Rhode Island Supreme Court blocks state worker’s accidental disability pension appeal

O’Connell pushed back. He submitted additional evidence arguing that his job duties between 2011 and 2020 had aggravated the original injury. The retirement board denied him again. He asked for a rehearing and a fresh medical examination. That, too, was denied. The board issued a final rejection letter and advised him that he could appeal to either the Superior Court or the Workers’ Compensation Court, depending on the circumstances. 

Taking the board at its word, O’Connell filed appeals in both courts. The retirement system moved to toss the Workers’ Compensation Court case, arguing the court simply did not have jurisdiction over a state employee’s pension dispute. The trial judge disagreed and let the case proceed. The retirement system then escalated the matter to the Supreme Court. 

Associate Justice Melissa A. Long, writing for the court, overturned the trial judge. The Workers’ Compensation Court, she explained, is a court with narrow, legislatively defined powers. It has authority over pension appeals under the Optional Retirement Plan for police officers and firefighters within the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System – a plan designed primarily for municipal workers. Only a limited subset of state employees fall under that plan, specifically firefighters with occupational cancer and police officers with post-traumatic stress disorder. 

O’Connell, who claimed a back injury rather than PTSD, did not qualify. His application was reviewed under the state retirement system’s own disability provisions, which do not include any route of appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Court. The court also pointed to a telling difference in the injured-on-duty statute: the section covering municipal employees explicitly references the Workers’ Compensation Court, while the parallel section for state employees does not. That silence, the court found, was intentional. 

The ruling means O’Connell’s challenge will proceed in Superior Court under the Administrative Procedures Act, which is the proper venue for state employees contesting final agency decisions.