RAMOS v. County of Westchester, nonparty-appellant. (2009)

In an action to recover damages for personal injuries, nonparty County of Westchester appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Lefkowitz, J.), entered September 11, 2007, as granted those branches of the plaintiff's motion which were to vacate its “assertion of a lien” on certain settlement proceeds, and its suspension of the plaintiff's benefits.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

 The Supreme Court properly vacated the nonparty County of Westchester's “assertion of a lien” on the proceeds of a settlement of this personal injury action between the plaintiff and the defendants.   Contrary to the County's contention, its exclusive remedy to recover moneys paid to the plaintiff pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-c was a direct action against the tortfeasor, and not a lien on the plaintiff's recovery (see City of Buffalo v. Maggio, 21 N.Y.2d 1017, 291 N.Y.S.2d 1, 238 N.E.2d 494;  Musgrove v. American Protection Ins. Co., 32 A.D.3d 916, 823 N.Y.S.2d 165;  Foy v. Florczuk, 51 A.D.2d 534, 377 N.Y.S.2d 643).   The Supreme Court also properly vacated the County's suspension of the plaintiff's benefits without affording him a hearing because the right of a disabled officer to receive disability payments pursuant to General Municipal Law § 207-c constitutes “a property interest giving rise to procedural due process protection, under the Fourteenth Amendment, before those payments are terminated” (Matter of Park v. Kapica, 8 N.Y.3d 302, 310, 832 N.Y.S.2d 885, 864 N.E.2d 1284).