupplemental wage benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a (2), the City ofLong Beach appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Palmieri, J.),entered December 16, 2009, which granted that branch of the petition which was to annul thedetermination and directed it to pay to the petitioner the subject benefits.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, with costs.
On October 17, 2003, the petitioner, a former lieutenant employed by the fire department ofthe City of Long Beach, allegedly sustained an injury to his left knee. On November 17, 2005,the petitioner's application for accidental disability retirement benefits pursuant to Retirementand Social Security Law § 363 was granted. Thereafter, the petitioner applied to the Cityfor supplemental wage benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a (2). The Citydenied that application. The petitioner commenced the instant proceeding pursuant to CPLRarticle 78, inter alia, to annul the determination denying his application for supplemental wagebenefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a (2). The Supreme Court granted thatbranch of the petition which was to annul the determination and directed the City to pay to thepetitioner the subject benefits. We affirm.[*2]
"Generally, in a CPLR article 78 proceeding, [courts]examine whether the action taken by the agency has a rational basis" and will overturn that actiononly "where it is 'taken without sound basis in reason' or 'regard to the facts,' " and, thus, isarbitrary and capricious (Matter ofWooley v New York State Dept. of Correctional Servs., 15 NY3d 275, 280 [2010],quoting Matter of Peckham vCalogero, 12 NY3d 424, 431 [2009]; see Matter of Pell v Board of Educ. of UnionFree School Dist. No. 1 of Towns of Scarsdale & Mamaroneck, Westchester County, 34NY2d 222, 232 [1974]; Matter ofIgnizio v City of New York, 85 AD3d 1171, 1174 [2011]; Matter of Deerpark Farms, LLC vAgricultural & Farmland Protection Bd. of Orange County, 70 AD3d 1037, 1038[2010]). Here, the Supreme Court correctly determined that the City's determination did not havea rational basis in the record and, thus, was arbitrary and capricious (see Matter of Fedorczakv Dolce, 202 AD2d 668, 669 [1994]). Accordingly, the Supreme Court properly granted thatbranch of the petition which was to annul the determination and directed the City to pay to thepetitioner the supplemental wage benefits pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-a (2).Rivera, J.P., Florio, Leventhal and Roman, JJ., concur.