Court of Appeals Holds Firefighter Rule Requires Dismissal of Action
The “firefighter rule” bars police officers and firefighters from recovery in “common-law negligence for line-of-duty injuries resulting from risks associated with the particular dangers inherent in that type of employment.” Zanghi v. Niagara Frontier Transp. Comn., 85 N.Y.2d 423, 436 (1995).
In Wadler v. City of New York, et al., 2010 Slip Op. 01373 (Feb. 18, 2010), plaintiff police officer was injured as he was entering his place of work at the New York City Police Headquarters in Manhattan. The parking lot to this facility is protected by an unusual kind of gate, designed to thwart car bombs and similar acts of terrorism. The gate can be retracted into the ground to allow entry to the lot, but, if necessary, the gate can be raised automatically to stop an entering vehicle, with enough force to lift a car off the ground. In the Wadler case, the gate worked as it was designed to do. The driver of the car, however, was not a terrorist but plaintiff police officer. Plaintiff showed his credentials and was allowed access into the lot. The barrier was lower but then, it was accidentally raised again while plaintiff was driving over it, causing plaintiff injury.
The Court, in affirming the dismissal of this action, determined that the cause of the injury to plaintiff was plainly a risk “associated with the particular dangers inherent” in police work.
