The New York Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled that a lower appeals court wrongly determined that a first-year resident at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital who was shot and injured by a disgruntled former hospital employee was not covered by workers compensation.
Justin Timperio was working on a nonpublic floor of the hospital in June 2017 when he was shot by Henry Bello, a former hospital worker who carried out a workplace shooting using an AR-15 rifle. Mr. Bello also killed one doctor and wounded four other employees, before killing himself.
Mr. Timperio sought workers comp benefits for his injuries and also filed a negligence lawsuit against the hospital and the store where the rifle was purchased.
The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division determined that there was a lack of evidence establishing an “employment-related animus” in the shooting, and it ruled that the workers comp claim was not compensable.
In reversing the appellate division, the Court of Appeals found that the injury should have been presumed to be compensable, since the workplace shooting occurred during the course of Mr. Timperio’s job.
The appellate division had overturned a Workers’ Compensation Board decision that found the claim to be compensable, and the appeals court reinstated the board’s compensability determination.