Employees Retirement System of Texas v. Blount
| Decision Date | 14 May 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. C-3448,C-3448 |
| Citation | 709 S.W.2d 646 |
| Parties | EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Petitioners, v. Joyce M. BLOUNT, Respondent. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
After her husband's death, Joyce M. Blount sued Employees Retirement System of Texas ("ERS") and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Travis County District Court, seeking a trial de novo for a contested insurance claim arising under a uniform group insurance program for state employees. Metropolitan paid $4,000 in basic life insurance but denied payment of her $46,000 claim for optional accidental death benefits. In December of 1981, the ERS Board of Trustees recommended a denial of the accidental death benefits. The trial court reviewed the record under substantial evidence review, and found that substantial evidence did exist to support the agency's decision. The court of appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded in the interest of justice, holding that the case was tried under the wrong standard, as Blount had a common law right to bring her action in district court as a trial de novo. 677 S.W.2d 565. We grant the motion for rehearing and the applications for writ of error, and, pursuant to Tex.R.Civ.P. 483, without hearing oral argument, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The primary issue on appeal is whether the ERS trustees have been granted the final binding authority to adjudicate claims of contested cases pursuant to its enabling statute, Tex.Ins. Code Ann. art. 3.50-2 (Vernon 1981) and the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-13a (Vernon Supp.1986) ("APTRA"). We hold that the agency does have such authority pursuant to Article 3.50-2 and APTRA § 19, and that the trial court properly reviewed the record under the substantial evidence standard.
The court of appeals' decision conflicts with Article 3.50-2, § 4(e), which gives the trustees full power to promulgate rules and procedures necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this act, including:
establishment of grievance procedures by which the trustee shall act as an appeals body for complaints by...
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