Donkey-Wrangling-Related Heart Attack Yields Workers’ Comp. Benefits for N.Y. Carpenter

Case File

A New York carpenter helped his boss wrangle a donkey into a shed and then had a heart attack. Because it was related to the carpenter's job and the employer missed the deadline to argue that no employer-employee relationship existed, App. Div. ruled in the worker's favor.

Case

Matter of Mulligan v. Moy Construction Corp., No. CV-25-0231 (N.Y. App. Div. 10/08/26)

What Happened?

A carpenter was asked to work on a shed containing animals at the residence of his employer's owner. When the carpenter arrived, the owner's spouse, who was vice president of the employer, asked the carpenter to help him get a donkey that had gotten loose into the shed.

They were able to force the donkey into the shed, but while the carpenter unloaded his tools from his vehicle, the carpenter began experiencing chest pains, lightheartedness, and vomiting. He went to the hospital, where it was determined that he had suffered a heart attack.

The carpenter filed a claim for workers' compensation benefits, alleging that he suffered the heart attack as a result of work-related physical strain.

The Workers' Compensation Law Judge found that the carrier had filed a notice of controversy beyond the 25 days of the mailing of the notice that the matter had been indexed as required by Workers' Compensation Law § 25(2)(b).

As a result, the WCLJ barred the carrier from pleading that no employer-employee relationship existed, that no accident occurred, and that there was no injury arising out of and in the course of employment.

Nonetheless, the WCLJ found that the carpenter had not demonstrated a work-related injury, noting that the carpenter had not produced the emergency room records, and disallowed the claim.

The carpenter appealed to the Workers' Compensation Board, arguing that the emergency records were in the case file. The Board modified the WCLJ's decision, affirming the finding that the carrier had filed an untimely notice of controversy but finding a causal relationship between the heart attack and the carpenter's employment.

The carrier appealed to Appellate Division.

Rule of Law

In New York, a carrier's failure to timely file a notice of controversy requires the Board to determine, without regard to the carrier's proof, whether the claimant demonstrated that the injury was work-related and prohibits a carrier from offering testimony to dispute claimant's evidence on causation. To establish a claim for benefits, a claimant most show by competent medical evidence that a causal connection existed between his injuries and his employment.

What Appellate Division Said

Upholding the Board's decision, Appellate Division highlighted:

(1) The carpenter testified that after they initially got the donkey into the shed, the donkey tried to break out again.

(2) The carpenter grabbed the donkey to keep it in the shed and testified that he "overexaggerated" and "over accelerated" himself with that effort.

(3) The carpenter's emergency room records indicate that he reported feeling chest tightness "while exerting himself at work," and he was diagnosed with having suffered a heart attack.

(4) The carpenter's treating physician opined that the heart attack was causally related to his overexertion at work when dealing with the donkey.

"As the Board's decision was based upon its assessment of witness credibility, of which it is the sole arbiter, we discern no basis upon which to disturb its factual finding that there was sufficient, unrebutted and credible medical evidence to support a finding of causal relationship," Appellate Division wrote.

Verdict: Appellate Division affirmed the Board's ruling.

Takeaway

When a New York carrier's contention that a claimant was not covered under its workers' compensation policy isn't raised before the WCLJ or the Board, it will not be able to raise the argument before Appellate Division.

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