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710 A.2d 408 (N.H. 05/19/1998)
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New Hampshire Supreme Court
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No. 96-455
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710 A.2d 4085/19/1998
Original
PETITION OF CATHERINE L. BARNEY
(New Hampshire Retirement System)
The petitioner, Catherine L. Barney, challenges the ruling of the Board of Trustees (board) of the New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) denying her membership reinstatement and leaving her ineligible to apply for disability retirement benefits. We affirm.
In October 1978, the petitioner began working at the New Hampshire State Prison as a corrections officer. Six months later, she enrolled in the NHRS as a Group II member and began making contributions. In November 1985, the petitioner slipped and fell at work, injuring her back and right leg. In late 1986, the State terminated her employment.
Facing financial difficulties, including bills for medical care and car repairs, and a loss of child support for her son, the petitioner withdrew her accumulated retirement contributions, totaling $24,133.37, from the NHRS in 1992. She read and signed an application for return of accumulated contributions, which stated:
I, Catherine L. Barney . . . hereby make application for the return of the amount of contributions heretofore made by me to the [NHRS], . . . together with the allowable interest credits thereon. In consideration of the return of such amount I hereby waive for myself, my heirs and assigns, and my beneficiary or beneficiaries, all my rights, title and interest in any and all funds under the care and control of the [board].
I understand that if I withdraw my contributions my membership is finally terminated thereby, and that if I thereafter return as an employee covered by the System, I must enter the System with the status of a new entrant with option to reinstate withdrawn contributions and interest for re-establishment of previous service.
I also understand that I may retain my membership in the [NHRS] provided I do not withdraw my contributions . . . . In 1993, believing that she was a member in service of the NHRS at the time of the withdrawal and would, therefore, have been eligible to apply for disability retirement benefits, the petitioner sought reinstatement of her membership in the NHRS, intending to buy back her withdrawn service credit. After multiple administrative denials, she appealed to the board, which denied her request. The board determined that she was not a member of the NHRS because she had withdrawn her contributions, and that she could only become a member again by obtaining employment recognized by RSA 100-A:3, I, at which point she could buy back withdrawn service credit. Following this decision, and the denial of her motion for rehearing, she sought a writ of certiorari from this court.
The petitioner argues that she is entitled to rescind the withdrawal of her retirement funds and secure reinstatement because: (1) the board abused its discretion in denying reinstatement; (2) the NHRS had a fiduciary duty to advise her of her eligibility for disability retirement benefits prior to allowing her to withdraw her contributions; and (3) her withdrawal constituted a unilateral mistake. " ur standard of review is whether the board acted illegally with respect to jurisdiction, authority or observance of the law, whereby it arrived at a Conclusion which [cannot] legally or reasonably be made, or abused its discretion or acted arbitrarily, unreasonably, or capriciously." Petition of Herron, 141 N.H. 245, 246-47, 679 A.2d 603, 604 (1996) (quotations and brackets omitted).
The petitioner first argues that the board's refusal to allow her to rescind her withdrawal constitutes an abuse of discretion because rescission is not prohibited by RSA chapter 100-A (1990 & Supp. 1997). "In ma
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