Appeals court rules nurse’s repetitive injuries may be compensable

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Thursday ruled a nurse’s repetitive injuries to her shoulder and knee could be compensable occupational injuries, reversing a 2024 decision by the Workers’ Compensation Board that determined she did not sustain a “causally-related accidental injury” that ultimately required two surgeries.

Marianna Badzio, who worked for the New York City Health & Hospitals Corp. for 14 years, had surgeries on her right knee and right shoulder in 2022 and did not return to work. She filed a claim for workers compensation benefits following the second surgery, “alleging that she had sustained causally-related injuries to her right shoulder, right knee and left wrist as a result of repetitive use of those body parts while performing her job duties,” according to Matter of Badzio v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp.

Following the submission of medical records and reports from her treating physicians, and a hearing at which only Ms. Badzio testified, a workers compensation law judge disallowed the claim, finding that she “did not meet her burden of establishing that her injuries were the result of an occupational disease” and that she had not shown “a unique feature of (her) employment” led to the claimed injuries.

The Workers’ Compensation Board affirmed.

On reversing, the appellate court wrote that under occupational disease case law, “a claimant must establish a recognizable link between his or her condition and a distinctive feature of his or her occupation through the submission of competent medical evidence,” and that the board “applied the incorrect standard” to her claim.

It remitted the case back to the board “to consider whether claimant established that she suffered a causally-related occupational disease to her right shoulder, right knee and left wrist.”