Oden v. Chemung County Industrial Development Agency
Court of Appeals of New York
661 N.E.2d 142 (1995)
Oden (plaintiff), a 48-year-old ironworker, was injured by a falling steel column and sued Chemung County Industrial Development Agency (defendant); the jury awarded him $66,000 for lost pension benefits and $80,000 for future lost earnings, but the trial court reduced the combined $146,000 award by $141,330, the value of disability retirement benefits Oden was expected to receive, under New York's collateral-source-offset statute. The Appellate Division modified the judgment by reinstating the $80,000 future-lost-earnings award, and Chemung appealed.
Whether a personal injury award for future lost earnings must be offset by disability retirement benefits under New York's collateral-source rule, or whether that offset applies only to the specific type of damages the collateral payment directly replaces.