Injured Super Awarded Workers' Comp Benefits

Building super was injured by an electrical fire while trying to repair a circuit breaker in an apartment in landlord's building. The circuit breaker exploded while the super was trying to fix it during a power outage. The super got workers' compensation benefits. The super then sued landlords, a married couple, for damages. Landlords claimed that the super had already gotten benefits and financial assistance from workers' comp. The trial court allowed super's case to go forward. Landlords appealed, and the appeals court ruled for landlords and dismissed the case. The Workers' Compensation Board named only landlord husband in its proceeding. But the husband was clearly the wife's agent in this capacity, and they owned the building jointly. The super was barred from suing landlords under the workers' compensation law.

Seudath v. Mott: NYLJ, p. 33, col. 3 (4/4/94) (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Rosenblatt, JP, Lawrence, Altman, Goldstein, JJ)