New York: Failure to Disclose "Religious Activity" Was Not a Violation of § 114-a

A decision by the New York Workers' Compensation Board that an injured worker had not violated N.Y. Workers' Comp. Law § 114-a, by failing to disclose her religious activity in her church -- preaching occasional sermons, counseling a small group of parishioners, assisting with Bible studies and baptisms was affirmed by a state appellate court. Such activities, agreed the court, were not the sort of volunteer activities contemplated by § 114-a which, if undisclosed, might support disqualification from further workers' compensation benefits. The injured worker had completed paperwork with the Board in which she indicated she had not engaged in any work or volunteer work during a four-year period. The employer contended her activities at the church were inconsistent with her status as a disabled worker. The appellate court disagreed. The court noted the worker received no income from the church. The worker was practicing her faith as an active member of a religious community; she was not in violation of § 114-a.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Matter of Roberts v. Eastman Kodak Co., 2020 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3795 (3d Dept. July 2, 2020)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 39.03.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law

For a more detailed discussion of the case, see

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