Governor Hochul Signs Landmark Diesel Cancer Legislation

Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law a landmark bill that would allow a family to file for death benefits through Workers Compensation for a diesel exhaust related illness.

The bill especially impacts the families of retirees, who for years have filed for death benefits due to diesel exposure through Workers Compensation only to be routinely rejected. That all changed in 2014, when Dorota Nigro, won a breakthrough lawsuit for Workers Compensation benefits after her husband, Anthony Nigro, a MaBSTOA Bus Maintainer, died of lung cancer a few months after he retired in 2012.  

This legislation recognizes the causal effects of diesel exhaust in cancer and lung related illnesses.  It allows families whose claims were rejected in past years to re-file for benefits, and of course, it provides an easier path for claims in the future.

Now, thanks to this legislative victory, a grieving family will be able to seek financial justice for the loss of their loved one. The bill, sponsored in the NYS Senate by James Sanders (D-Queens), and in the Assembly by Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Brooklyn), and is named for Anthony Nigro.