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CARR v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES6/7/1994
The Board of Trustees of the Maine State Retirement System (the "Board") and the City of Portland appeal from the judgment entered in the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Chandler, J.) vacating a decision of the Board. When Carr applied for disability retirement benefits, the Board interpreted the applicable disability retirement statute to require that the evaluation of Carr's disability to perform his job be based on the job he was performing at the time of his application for benefits rather than the job he was performing when he was originally injured. 5 M.R.S.A. ยง 1122 (1964). Taking the statute as a whole, and with deference to the Board's interpretation of its own statute, we find that the Board's interpretation was reasonable. We therefore vacate the decision of the Superior Court and direct affirmance of the decision of the Board.
The facts are largely undisputed. On December 11, 1978, David Carr suffered an injury to his back while working as a public safety officer for the City of Portland. Carr could not work and received total workers' compensation benefits for four years. He returned to a light-duty assignment in March 1983. The City initially offered only a six-month, temporary position, but in September 1983 made the job permanent. In November 1984, the Workers' Compensation Commission awarded Carr a lump sum payment based on 40% permanent impairment. Carr
Also in November 1984, Carr applied for and received a job as a vehicle control manager in the City's Department of Parks and Public Works. He held that position until April 1987, when he applied for and received a position as vehicle maintenance supervisor in the same department.
In 1988 and 1989 Carr re-injured his back. At the time of his re-injury, Carr held his position as vehicle maintenance supervisor. Carr applied for disability retirement in 1990, and the Board of Trustees initially considered whether Carr's disability should be determined in light of his position as vehicle maintenance supervisor, or his former position as a public safety officer. The Board ruled that the Medical Board should evaluate Carr's ability to perform his duties as a vehicle maintenance supervisor. The Board found that Carr
had a complete break from the employment position in which the
disabiling injuries occurred. Mr. Carr has not been
employed as a Public Safety Officer for 13 years. During that
time he has, as a result of the competitive hiring process,
applied for and been hired in two different positions. The
Board finds that, under these facts, the employment position
which Mr. Carr must be medically evaluated against for purposes
of determining occupational disability is that of a Vehicle
Maintenance Supervisor.
The Medical Board then reviewed Carr's claim and recommended that the Board deny his application, finding that he was physically capable of performing his job as a vehicle maintenance supervisor. Accepting the Medical Board's findings, the Board denied Carr's claim.
Carr appealed to the Superior Court, contending that the evaluation should have determined whether he could perform his duties as a public safety officer, and alternatively, that the determination that he could perform his present job was erroneous. The court vacated the decision of the Board, holding that the standard applied should have been Carr's ability to perform the duties of a public safety officer. The court stated that
the Board erred. [Carr], having been disabled in 1978, never
reached a point where he was not at least partially disabled.
Although he aggravated the disability on his present job, there
never was any "clear and definite break" wit
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