Doyle v. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES'RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF MISS.

808 So. 2d 902, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 102, 2002 WL 307765
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 2002
Docket2000-CC-00508-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 808 So. 2d 902 (Doyle v. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES'RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF MISS.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doyle v. PUBLIC EMPLOYEES'RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF MISS., 808 So. 2d 902, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 102, 2002 WL 307765 (Mich. 2002).

Opinion

808 So.2d 902 (2002)

Joanna H. DOYLE
v.
PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF MISSISSIPPI.

No. 2000-CC-00508-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 28, 2002.

Mager A. Varnado, Jr., Gulfport, Attorney for Appellant.

Mary Margaret Bowers, Attorney for Appellee.

*903 Before SMITH, P.J., COBB and DIAZ, JJ.

SMITH, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of Hinds County affirming the determination of the Public Employees Retirement System ("PERS") to deny disability benefits to Joanna H. Doyle ("Doyle"), a former employee of the Harrison County Board of Supervisors.

FACTS

¶ 2. Doyle began working for the Harrison County Board of Supervisors as a Mapping Analyst and Deputy Tax Assessor in 1986. Doyle terminated her employment in September 1996, though her last day of work was actually in July 1996. Doyle's duties included drawing and reviewing maps, which required her to use drafting tools and to hold and grasp objects. She was frequently required to lift plat books weighing twenty to thirty pounds. Her duties required her to walk, sit, squat, and stand. Because of her physical problems, Doyle's employer placed her on light duty, which involved updating the computer. Doyle testified that her physical problems began in November 1994 when a box fell on her head. Doyle's medical records actually date from 1991, when she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease. She has undergone surgery, physical therapy, and drug treatment. She has also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and osteoporosis. Doyle testified that she "[has] pain everywhere and it never goes away." She stated that she cannot lift more than a glass of water. Doyle stated that her physical condition eventually prevented her from sitting and operating the computer at work.

¶ 3. Doyle voluntarily terminated her employment in September 1996, and she applied for disability benefits on September 20, 1996. Doyle's application was denied by the PERS Medical Board, and Doyle appealed to the Disability Appeals Committee. The Disability Appeals Committee, in a de novo proceeding on February 16, 1998, received evidence and heard testimony. The Disability Appeals Committee found that there was insufficient evidence to support Doyle's claim of permanent disability and recommended that the claim be denied. The PERS Board of Trustees affirmed the recommendation of the Disability Appeals Committee by order dated February 24, 1998.

¶ 4. Having exhausted all available administrative remedies, Doyle prosecuted an appeal to the Circuit Court of Hinds County, First Judicial District. See Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-120(2) (1999). By order dated March 6, 2000, Circuit Judge James E. Graves, Jr. affirmed the PERS determination, finding that the denial of disability benefits to Doyle was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary and capricious. Doyle timely filed a notice of appeal to this Court. She argues that the circuit court erred in affirming the order of the PERS Board of Trustees.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. "This Court's standard of review of an administrative agency's findings and decisions is well established. An agency's conclusions must remain undisturbed unless the agency's order 1) is not supported by substantial evidence, 2) is arbitrary or capricious, 3) is beyond the scope or power granted to the agency, or 4) violates one's constitutional rights." Fulce v. Public Employees Ret. Sys., 759 So.2d 401, 404 (Miss.2000); Sprouse v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Comm'n, 639 So.2d 901, 902 (Miss.1994); Mississippi Comm'n on Envtl. Quality v. Chickasaw County Bd. of Supervisors, 621 So.2d *904 1211, 1215 (Miss.1993). "There is a rebuttable presumption in favor of the action of an administrative agency, and the burden of proof is on the one challenging its action." Ricks v. Mississippi State Dep't of Health, 719 So.2d 173, 177 (Miss.1998) (quoting County Bd. of Educ. of Alcorn County v. Parents & Custodians of Students at Rienzi Sch. Attendance Ctr., 251 Miss. 195, 205, 168 So.2d 814, 818 (1964)). This Court may neither substitute its own judgment for that of the agency which rendered the decision, nor reweigh the facts of the case. Fulce, 759 So.2d at 404 (citing Mississippi Pub. Serv. Comm'n v. Merchants Truck Line, Inc., 598 So.2d 778, 782 (Miss.1992)). "[This Court] give[s] due deference to the factual findings of the administrative agency and to the [judge], who adopted the same findings." State Farm Ins. Co. v. Gay, 526 So.2d 534, 535 (Miss.1988).

DISCUSSION

WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN FINDING THAT THE PERS DETERMINATION DENYING DISABILITY BENEFITS WAS SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE AND WAS NOT ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS.

¶ 6. Doyle seeks permanent disability benefits under Miss.Code Ann. § 25-11-113(1)(a) (1999), which states in pertinent part:

[A]ny active member in state service who has at least four (4) years of membership service credit may be retired by the board of trustees ... provided that the medical board, after a medical examination, shall certify that the member is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that the member should be retired.

Section 25-11-113(1)(a) defines "disability" as:

... the inability to perform the usual duties of employment or the incapacity to perform such lesser duties, if any, as the employer, in its discretion, may assign without material reduction in compensation, or the incapacity to perform the duties of any employment covered by the Public Employees' Retirement System (Section 25-11-101 et seq.) that is actually offered and is within the same general territorial work area, without material reduction in compensation.

¶ 7. It is evident from the record that Doyle has suffered ongoing physical ailments requiring extensive treatment. The medical records submitted by Doyle indicate that she has been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia. Doyle underwent four surgeries on her spinal column in 1991, 1996, and 1997. She has also undergone drug treatment and physical therapy. She has continuing problems with pain in her neck, back, and upper extremities. The medical records indicate that she has been treated by at least six physicians. Doyle claims that her physical limitations, in combination with her pain and the side effects from her pain medication, prevent her from continuing her employment. She argues that the Disability Appeals Committee arbitrarily ignored the opinion of one of her treating physicians, Dr. John McCloskey, that she is a candidate for Social Security disability.

¶ 8. The issue before the Medical Board and, thereafter, the Disability Appeals Committee and Board of Trustees, was not whether Doyle suffers from physical injuries, but whether Doyle could continue to function in her position with the Harrison County Board of Supervisors at the time she terminated her employment. *905 The issue before this Court is not whether there was evidence in support of Doyle's disability, but whether there was substantial evidence to support the finding of the administrative agency. Public Employees' Ret. Sys. v. Dishmon, 797 So.2d 888, 891(Miss.2001).

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Bluebook (online)
808 So. 2d 902, 2002 Miss. LEXIS 102, 2002 WL 307765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doyle-v-public-employeesretirement-system-of-miss-miss-2002.