Court enforces 2-yr leave for assaulted RN

By SHERRY HALBROOK
In May, a state Supreme Court judge ruled a PEF nurse who had been injured by a patient is entitled to a second year of leave to recover.
PEF argued that Debra Walker, a nurse at the state University of New York’s Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, was entitled to the additional leave under a 2003 amendment to state Civil Service Law which added the second year of recovery time for public employees assaulted on the job.

“I actually found out about the amendment in an e-mail newsletter from PEF on the same day I got my termination letter from SUNY,” Walker said. “So, it was a very good thing for me. When I contacted the hospital’s human resources staff, they said they were unaware the law had been amended.”

“It’s good to know our members are benefiting from this legislation,” said PEF Legislative Director Brian Curran. “We originally proposed broader legislation that would have affected all employees under Civil Service Law who are injured on the job. That legislation passed in 2001 and in 2002, but was vetoed by the governor. The Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employees, came up with the idea of narrowing the bill to apply just to workers injured by assault, and PEF worked with the TWU to get it enacted last year.”

Curran said PEF and other public-employee unions are still pushing bills to benefit all injured civil servants, including S.6416/A.10216.
“Clearly, some employees who are seriously injured may need more than a year to heal and get well enough to return to work,” Curran said. “Employers should appreciate their sacrifice. They should not lose their jobs as well as their health.”

Walker, who had a third surgery to her shoulder in May, said she is hopeful of making a good recovery this time and returning to work. 
“I’ve been injured on the job before, but it wasn’t this seriously,” she said.

She was in the Onondaga County courtroom when Judge William Roy ruled in her favor from the bench, saying the state failed to produce enough evidence to support its contention that her injury was simply work-related and not the result of an assault.

“I was very surprised to hear the judge issue his decision right after hearing the oral arguments in the case,” Walker said.

PEF associate counsel Edward Aluck argued that Walker was injured by a violent patient on the SUNY psychiatric unit. The patient has been charged with assault in this incident, which occurred when he tried to break out of the unit’s “time-out” room and push past Walker and another nurse who were stationed at the door to bar his exit.