A state appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a private attorney’s claim that he is due benefits based on his service to the Town of Oyster Bay and to the Bethpage Water District on Long Island. The Appellate Division, Third Department, ruled that Albany Supreme Court Justice Roger D. McDonough (See Profile) was correct in finding that Mineola attorney Anthony J. Sabino had not exhausted his administrative appeals in pursuing his claim that he was unfairly denied benefits under rules promulgated by the state comptroller in 2008. The rules prohibit private employees from qualifying for public benefits while they are also working part time for government entities (NYLJ, May 16, 2008).
The appeals panel ruled in Matter of Sabino v. DiNapoli, 512424, that an issue about Anthony J. Sabino’s qualifications to receive state benefits must be resolved administratively before his case can be heard by the courts. “A factual issue remains as to whether the [2008] regulation represents a meaningful and substantial change in the policy of the Retirement System or was merely the codification of existing policy,” the court held in a ruling by Justice Leslie E. Stein (See Profile). She was joined by Justices Thomas E. Mercure (See Profile), Karen K. Peters (See Profile), Bernard J. Malone Jr. (See Profile), and E. Michael Kavanagh Jr. (See Profile)
