Preview:

REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 2818

September Term, 2010

EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE v. SYLVESTER DORSEY

Zarnoch, Graeff, Moylan, Charles E., Jr. (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

Opinion by Graeff, J.

Filed: February 10, 2012

This appeal involves an application by Sylvester Dorsey, appellee, for line-of-duty disability retirement benefits with the Employees' Retirement System of the City of Baltimore ("ERS"), appellant. A hearing examiner denied Mr. Dorsey's application. On review, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City reversed that ruling and granted Mr. Dorsey's application for line-of-duty disability retirement benefits. ERS appealed. It presents two questions for our review, which we have rephrased as follows: 1. Did the lower court err in reversing the administrative decision denying Mr. Dorsey line-of-duty disability retirement due to a preexisting condition? Did the lower court err in granting the application for line-of-duty disability retirement because the power to award retirement benefits is reserved for the ERS?

2.

For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm, in part, and vacate, in part, the judgment of the circuit court. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Sylvester Dorsey began working as a school police officer in August 2005. On August 31, 2007, while on-duty, Mr. Dorsey was involved in an altercation with a parent, during which the parent and a student attacked him with metal chairs. He suffered back injuries, bruises, and a deep laceration to his arm that required 38 stitches. Mr. Dorsey was on leave for several weeks, and he eventually returned to light-duty, which involved desk work, communications, and handling reports. He never returned to full-duty.

After the incident, Mr. Dorsey had weakness in his legs. In the summer of 2009, while walking down steps, his legs "gave out" on him. He fell, separating his right shoulder. On January 17, 2009, Mr. Dorsey was terminated by his employer, the City of Baltimore, because of his injuries. On January 15, 2010, Mr. Dorsey filed an Application for Line-of-Duty Disability Retirement. On July 12, 2010, a hearing was held regarding Mr. Dorsey's claim. Counsel for ERS conceded that Mr. Dorsey was "incapacitated from the further performance of [h]is job and that the incapacity is permanent," but he challenged the "degree of impairment, degree of preexisting disability" and whether the assault was the "sole cause of [the] disability." Mr. Dorsey had a lengthy treatment record. At the time of the hearing, he had received five MRIs, eleven steroid injections, a nerve conduction study, and decompression surgery on his back. Several doctors noted that Mr. Dorsey had preexisting asymptomatic degenerative disc disease. On November 6, 2007, Dr. Sam Matz conducted an independent medical evaluation, noting that Mr. Dorsey had degenerative disc disease in his back that was "not work-related." He concluded that "[t]he patient's work-related diagnosis is the strain/contusion of the lumbar spine," and Mr. Dorsey's preexisting condition "may have been rendered symptomatic due to [the] work accident." Dr. Bernhard Z

Download Employees' Retirement v. Dorsey.pdf

Maryland Law