Benefits Fund

It used to infuriate me when a question came up at the pension board meeting and I would see the city’s lawyers — the corporation counsel who then interpreted pension issues — look towards the city’s representatives on the board to figure out what they wanted the answer to be. It made me wonder how it was set up for the city to have such an edge in pension matters.

Navigating the Disability Process

One of the most frequently asked questions I get from members is about disability retirements and how the process works. Here’s a thumbnail description and an idea of the type of fights we face at the pension board:

The first step towards a disability pension is for the case to go before the medical board where a team of doctors determines if the degree of the medical problem prohibits the officer from performing his or her duties. Once a majority of the panel — two out of three doctors — agrees that the medical problem is not temporary and prevents full-duty work, the medical board will make a recommendation to the pension board to retire the officer on a disability.

The pension board is comprised of 12 members whose primary job is to determine if the circumstances of the injury are incidental or accidental. Each member does not, however, have an equal vote. The mayor, city comptroller, finance commissioner and police commissioner have one and a half votes each. The PBA has a total of four votes cast by the president, two vice presidents and whichever board member serves as chairman of the board. Each police union (DEA, SBA, LBA and CEA) has one-half vote each. That’s 12 votes in all.

Stakes are high in these cases. An incidental injury will net a taxable 50 percent pension and the accidental injury provides a non-taxable 75 percent pension. Because of the difference between the benefit provided between ordinary and accidental disability, the cases are serious and the discussions long and weighty, involving case law and past practices. One example:

Not long ago, an officer assigned to keep bus stops open was injured getting out of an RMP to write up a car standing in a bus stop. Members of the board felt that this injury was incidental to the officer’s work and deserved a taxable half-pay pension. I strongly disagreed and argued that, based on the department’s training, this incident was like a car stop. My rationale was that the officer was required to keep the driver in sight as he approached the vehicle, according to the department’s training for issuing a summons to a standing vehicle. After all, this could be a getaway car, the driver could be armed or decide to hit the gas to escape the police action. So the officer wasn’t able to check his footing getting out of the RMP because he had to keep a visual on the driver.

In the end, the board agreed that this was, in fact, a car stop and therefore the injury was accidental. The officer was granted a three-quarters-pay non-taxable pension for the rest of his life.

Today, the PBA has a group of professionals who concentrate on pension issues on behalf of our members. I serve on the board on behalf of the PBA president. Joe Maccone, former commanding officer of the NYPD pension section, advises our members on their benefits and how to get the most out of the system. Attorney Karen Pakstis of our legal department argues all the disability cases. And Angelo Grande serves as the PBA’s disability retirement counselor out at Leffrak City.

Together, we work hard and smart to see that our members get everything they’re entitled to from the system. —Joseph Alejandro

One day, the department began telling former New York City Transit and Housing police officers that their previous city and state time didn’t count towards their post-merger retirement. And that they were not entitled to buy back previous child-care leave or other retirement systems’ time like their fellow officers could. These decisions were based on an interpretation by the city’s Corporation Counsel, and that didn’t seem right.

Then, along came a police officer by the name of Nick Nafpliotis who, with 19 years on the job, couldn’t wait to pack it in and head to Florida. He wanted to take his family, buy a new home and start a new career in real estate. For Nick, the World Trade Center attack was the final straw. Having researched Chapter 646 in Albany, Nick was convinced that his prior service as a state corrections officer should count towards his NYPD service time. Calling it “a big gamble on my part,” he took the bold step of filing for retirement and moving his family to Florida.

But the Corporation Counsel advised the pension section that his previous service time didn’t count and that he would have to vest his retirement; the pension section agreed. That not only meant a smaller pension but also no VSF. Nick was angry and came to the PBA for help.

PBA pension consultant Joe Maccone, general counsel Mike Murray and I took a look at the language of the law. It seemed apparent to us that the corporation counsel had only an advisory function with the pension board and that the city’s Law Department was inappropriately making decisions for the board. Murray and the PBA legal team picked up the gauntlet and mounted a legal challenge of the city’s interpretation.

It took eighteen months of legal wrangling and two visits to the State Supreme Court to obtain a settlement from the city that will benefit an estimated 10,000 members in their retirement eligibility. Regarding the interpretation of pension laws and rules, the court ruled that “neither Corporation Counsel nor the Police Department are authorized to determine such matters” and that the Police Pension Board — where the police unions hold six of the board’s 12 votes — must make those decisions.

Nobody was happier with the decision than Nick Nafpliotis, who was now eligible for a full service pension and the VSF.

“This lawsuit meant everything to me and my family,” Nick said. “I had put everything on the line and was ready to stick up for what I believed in and take the risk. I hope the younger PBA members know what a good team they have in Pat Lynch and general counsel Mike Murray, who grabbed onto this issue and won it for me and all the cops who had prior service time.”

And Nick isn’t alone in his gratitude for the union’s work.

Police Officer Charles Jamerson had been a state corrections officer for 5-plus years before joining the Transit Police Department. After 18 years on this job, he was facing an ordinary disability, the prospect of having his income restricted for 18 months and the loss of the VSF. The PBA’s pension victory gave him a full 24 years of service, his full service pension and the VSF.

This PBA victory had a dramatic and long-term impact on the Jamerson family. Charles told us that it was particularly important to him to have the additional income in retirement because his wife is a cancer survivor and unable to work. “The PBA and its lawyers did a great job for me and my family and I am very grateful,” he said.

There are dozens of stories like these out there and you can probably find one or two in your command. Nick Nafpliotis and Charles Jamerson are very appreciative of the support the PBA gave them — but, hey, that’s what we’re elected to do.

By the way, Nick Nafpliotis’ dream of moving to Florida and helping his brother and sister police officers find the fountain of youth there has come true. If you’re interested in real estate in Florida, now heavily populated by retired NYPD cops, you can telephone Nick at 1-866 FLA-MOVE or check his website at www.move2florida.net . And tell him to save a spot for me!