Oden v. Chemung County Industrial Development Agency

661 N.E.2d 142 (N.Y 1995)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Oden (P), a 48-year-old ironworker, was injured when he was struck by a falling steel column that was apparently dislodged by a small hydraulic crane. P sued the owner of the crane, the crane operator, the contract agency that provided the crane operator and the owner and lessee of the work site, alleging various Labor Law and common-law causes of action. Chemung (D), et al, subsequently asserted cross-claims against each other, as well as third-party claims against Streeter Associates, P's employer. P was awarded damages as follows: $5,752.75 for past medical expenses, $20,000 for pain and suffering, $27,550 for lost past earnings, $66,000 for lost pension benefits and $80,000 for future lost earning and health and welfare benefits. The court ordered that the total award for future economic loss ($146,000) be reduced by the $141,330, the value of the disability retirements benefits that P expected to receive over his lifetime. The Appellate Division modified by restoring the full amount of the $80,000 award for future lost earnings and benefits and adjusting the total damages award upward accordingly. The court held that 'where a jury award for a discrete category of economic loss is wholly satisfied and exceeded by a collateral source of the very same category, operates only to eliminate the jury award for that category.' Only the award for lost pension benefits was sufficiently related to the collateral disability retirement benefits to qualify for the offset permitted by CPLR 4545(c). Third-party defendant Streeter has appealed.