In a widely watched case, the New York Appellate Division has rejected a claim by a law professor at Cardozo Law School in New York that days he worked at home in Connecticut during the COVID-19 lockdown should not be treated as New York workdays. Edward A. Zelinsky et al. v. Comm’r of Taxation & Fin., et al., CV-25-1156 (N.Y. App. Div. July 2, 2026). In doing so, the Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the Tax Department’s application of the New York “convenience of the employer” rule, the same outcome reached by the New York Court of Appeals on Professor Zelinsky’s constitutional challenge nearly 25 years ago in Matter of Zelinsky v. Tax Appeals Trib., 1 NY 3d 85 (2003), cert denied 541 US 1009 (2004) (“Zelinsky I”).
Background: Under the long-standing New York “convenience of the employer” rule, where a nonresident employee performs services both within and outside New York, the employee’s out-of-state workdays are treated as New York workdays—requiring inclusion in… Read the complete article here...
© 2026 Blank Rome LLP
