Eberle v. Baltimore County

ALPERT, Judge. This case presents an appeal of the ruling of the Board of Appeals of Baltimore County (“Board of Appeals”), denying accidental disability benefits to appellant, Elmer James Eberle. The Circuit Court for Baltimore County affirmed the Board of Appeals’s decision and appellant asks whether the Board of Appeals and the circuit court erred in denying him accidental disability retirement benefits pursuant to section 23-55 of the Baltimore County Code. We shall affirm.

Facts and Proceedings The facts of this case are undisputed. In 1957, appellant, Elmer James Eberle (“Eberle”), was working as a meat cutter and sustained a work-related injury to his right knee. As a result of that injury, he underwent a right medial meniscecto ¹⁶² my 1 in 1958, and, after the operation, he returned to all previous activities and had no difficulty or pain in the knee. In 1983, Eberle obtained employment with the Baltimore County Government (“the County”).

When Eberle began his employment with the County, he had a clean bill of health and no work restrictions. Eberle began in the position of warehouseman, but was moved to a truck driver position within approximately six months after his start date. On September 15, 1987, while in the course of his employment with the County, Eberle sustained serious injury to his right knee. A workers’ compensation claim was filed and the compensability of the injury was not disputed by the County.

Eberle was paid his salary in lieu of temporary total disability benefits during an extended period of care from December 30, 1987 through January 3, 1988, February 21, 1989 through February 22, 1989, and September 10, 1991 through March 9, 1992. A stipulated award was entered on November 16, 1992, and it was found that Eberle sustained a forty-five percent (45%) permanent partial disability of the right leg, with thirty-five percent (35%) due to the accidental injury on September 15, 1987, and ten percent (10%) due to a pre-existing condition. Eberle later returned to work, and on September 28, 1989, he suffered another work-related injury, this time to his left knee. Another workers’ compensation claim was filed, and again, compensability was not disputed by the County.

In December, 1989, Eberle underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. From September 28, 1989, through April 30, 1990, while he recovered from the injury to his left knee, Eberle was paid full salary in lieu of temporary total disability benefits. Appellant returned to work for the County, but he continued to experience problems with his legs and on September 23, 1991, underwent a total knee replacement on his right knee. ¹⁶³ On November 22, 1991, a hearing was held before the Workers’ Compensation Commission on the issue of permanency as a result of the September 28, 1989 accident. In an Order dated November 26, 1991, the Commission found that Eberle sustained a twenty-five percent (25%) permanent partial disability of his left leg.

Following the total knee replacement, Eberle returned to work with the County, first working half days in March, 1992. Unable to return to his job as a truck driver, he worked putting school supply orders together. In April, 1992, Eberle resumed work for full days, but eventually he found he could not stay on his feet for any period of time. On May 12, 1992, he applied for accidental disability retirement benefits with appellee, the Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Retirement System of Baltimore County (“the Board”).

The Board denied Eberle’s request for accidental disability benefits, awarding ordinary disability pension benefits instead. Eberle appealed the Board’s decision and a de novo evidentiary hearing was held by the Board of Appeals on June 22, 1993, at which time Eberle and the County presented medical evidence on the nature and cause of his disability. The Board of Appeals found that there was no issue concerning total disability because Eberle was, in fact, totally disabled. Thus, it had to review the evidence, testimony, and medical reports to determine whether Eberle was entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits under Baltimore County Code section 23-55 (1988), which provides that [u]pon the application of a member in service or of the employer, any member who has been totally and permanently incapacitated for duty as the natural and proximate result of an accident occurring while in the actual performance of duty at some definite time and place, without willful negligence on his part, shall be retired by the board of trustees; provided that the medical board shall certify that such member is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that such member shall be retired.

No beneficiary entitled to an accidental disability ¹⁶⁴ retirement allowance shall receive any allowance on account of ordinary disability. The main issue, therefore, that the Board of Appeals was faced with was “whether or not the disability that the Applicant presently [had was] the ‘natural and proximate result’ of his accidents occurring on September 15, 1987 to his right knee and on September 28, 1989 to his left knee.” There were several different medical reports reviewed by the Board of Appeals. The reports prepared by Eberle’s primary orthopedic surgeon, William I. Smulyan, M.D., often referred to a degenerative arthritis condition that Eberle suffered. In his report dated January 27, 1988, Dr. Smulyan commented: I have again explained to the patient that there is evidence of preexisting degenerative arthritis in the knee and that this has been aggravated by his injury.

(emphasis added). In a report dated December 4, 1990, Dr. Smulyan noted: It is my feeling that as a result of the injury of 9/15/87 the permanent and partial impairment of Mr. Eberle’s right knee has worsened by an additional 5 percent over that amount which was deemed to be preexisting prior to that time. With regard to the left knee and the injury of September 28, 1989 the patient has sustained permanent and partial impairment of 10 percent superimposed upon a preexisting figure of 15 percent because of degenerative arthritis which was present at the time of the injury. (emphasis added).

In a report prepared on June 24,1991, Dr. Smulyan again made reference to Eberle’s arthritic condition: I have had a long talk with Mr. and Mrs. Eberle. It is my feeling that the patient has post traumatic arthritis of the right knee associated with his previous meniscectomy S3 years ago. (emphasis added). A report prepared by Barbara McLean, M.D., on Eberle’s condition, dated May 26, 1992, was also submitted to the Board of Appeals.

In this report, Dr. McLean summarized Eberle’s condition: ¹⁶⁵ There is no question that Mr. Eberle’s arthritis pre-existed his reported occupational injury. I believe it is reasonable to assume that he had a least some aggravation from this injury but it is not possible to tell whether there was any change in the underlying basic pathology by virtue of this injury. (emphasis added). A report prepared by Joel D. Meshulam, M.D., dated February 25, 1993, stated that Mr. Eberle had a history of problems with his right knee “dat[ing] back to a medial meniscectomy that left him entirely asymptomatic until he was injured in 1987, sustaining traumatic damage to [his] right knee, and again in 1989, sustaining similar damage to the left knee.” And a report prepared on July 3,1990, by a consultant to whom Eberle was referred, indicated that he had a “chronic weight problem”, “chronic degenerative problems with both knees,” and “hypertension for approximately the last ten years.” The report indicated that “Mr. Eberle presented the weight loss program as a preventive measure to reduce further medical interventions for both knees” and that “[apparently Dr. Smulyan indicated that it would be advisable for Mr. Eberle to achieve a weight below 200 lbs.” Based on these medical reports and the testimony before it, the Board of Appeals was unable to conclude or find as a matter of fact that Eberle’s permanent disability was “a natural and proximate result of his accidents occurring on September 15, 1987 and September 28, 1989,” as required under section 23-55 for the award of accidental disability retirement benefits.

The Board of Appeals found that Eberle suffered from degenerative arthritis in his knees and thus he did not meet the burden of proving the causal connection between his present disability and the two accidents he sustained at work. Because the medical reports were conflicting as to causation, the Board acted as factfinder and was unable to reasonably conclude that the present disability of the Applicant [was] a direct result of the two accidents, and ¹⁶⁶ as such the requirements of Section 28-55 of the Baltimore County Code [had] not been met.... Thus, the Board of Appeals denied accidental disability retirement benefits and entered an order granting Eberle ordinary disability retirement. Eberle appealed to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, and the Board of Appeals’ decision was affirmed.

This appeal followed. Standard of Review This court recently reiterated the standard for appellate review of administrative agency decisions in Hill v. Baltimore County, 86 Md.App. 642, 659 , 587 A.2d 1155 , cert. denied, 323 Md. 185 , 592 A.2d 178 (1991). When reviewing the factual findings of administrative agencies, it is the court’s duty to determine whether the agency’s decision was supported by substantial evidence. Id.

In applying this “substantial evidence” standard, the reviewing court must determine “whether a reasoning mind reasonably could have reached the factual conclusion that the agency reached.” Id. (quoting St. Leonard Shores Joint Venture v. Supervisors of Assessments of Calvert County, 307 Md. 441, 447 , 514 A.2d 1215 (1986)). A court “must not engage in judicial fact-finding or substitute [its] judgment for that of the agency.” Id. (citing St. Leonard Shores, 307 Md. at 447 , 514 A.2d 1215 ).

Thus, we must examine the record to determine if there was substantial evidence from which a reasoning mind reasonably could have come to the factual conclusions reached by the Board of Appeals. Disability Retirement Benefits Before we examine the evidence before the Board of Appeals, we take a moment to explain the different types of disability retirement benefits and the contentions of the parties in the case sub judice. The Baltimore County Code provides for two kinds of disability retirement benefits: ordi ¹⁶⁷ nary and accidental. Ordinary disability retirement benefits are available [u]pon the application of a member in service or of the employer ... who has had five (5) or more years of creditable service ... provided that the medical board, after a medical examination of such member, shall certify that such member is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that such member should be retired.

Baltimore County Code, § 23-53 (1991). Accidental disability retirement benefits are available to an employee who has been totally and permanently incapacitated for duty as the natural and proximate result of an accident occurring while in the actual performance of duty at some definite time and place, without willful negligence on his part---- Baltimore County Code, § 23-55 (1991). These disability retirement benefits differ significantly in value. Ordinary disability retirement yields a taxable payment of fifty percent (50%) of claimant’s final average weekly wage, while accidental disability retirement benefits amount to a tax-free payment of sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66.66%) of claimant’s final average weekly wage.

Baltimore County Code, § 23-54, 23-57 (1991). Due to the difference in the value of the two types of disability benefits, it is apparent that the legislature intended section 23-53, granting ordinary disability retirement benefits, to be a broad remedial pension statute. To recover these benefits, the statute requires only a minimal showing of permanent incapacitation for further performance of duty. Section 23-55, on the other hand, is a narrower statute, under which accidental disability retirement benefits can be recovered only with proof that a disability was the “natural and proximate result of an accident.” This standard is more stringent than that required for ordinary disability benefits, and, as a result, it is more difficult to qualify for accidental disability retirement benefits. ¹⁶⁸ Eberle claims he is entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits due to the knee injuries he sustained on September 15, 1987 and September 28, 1989.

He argues that the Board of Appeals erred as a matter of fact and law in refusing to find that he suffered an accidental disability and in interpreting [ ] [section 23-55 in such a manner as to prevent recovery] for a disability when a preexisting condition becomes exacerbated as a result of a compensable, work-related injury. Explaining that employee pension legislation must be liberally construed, appellant maintains that the Board of Appeals misconstrued section 23-55 “to' require that [his] 1987 and 1989 injuries be the sole and exclusive cause of his disability.” Appellant contends that there was insufficient evidence for the Board of Appeals to determine the relationship between his preexisting condition and his present disability, so the decision must have been based on the fact that his preexisting condition contributed to his present disability. This, appellant argues, was error as a matter of law, because section 23-55 does not require the injuries be the sole cause of the disability. Furthermore, appellant asserts that the evidence before the Board of Appeals was ample to prove that his permanent disability was causally related to the injuries he incurred in 1987 and 1989.

Appellee, on the other hand, argues that there was substantial evidence from which the Board of Appeals could have made its decision. Section 23-55 requires a claimant to prove “total [ ] and permanent disability for duty as the natural and proximate result of an accident occurring while in the actual