New York State Insurance Fund seeks to claw back workers' compensation payout from Long Island real estate company

The New York State Insurance Fund has filed a lawsuit aimed at forcing an Islandia-based real estate company to reimburse the agency for workers' compensation benefits it had paid to a worker injured at a construction site in 2022.

The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Nassau County on Aug. 29, states that the worker, Christopher Santoro of Suffolk “was seriously, severely and permanently injured" at a construction site along Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury overseen by the limited liability Islandia company, Exit 58 Islandia LLC, on Sept. 15, 2022.

Santoro, according to the lawsuit, was employed by Colson Communications Inc. of Ronkonkoma, which provided contractor-related services for Exit 58 Islandia, the general contractor on the project site, according to the lawsuit. 

Exit 58 Islandia's headquarters is listed under the name Staller Associates Realty Inc., an Islandia-based commercial real estate company, according to state Department of State business records. 

Santoro is listed as the New York State Insurance Fund's assignor in the case. Assignors are individuals or entities who transfer legal rights to another party, according to Investopedia. 

The suit did not specify how Santoro was injured but said the injuries “were caused through no fault of their own” and caused by negligence on the part of Staller. 

The fund alleged that Staller knew about “an elevated risk” of injury at the worksite but failed to provide “reasonable and adequate protection” to workers there.

The state insurance fund, which oversees and pays out workers’ compensation and disability insurance claims, stated in the lawsuit that Santoro was paid workers’ compensation for his injuries, including to cover medical expenses and wages, and that the fund “may be obliged to pay further sums in the future for compensation and medical treatment” given the severity of his injuries.

Officials with Staller Associates and the state insurance fund did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Colson did not respond to requests for comment.

Santoro could not be reached for comment.

Court documents did not list a dollar value for damages sought by the insurance fund. 

In workers' compensation cases, insurers, whether private or state run, have the right to sue third parties believed to be liable for a workplace accident or injury, said Jonathan Klee, managing partner at Klee Woolf Goldman & Filpi LLP in Mineola.

Klee, who handles workers' comp cases, said, “it’s not completely uncommon" for insurers to file a suit if they feel there is liability on the part of a third party. Ultimately, he said, suits like these are aimed at recouping funds paid out to injured workers who received workers' comp benefits.

"If they feel there is liability they are allowed to step into the shoes of a plaintiff and file a lawsuit," Klee said. "If there is any kind of recovery from the lawsuit, they will get paid out for what they paid on the workers’ comp claim and the claimant would typically be entitled to any monies that are left over.”

The New York State Insurance Fund is a not-for-profit agency and public insurance carrier that provides employers, regardless of industry or safety record, access to workers’ compensation, disability and Paid Family Leave insurance, according to its website.

The fund is a part of the state Labor Department and is separate from the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board.