City of Birmingham v. Thomas

220 So. 3d 333, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 3959730
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 22, 2016
Docket2150329
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 220 So. 3d 333 (City of Birmingham v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Birmingham v. Thomas, 220 So. 3d 333, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 3959730 (Ala. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

PITTMAN, Judge.

This appeal arises from postjudgment proceedings in an action originally brought by Alex Thomas (“the employee”) against the City of Birmingham (“the City”) in October 2012 in which the employee sought an award of benefits under the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act, Ala. Code 1975, § 25-5-1 et seq.1 The parties reached a mediated settlement of the employee’s claims in October 2013, and a joint petition was filed by the parties on December 12, 2013, in which they noted their agreement upon a settlement pursuant to which the employee would release all claims against the City and its insurers, officers, agents, and employees, except those for future medical benefits and, in consideration therefor, the City would pay a total amount of $225,000, of which $165,000 would be payable to the employee and his counsel as a lump sum and the remaining $60,000 would be payable on a biweekly or a monthly basis over the following five years. The trial court held a hearing (the transcript of which does not appear in the record) on whether to approve the settlement agreement and subsequently entered a judgment approving and incorporating that agreement; that judgment recited, among other things, that the employee “has been informed of his eligibility to apply for Ordinary Disability or Extraordinary Disability Benefits” (emphasis added).

On December 20, 2013, the employee executed an “Application for Disability Benefits” that was addressed to the “Members of the Retirement and Relief Pension Board.” The application contained the following pertinent provisions:

“In accordance with the provisions of Article VI, Sections 7 and 8, of Act No. [335]*3352006-338, City of Birmingham Relief Pension Law, I hereby make application for disability benefits. As an applicant for these benefits, I am aware-that the Pension Board shall have the right to require an examination by one or more physicians on behalf of the Board- at its expense as required by law.
[[Image here]]
“I am aware that if I am granted an Extraordinary Disability Pension (Job Related Disability), there will be a set off with any Workers^] Compensation benefits that I receive. I confirm that I have been made aware that there is a dollar-for-dollar adjustment between my pension and my worker[s’] compensation benefit, and I have been advised to consult a legal professional if I have further questions in regard to this adjustment.
“I verify that I understand and agree with the above said terms and conditions.”

The employee also executed a document labeled “Notice to Applicants Applying for an Extraordinary Disability Pension” that contained the following pertinent .provisions (emphasis in original):

“Please note if your application for Extraordinary Disability is approved by the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System Board of Managers, your Extraordinary Disability benefit shall be offset, dollar for dollar, by the amount of your Worker[s’] Compensation benefit as set forth in the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System Pension Law, specifically, Act Number 2009-780 which reads in pertinent part:
such disabled participant shall be entitled to a monthly allowance from the fund equal .to seventy [percent] (70%) of his/her monthly salary at the time of the accident which resulted in such total disability, subject to the offset for any Workers’] Compensation benefit or other such disability payable by the City as set forth hereafter’
“This notice is informing you that should you receive a Workers’] Compensation benefit or other such disability benefit payable by the City of Birmingham, your Extraordinary Disability benefit paid by the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System shall be (1) offset in full, dollar for dollar, before any further Extraordinary Disability benefits are paid to you and thereafter (2) reduced dollar for dollar by. the amount of your Workers’] Compensation benefit or any other such disability benefit payable by the; City of Birmingham.
“The City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System is not the City of Birmingham. The City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System is a separate entity.” ■

In September 2015, approximately 21 months after the trial court’s judgment ratifying the parties’ settlement had been entered, the employee filed a “Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement” in which he asserted that the City had “unilaterally decided to reduce any available pension benefits owed to the [employee]”; he contended that that alleged conduct on the part of the City was contrary to the settlement agreement and'was also contrary to the holding in Ex parte City of Birmingham, 988 So.2d 1035 (Ala.2008). Attached to the employee’s motion was a printed worksheet labeled “City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief Pension System— Calculation for Extraordinary Disability Benefit,” dated February 25, 2014, indicating that the employee’s “EOD” (i.e., extraordinary disability) pension effective date was February 7, 2014; that his “Gross Extraordinary Disability Benefit” was $2,561.35; that his “Net Extraordi[336]*336nary Disability Benefit” was $0; and that the employee’s “EOD benefit is subject to future off-sets and/or adjustments for workers’ compensation benefits.”

The City responded to the employee’s motion to enforce by asserting that the City had made all payments agreed upon in the settlement; that the employee had made application for EOD benefits to the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief Board (hereinafter “the Board”); that the Board was a “separate entity” from the City; that the employee had been informed when he had applied for EOD benefits that those benefits, if approved, would be offset by the City’s workers’ compensation payments; and that the statutes authorizing the setoff were enacted after Ex parte City of Birmingham was decided. The City attached copies of all checks made out to the employee and his counsel since the settlement agreement had been reached, a copy of the employee’s application for EOD benefits and the notice form he had executed in connection therewith, and a copy of Act No. 2009-780, Ala. Acts 2009. The employee filed a reply to the City’s response in which he acknowledged that the pension plan from which he had sought EOD benefits was “totally separate apart from the City’s obligation” but nonetheless contended that the Board’s EOD-benefit-offset right should have been set forth in the settlement agreement.

In December 2015, the trial court entered a judgment in which that court, relying upon the City’s purported inclusion in a proposed draft of the settlement agreement and judgment forms of the recital that “the employee “has been informed of his eligibility to apply for Ordinary Disability or Extraordinary Disability Benefits,” concluded that the silence of the settlement agreement and judgment regarding any right of setoff warranted a conclusion that the City had waived, or was estopped to assert, a right of setoff. The judgment further directed the City to pay, within 30 days, “all EOD benefits due ... from March 12, 2014,” and to make monthly payments thereafter. The City sought and obtained a stay of the trial court’s judgment and appealed to this court, which has jurisdiction to hear appeals arising from workers’ compensation actions, see Ala.Code 1975, § 12-3-10.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 So. 3d 333, 2016 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 186, 2016 WL 3959730, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-birmingham-v-thomas-alacivapp-2016.