NY Worker’s Failure to Disclose Religious Activity Does Not Bar Her Receipt of Benefits
An injured worker’s unpaid religious activity within a small church, which included providing occasional sermons, counseling a small group of parishioners, assisting with Bible studies and baptisms, and the like, was not the sort of “volunteer activities” that would contradict her written statements in periodic questionnaires in which she indicated she had not engaged in any work or volunteer work during a four-year period, held a New York appellate court [Matter of Roberts v. Eastman Kodak Co., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3795 (3d Dept. July 2, 2020)]. Accordingly, a determination by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board that the worker had not violated N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a, by knowingly making a false statement or representation for the purpose of obtaining workers’ compensation benefits, was supported by substantial evidence.
Background
The claimant, who performed building services work for the employer, injured her back in 1989, while pulling bags of garbage from a dumpster. Her claim for workers’ compensation benefits was established for a lumbosacral strain, and she was ultimately classified with a permanent partial disability and received continuing benefits. In November 2017, the self-insured employer and its third-party administrator requested a hearing to present evidence of claimant’s violation of N.Y. Workers’ Comp. Law § 114-a.
At the hearing, the employer produced, among other evidence, video surveillance footage depicting claimant performing religious activity as a church pastor notwithstanding her prior representations that she was not engaged in any volunteer work. The WCLJ found insufficient evidence that claimant had violated § 114-a, and directed the employer to continue weekly disability payments. The Board affirmed, crediting claimant’s testimony that she did not consider her church activity to constitute work or volunteer work and that said activity was more akin to spiritual worship than reportable volunteer work for purposes of workers’ compensation benefits.
Appellate Court Agrees With Board
The appellate court noted that the Board was the sole arbiter of witness credibility, and its determination that a worker had not violated § 114-a would not be overturned without substantial evidence. The court acknowledged that claimant had signed questionnaires stating that she had not done any work or volunteer work during 2013, 2014, 2015. It also acknowledged the introduction of video surveillance footage showing claimant engaged in religious worship by singing, offering a sermon, and leading prayer within a small intimate setting.
The court also noted that claimant had freely acknowledged her activity within her church, although she also stated she received no income from the church. Claimant also testified that she did not consider her involvement at church, which she characterized as “spiritual advancement,” to be work or volunteer work and that she did not think her religious activity had to be reported to the employer for purposes of workers’ compensation benefits.
The appellate court noted that the Board credited claimant’s testimony and found that claimant had engaged in minimal activity for a small church community and that such activity was more akin to religious worship and the practice of her faith as an active member of her religious community. The Board was well within its power to find that there had been no misrepresentation that would violate § 114-a.