Service-Connection: Disability Connection must be “Real and Measurable”

Disability and Job Must Have Real and Measurable Connection to Be Service-Connected

Under the County Retirement Act, whether a disability is caused by the job requires a finding that the disability has a “real and measurable” connection to the job. One may be found disabled but denied a finding that the disability is service-connected (industrial). This is oftentimes an issue. Just because a claim is accepted in a workers’ compensation case as work related does not always mean it will be determined work related in a disability retirement claim involving the same disability. Disability retirement law is governed under the County Retirement Act found in the Government Code. https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/42/572.html

Our Firm Devoted 50 Years To Disability Retirement Law

Our firm dedicated its entire practice to the development of the disability retirement law. No other firm has invested as much time and resources in assisting injured public workers in their disability retirement cases. In fact, in 1986, the firm took on the issue of the standard for determining service-connection. Bowen v. Board of Retirement (1986) 42 Cal 3d 572.

Bowen worked for the County of Los Angeles as a stenographer from 1956 to 1975, and as an eligibility worker from 1975 to 1977. Bowen sought a service-connected disability retirement from the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association (LACERA). Among other issues, Bowen was confronted with a 1980 amendment to Government Code section 31720 which added the following clause to subdivision (a): “and such employment contributes substantially to such incapacity.” The California Supreme Court interpreted what substantial contribution means in County Disability Retirement cases.

The Supreme Court in Bowen held to qualify for a service-connected (industrial) disability retirement allowance, the employee must show by the weight of the evidence that a real and measurable connection between the disability and the employment exists. Interestingly, the dissent in that case made the point that the “real and measurable” connection of a disability to the job could be as little as 10 percent. https://www.lacera.com/about_lacera/pdf/DisabilityRetirementLaw.pdf

Government Code Section 31720 – Causation

As a County Retirement member (LACERA, VCERA, SBCERA, OCERS, SDCERA, SBCERA, FCERA and others) service connection is found in Government Code section 31720 which sets forth the general requirements for an injury to be considered service-connected under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937.

Government Code section 31720, provides in pertinent part as follows: Any member permanently incapacitated for the performance of duty shall be retired for disability regardless of age if, and only if: (a) The member’s incapacity is a result of injury or disease arising out of and in the course of the member’s employment, and such employment contributes substantially to such incapacity . . .

The courts “have found that the County Employees Retirement Act of 1937 . . . . and the Workers’ Compensation Act ‘are related in subject matter and harmonious in purpose.’ . . . . [C]ourts have looked to workers’ compensation law precedent for guidance in contending with similar issues in pension law.” (Bowen v. Board of Retirement (1986), supra, 42 Cal.3d 572, 578, fn. 4 [229 Cal.Rptr. 814, 724 P.2d 500].)

Our firm has vast knowledge in disability retirement law having been on the frontlines making the law for fifty years. In County Disability Retirement Cases many issues impact whether an injury is service-connected. We reference workers’ compensation cases many times for a determination of causation. However, it is important to note that the standards set forth in the Labor Code which govern workers’ compensation claims differ from Disability Retirement Law.https://public-pensions.com/contact-us/