Mark Hirschbeck, a former Major League Baseball umpire ultimately sidelined following a hip replacement and subsequent complications, lost his bid to receive continuing workers’ compensation benefits before the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.
Hirschbeck retired part-way into the 2003 season when it was determined that he needed a hip replacement as a result of a 2002 injury. He received benefits through the New York workers’ compensation system and was subsequently deemed permanently partially disabled. Hirschbeck commenced a separate action alleging medical malpractice and products liability theories outside of the workers’ compensation system. That matter was ultimately settled in 2011 for $3.2 million dollars. The workers’ compensation carrier suspended payments following the settlement, asserting that it had reserved a right to a dollar-for-dollar offset from the settlement.
Hirschbeck appealed, however, the Third Department affirmed the decision permitting the carrier to suspend payments. Of note, the Court found that a 2007 agreement between the parties included language sufficient to demonstrate the carrier’s intent to obtain a credit against all future awards from a third-party party settlement.
For more, see Hirschbeck v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Major League Baseball, et al., 2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6625; 2015 NY Slip Op 06740 (September 3, 2015).