07-13-11 SHONDA HAYES VS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE POLICE AND FIREMEN'S RETIREMENT SYSTEM A-2967-09T1
Petitioner, a former Trenton police officer, suffered a traumatic event and resulting mental health disability which would ordinarily entitle her to accidental disability benefits. The Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System found, however, that the disability arose, or "manifested" itself, four months shy of the five-year filing limit found in N.J.S.A. 43:16A-7. Since petitioner did not file for benefits until seven months after the expiration of the limit, the Board denied the application as untimely. We reverse, concluding that the disability did not manifest itself until petitioner was told by her employer, more than five years after the traumatic event, that she was permanently disabled. Therefore, her claim fell within the "delayed manifestation" exception to the five-year filing limit pursuant to In re Crimaldi, 396 N.J. Super. 599 (App. Div. 2007).
