the law office of dennis p. ryan

Frequently Asked Questions For DSNY Employees

Our firm has a strong connection and affinity to New York City Department of Sanitation. The Managing Partner of the firm has many family and friends that had worked and still working for DSNY that spans over decades, since the 1980s. We are very familiar with the dangerous environments and injuries Sanitation workers face on a daily basis.

We have represented many Sanitation employees from Local 831 and Local 444 in cases such as falls in the garage, falls on sidewalks, car/truck accidents, unsafe work equipment, unsafe work environment, exposure to dangerous substances and workers who became sick while working at Ground Zero and other type of injuries.

Q. I was hurt on the job, can I bring a claim against the City?

DSNY workers can sue the City of New York if they are injured on the job due to the fault of the City. Anyone who wants to bring a claim against the City or the State of New York needs to file a Notice of Claim within 90 days of their accident. If you are injured, you should speak with an attorney right away to file the claim.

Q. The City is paying for my medical treatment and my base salary while I am out on LODI, should I still file a lawsuit?

The City may be paying your base salary while you are out of work but you will still lose out on Premium Pay which includes Chart Money, Overtime Money, Sunday Pay and Truck Money. Depending on what year you are in your career, this could also affect the amount of the Pension that you receive. The Clinic may also be authorizing your medical treatment now but that may change in the future.

Moreover, we have represented clients that needed more medical care but were denied additional treatments and their medical bills were no longer covered. They were told to use their own insurance to treat injuries they had sustained from work. This could result in additional co-pays and out-of-pockets expenses. Therefore, it is best to contact an attorney to help recover money for your pain and suffering, lost wages and medical bills, even if they are currently being covered.

Q. I was hurt on the job, can I bring a claim against a civilian?

DSNY workers can sue civilians who injured them in car accidents, trip and falls and other types of injuries.

Q. I was involved in a LODI that happened more than 90 days ago, can I still bring a claim against the City of New York?

Anyone who wants to file a claim against the City is supposed to notify with the City within 90 days. However, our office has helped several workers who have contacted us after 90 days. If it has been more than 90 days since your accident, you should contact our office immediately.

Q. Will I get in trouble at my job if I file a lawsuit?

No. The City cannot punish you for bringing a claim for injuries that you suffered while you were on the job. We have represented many injured workers who have returned to work while their cases were still pending. They did not get in trouble for filing a lawsuit.

Please contact our office if you have any other questions that were not addressed in this section. If you have some time, please also take a look at the Safe Sidewalk and Street Project. As we had mentioned, lawsuits that involve broken sidewalks are difficult to bring against the City. This could be the biggest disadvantage for workers and Supervisors in Sanitation. We started this project to prevent injuries from happening.

You can go to our general FAQ section for accidents and injuries not relating to work.

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recent results

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recent results |

  • The Law Office of Dennis P. Ryan was able to win an important motion to allow a Department of Sanitation Supervisor to bring a Personal Injury Claim against the City of New York. Anyone who plans to sue a municipality in the State of New York, must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days of the date of the accident. A New York City Sanitation Supervisor recently contacted our law firm 5 months after the accident, and more than 2 months after the Notice of Deadline had passed. Our office was successfully able to convince the Court that our client's claim fell under an exception and should be allowed to proceed. Our client is now likely going to be able to receive money for his pain pain and suffering and lost wages.

  • Our client was a Sanitation Worker who was hit by a car while he was servicing his route. He suffered an ankle injury that required him to go for Physical Therapy for 1-2 months. Even though he did not need any injections or surgery, we were able to convince the insurance company to offer the full amount of its $25,000 to settle the case. We were able to achieve this settlement before our client needed to appear for a deposition.

  • Our client was a Sanitation Worker who was hit by a car while he was servicing his route. He had to have a shoulder surgery and missed several months of work, losing Chart Money, Truck Money and Overtime Money. We filed a lawsuit on his behalf in Kings County (Brooklyn). Our office was able to settle case for the full amount of the driver's Insurance Policy. We were able to achieve this settlement before our client needed to appear for a deposition.

  • Our office was able to settle a case for the full amount of Insurance Policy for Pedestrian who tripped and fell on sidewalk in Nassau County. This was a tough case in a tough venue for Plaintiff's attorneys. Our client had contacted 2 previous law firms who declined her case because they thought it would be too difficult to obtain a settlement. Our office was not only able to settle the case but we were able to persuade the insurance company to offer the full amount of its insurance policy to settle the case.

  • Our office was able to obtain a settlement for $95,000 (out of a total of $100,000) for a Sanitation Supervisor who hurt his ankle in a car crash. The insurance company for the other driver made several motions to the court asking the Judge to dismiss the case. We were able to defeat each of these motions and eventually settle the case for $95,000. This was more than 3 times the initial settlement offer that the insurance company made.

  • Our client fell on a broken sidewalk in the Bronx in front of a 1 family house. We brought a lawsuit against the City of New York and the insurance company for the homeowner. Our client aggravated injuries to his ankle that he had suffered years ago while playing sports. The Insurance Company made a Motion to the Court asking to dismiss our case. We were able to defeat this Motion and we were eventually able to settle this case against the City of New York and the Insurance Company for a total of $75,000.

  • Our office was able to obtain a settlement of $97,500 out of a possible $100,000 in available insurance coverage for a Car Crash that happened in New Jersey. Our client was involved in a 2 car crash. She had a stop sign and the other driver did not have a stop sign. For that reason, the insurance company claimed that the crash was completely the fault of our client. Our firm hired investigators who canvassed the scene for witnesses, photos and videos of the crash. We were able to prove that the other driver was driving too fast for the intersection and was also at fault for the crash.

  • Our office was able to obtain a settlement of $170,000 for a woman who slipped and fell on ice on the stairs of the house that she rented an apartment at. Her landlord's insurance company argued that the landlord had done everything it could to prevent our client's fall. We were able to prove that the landlord had not properly shoveled and salted the steps before our client's fall.

  • Our Office settled a case for a Sanitation Worker who tripped and fell on uneven pavement inside his Sanitation Garage and hurt his ankle. The Worker had several prior Line of Duty Injuries (LODIs) where he had also hurt his ankle. Our office was able to prove that this LODI aggravated the old injuries and made the injuries worse.