A New York appeals court on Thursday reopened a Manhattan court officer’s workers’ compensation claim that said he pitched in with rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts from the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Following the compensation board’s rejection of the claim in June 2021, the Appellate Division, Third Department acknowledged that the officer, at a minimum, had a “tangible connection” in helping evacuate the court building near the World Trade Center. The court said “the liberal construction afforded to Workers’ Compensation Law article 8-A” led to its determination.