Nevada Public Emp. Retirement Bd. v. Byrne
| Decision Date | 13 March 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 12001,12001 |
| Citation | 96 Nev. 276,607 P.2d 1351 |
| Parties | NEVADA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT BOARD, Appellant, v. William BYRNE, Respondent. |
| Court | Nevada Supreme Court |
The Nevada Public Employees Retirement Board appeals from the judgment of the district court, entered after trial to the court on an agreed statement of facts, ordering the Board to pay retirement benefits to William Byrne in accordance with the Board's earlier representations as to the amounts of those benefits. Since the trial court properly found the Board to be equitably estopped from denying its earlier representations, we affirm. 1
Between January, 1955 and October, 1975, Byrne dutifully served the state and the public, as an elected official for approximately 12.5 years and as a regular civil servant for approximately 7.55 years. In order to prepare for his retirement, Byrne inquired of the Board, at some time prior to December, 1971, as to the amount of his prospective retirement benefits. The Board responded that Byrne's benefits would be calculated at the rate of 2.5% of his average monthly compensation for each year of service up to 20 years of service, and that his average monthly compensation would be the average of his 36 highest salaried, consecutive months within his last 10 years of service. Byrne was further informed that as of October 8, 1971, he had 15 years, 11 months, and 24 days of accrued, covered service.
The parties continued their correspondence concerning Byrne's retirement over the next four years. In March, 1972, the Board informed Byrne that he had accrued 16.25 years of covered service and would qualify for an unmodified monthly retirement allowance of $504.49. In October, 1973, the Board explained to Byrne that these figures were being provided to "enable you to plan your future retirement." In December, 1974, the Board advised Byrne that his unmodified monthly allowance, as of January 1, 1975, would be $725.35. The Board later informed Byrne that he would complete 20 years of covered service on October 24, 1974.
In reliance on the Board's representations concerning his retirement benefits, Byrne notified the Board that he would retire on October 24, 1975; and, on September 1, 1975, Byrne submitted his formal, written resignation, effective October 24, 1975, from his $23,000.00 per annum position as Assistant Clark County Assessor. Byrne further relied on the Board's calculations by selling his Las Vegas home for $28,000.00 and by purchasing a retirement home in Irvine, California, for $54,806.00, thereby obligating himself to make monthly payments of $315.00 plus taxes.
Subsequent to these transactions, however, the Board informed Byrne that his monthly retirement benefits would amount to a mere $86.78. 2 Byrne protested this calculation. On January 28, 1976, after referring the matter to the Attorney General for his opinion, the Board reevaluated its position and computed Byrne's unmodified, monthly benefits as $468.06. 3 Byrne's subsequent protests went unheeded.
Byrne then filed this suit in the district court, seeking to estop the Board from denying its earlier representations as to the amount and mode of calculation of his retirement benefits. After a trial to the court on an agreed statement of facts, the district court found that the Board's statements as to Byrne's prospective pension benefits were factual in nature, rather than estimates or opinions, and that Byrne's reliance on those representations was both detrimental and reasonable; accordingly, the court raised an estoppel against the Board and ordered it to pay retirement benefits to Byrne in accordance with its earlier statements. This appeal followed.
The Board contends that Byrne could not, as a matter of law, reasonably rely on the Board's representations because (1) those representations were mere estimates and opinions, and (2) the Board's inherent power to correct its mistakes 4 bars any reliance on its representations. We cannot agree.
The doctrine of equitable estoppel, as applied to governmental agencies, is rooted in concepts of justice and right, and is premised on the idea that the sovereign is responsible: a citizen has a legitimate expectation that the government should deal fairly with him or her. 2 K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 17.01 (West 1958); see also Mesaba Aviation Div. v. County of Itasca, 258 N.W.2d 877 (Minn.1977); National Advertising Co. v. State, etc., 91 N.M. 191, 571 P.2d 1194 (1977); Yamada v. Natural Disaster Claims Comm'n., 54 Haw. 621, 513 P.2d 1001 (1973); City of Long Beach v. Mansell, 3 Cal.3d 462, 91 Cal.Rptr. 23, 476 P.2d 423 (1970). Moreover, a governmental body, charged with as important a function as the administration of a public employees retirement system, bears a most stringent duty to abstain from giving inaccurate or misleading advice. Crumpler v. Board of Administration Emp. Retire. Sys., 32 Cal.App.3d 567, 108 Cal.Rptr. 293, 304 (1973)....
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