Bohm v. Independent School Dist. No. 283, St. Louis Park
| Decision Date | 20 November 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. C9-84-426,C9-84-426 |
| Citation | 358 N.W.2d 146 |
| Parties | 21 Ed. Law Rep. 330 Earl BOHM, et al., Respondents, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. NO. 283, ST. LOUIS PARK, Minnesota, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
The trial court did not err in finding the teachers were entitled to early retirement benefits under Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611 (1980).
Marko Mrkonich, Oppenheimer, Wolff, Foster, Shepard & Donnelly, St. Paul, for respondents.
Pat Maloney, Joseph E. Flynn, Peterson, Knutson, Flynn & Hetland, St. Paul, for appellant and amicus curiae MN School Boards Association.
Heard, considered, and decided by SEDGWICK, P.J., and HUSPENI and NIERENGARTEN, JJ.
Seven retired school teachers brought an action to recover statutory early retirement incentives allegedly owed them by the school district pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611 (1980). The school district denied any obligation to pay incentives because it had already paid the teachers severance pay. It claims that severance pay qualified as early retirement incentive pursuant to Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611 (1980) and the teachers are not entitled to an additional incentive grant.
The trial court entered judgment in favor of the teachers. We affirm.
Respondents are former St. Louis Park teachers who chose to take early retirement at the end of the 1979-80 school year before reaching 65 years of age. Their collective bargaining agreement provided for severance pay to eligible teachers upon early retirement.
In 1977 the Minnesota legislature enacted Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611, the Teachers Early Retirement Incentive Plan (TERIP). This statute encouraged school districts to adopt local severance plans to provide financial incentives for teachers to leave the profession before the normal retirement age of 65, thus enabling younger teachers to obtain employment. Originally, the law provided for a 10% reimbursement to school districts which paid incentives to teachers meeting certain requirements to retire early. The statute was amended in 1978 and 1979 to provide 25% and 50% reimbursement respectively.
In spring 1980, respondents submitted unconditional resignations effective at the close of their contract year. Most of them met individually with school administrators concerning early retirement benefits. Each received severance pay pursuant to their collective bargaining agreement in the following amounts:
Earl Bohm $12,387.20
Matilda Johnson 10,883.06
Donald Schutte 4,500.00
Cornelia Squibb 8,978.52
Pearl Sundstrom 11,897.81
Wesley Ulrich 4,407.37
Ray Zakariasen 2,338.00
None asked about early retirement incentive grants. School officials made no representations that the teachers would get TERIP early retirement incentive grants in addition to the severance pay. A condition of the severance pay agreement provided that, in the future, respondents would not teach in the district from which they were retiring.
In June 1980, after the teachers retired, the St. Louis Park director of personnel services mailed each respondent a TERIP application. A cover letter requesting their signatures referred to the application by its title "Teacher Early Retirement Incentive Program Application for Participation and State Reimbursement." Six of the teachers signed and returned the applications. The district personnel director signed the application on behalf of the seventh teacher. The applications provided that the teachers agreed not to teach in any district in this state. All of the teachers believed they would receive the incentive grants referred to in the TERIP applications in addition to the severance pay they had already received.
The school district superintendent certified to the Commissioner of Education that the district would pay each teacher an early retirement incentive upon receipt of state funds. The amounts so certified were as follows:
Earl Bohm $ 4,500.00
Matilda Johnson 4,500.00
Donald Schutte 1,500.00
Cornelia Squibb 10,000.00
Pearl Sundstrom 9,000.00
Wesley Ulrich 1,500.00
Ray Zakariasen 8,000.00
Ms. Squibb, of course, had received only $8,978.52 under the severance pay plan. The school district admits that Ms. Squibb has not been adequately compensated even under the district's interpretation of TERIP.
After the teachers submitted the applications to the school board, two of them asked the district personnel director whether they would receive TERIP payments in addition to their severance pay. The director told them they would not.
In June 1982, the school district received $19,500.00 as partial reimbursement for the severance payments made. The board refused the teachers' request for the additional TERIP payments.
Did the trial court err in interpreting Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611 (1980) as entitling respondents to an early retirement grant under the statute in addition to their negotiated severance pay?
This case was tried by the trial court sitting without a jury. No motions for amended findings of fact were made. Generally our scope of review under these circumstances would be limited to determining whether the trial court's findings are clearly erroneous and whether it erred in its legal conclusions. Leininger v. Anderson, 255 N.W.2d 22, 27 (Minn.1977). However, where a decision rests primarily upon documentary evidence, we are not bound by the trial court's interpretation. Fidelity Bank and Trust Co. v. Fitzimons, 261 N.W.2d 586, 588-89 (Minn.1977). Here, a majority of the evidence was documentary. The record consists of 94 exhibits and a scant trial transcript. Therefore, this review is essentially a de novo one.
We view as critical the issue of whether severance payments made to the teachers qualify under TERIP, thus entitling the school district to partial reimbursement from the state. Minn.Stat. Sec. 125.611 (1980) reads in relevant part:
Subd. 3. A teacher * * * may apply to the school board of the employing district for a contract for termination of his services, withdrawal from active teaching service, and payment of an early retirement incentive.
* * *
Subd. 5. If the school board approves the teacher's application, the board shall apply to the commissioner of education for authorization to enter into a contract with the teacher for termination of his services and payment of an early retirement incentive.
* * * Subd. 7. A teacher whose early retirement pursuant to this section has been approved by the commissioner of education shall be offered a contract for termination of services in the employing district, withdrawal from active teaching service, and payment of an early retirement incentive by the employing school district.
* * *
Subd. 10. The early retirement incentive shall be paid by the employing school district at the time and in...
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