Overview

The Board keeps a verbatim record of hearings and proceedings. Only the verbatim record kept by the Board is the official record. Any transcripts parties may choose to produce from the audio recordings of hearings are not an official record and will not be considered by the Board. Do not submit transcripts prepared by a party or its legal representative to the Board, as they will be deleted.

Eligibility

Requests for DARs can be made by a:

• Party of Interest in the requested case,
• a party deemed by the Board to be entitled to access under WCL § 110-a(2), or
• a party named in a WCL § 110-a(3) compliant authorization.

DAR Requests

Requests for Digital Audio Recordings (DAR) can be made by emailing DARMinutes@wcb.ny.gov.

• For your request to be processed, you must be an eligible party and provide the required information.
• The Board does not transcribe audio recordings of hearings upon the request of any party, legal representative, or other person with appropriate authorization to receive records and information regarding a workers' compensation claim.
• While the Board tries to respond to requests within 24 business hours of the request, it can take up to 48 or 72 business hours. Requests are handled in the order that they are received. If you have not received a response, please do not send a duplicate request.
• All requests for the same claimant should be sent in one email.

Required Information

DAR

In order to properly identify the DAR that is the subject of the request, the following information is required:

• Claimant name
• WCB case number
• Hearing date

Requester

All requesters must be authenticated by Board personnel prior to receiving DAR access by providing information sufficient to identify them as a party of interest. The following is required:

• Name
• Firm name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Relationship to the claim
• Email address where the audio recording is to be sent
• Last 4 digits of Claimant's Social Security number
• Carrier case number
• Date of injury

For attorneys requesting access, include:

• R number
• Date of retainer

For attorneys from the law firm that represents the insurer, include:

• Name of the attorney who appeared at the hearing for the law firm

If the requester is not the claimant, employer, insurer or legal representative of a party:

• Submit a WCL § 110-a(3) compliant authorization to the Board by mail. If you have already submitted this authorization, include the date your WCL § 110-a(3) compliant authorization was mailed to the Board?

Software Requirements

DARs are transmitted via MoveIt secure email software.

Since March 2019, all hearings have been conducted by Virtual Hearing Center (VHC) and recordings are provided in MP3 format, which can be played on most devices.

If the DAR is in another format, Parties of Interest will be notified if they need to download the Free Liberty Court Player.