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Maryland Dept. of the Environment v. Ives2/6/2001
REPORTED
This appeal by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is from a judgment of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. In adjudicating a grievance filed by appellee Antoinette Ives, an administrative law judge (ALJ) of the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) had ruled that appellee, who suffered a disabling occupational disease, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, while employed at the MDE, was not entitled to convert "sick/annual leave and compensatory time" to accident leave. On appeal, the circuit court reversed the ALJ's ruling and remanded the case for further administrative proceedings. The MDE's appeal from that judgment presents the following question for our review:
Did the trial court err in holding that Md. Code (1997 Repl. Vol.), Pers. & Pens. § 9-701(a) permits State employees to use work-related accident leave for treatment of an occupational disease?
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Appellee was employed as a Police Communications Operator II with the MDE. Appellant notified the MDE, in February 1996, that she had sustained an injury as a result of her daily computer data entry work and that she had been diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The Workers' Compensation Commission (Commission), after a hearing on May 6, 1997, determined that appellee had sustained a disabling occupational disease arising out of and in the course of her employment on November 5, 1995. Between June 19, 1996 and November 18, 1997, appellee used a total of 238.5 hours of annual/sick leave and compensatory time for medical treatment and therapy related to the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
On November 20, 1997, appellee submitted a written request to the MDE asking the agency to reimburse 238.5 hours of annual/sick leave by converting it to work-related accident leave (which would provide appellee with ample sick leave should she need it in the future). The MDE denied appellee's request on January 30, 1998. Appellee filed a grievance disputing the MDE's denial and, after two hearings at the agency level, appellee's claim was again denied. Appellee appealed the agency's denial to OAH. At the OAH hearing, the MDE moved for summary judgment, which the ALJ granted, ruling that appellee did not "sustain her burden to show that she is entitled to convert used sick/annual leave and compensatory time to accident leave." Subsequently, appellee appealed the legal conclusions of the ALJ to the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, which reversed the ALJ'S ruling.
DISCUSSION
Appellee contends that the circuit court was correct in its ruling that a State employee who sustains an occupational disease arising out of his or her employment is entitled to work-related accident leave pursuant to State Pers. & Pens. § 9-701(a). Appellee agrees with the findings of fact of the ALJ but asks us to reverse his legal conclusion and affirm the circuit court. We review an administrative agency's decision under the same standard as the circuit court reviewed it.
Our primary goal is to determine whether the agency's decision is "`in accordance with the law or whether it is arbitrary, illegal, and capricious.'" Curry v. Department of Public Safety and Correctional Servs., 102 Md. App. 620, 626-27, (1994), cert. granted, 338 Md. 252, (1995), cert. dismissed, 340 Md. 175, (1995) (quoting Moseman v. County Council of Prince George's County, 99 Md. App. 258, 262, (1994)). The agency's fact-finding and application of the law to the facts will be upheld, as long as it is supported by substantial evidence. Id. at 627. Substantial evidence is defined as "`such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. . . .'"
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