RETIREMENT DISPUTE NEEDED TO BE FILED WITHIN 4 MONTHS
After she was placed on the wrong early-retirement program when she retired on April 21, 2019, SDM sued the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, seeking declaratory judgment and monetary damages.
But the Kings County Supreme Court later granted the Retirement System’s motion to dismiss her case because it had been filed too late, in violation of the governing “statute of limitations.”
Apparently, by letter issued on August 7, 2019, SDM was informed of the agency’s error and was offered the option of returning to service for 10 months so that she would then qualify for a 25-year early retirement. While she accepted that offer, it wasn’t until October 2021 that she filed her lawsuit seeking “retirement benefits for the period from April 21, 2019, to the date that she returned to service or, in the alternative, to recover damages for breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, and negligence.”
On its review, the Appellate Division, Second Department, was of the view that since the crux of her dispute arose from the August 7, 2019 determination by an administrative agency, (i.e., the Retirement System), SDM was limited to a four-month period to file a special proceeding (pursuant to CPLR Article 78). Given that she didn’t timely bring the correct kind of case, the AD2 affirmed the underlying dismissal determination.
The poor woman retired too early and brought the case too late ….
Is her time finally up?
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DECISION