Shaw v. District of Columbia Police & Firefighters' Retirement & Relief Board

Summary

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reviewed the Retirement Board’s calculation of Kenneth Shaw’s disability retirement annuity. The court held that substantial evidence did not support finding Shaw capable of performing probation clerk and social service representative positions, although the evidence supported several other positions. It reversed and remanded for recalculation of the annuity.

Holdings

1. The Board did not err by using Job Bank listings and salaries from the time Shaw was initially retired rather than listings current at the remand hearing.
2. The Retirement Board lacked a substantial evidentiary basis to find that Shaw had the capacity to occupy the probation clerk or social service representative positions.
3. Substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that Shaw could perform the claim administrator, receptionist/administrative assistant, and rental sales agent positions.
4. The Board's unsupported findings were not harmless because excluding the two unsupported positions could cause the annuity calculation to exceed the statutory minimum.

Questions Presented

1. Whether substantial evidence supported the Board's finding that Shaw had the capacity to occupy the probation clerk and social service representative positions.
2. Whether the Board properly used 1998 Job Bank listings and salaries rather than more current listings from the time of the remand hearing.
3. Whether the Board's evidentiary errors in identifying jobs Shaw could perform were harmless in calculating his annuity.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded