ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:

GREGORY F. ZOELLER ROBERT O. EFFNER

Attorney General of Indiana Terre Haute, Indiana

FRANCES BARROW

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

INDIANA PUBLIC EMPLOYEE )

RETIREMENT FUND (PERF), )

)

Appellant-Respondent, )

)

 vs. ) No. 84A05-1208-MI-410

)

ROBERT O. EFFNER, )

)

Appellee-Petitioner. )

APPEAL FROM THE VIGO SUPERIOR COURT

The Honorable Michael L. Lewis, Judge

Cause No. 84D06-1109-MI-8821

March 7, 2013

MEMORANDUM DECISION – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

MATHIAS, Judge 

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of 

establishing the defense of res judicata, 

collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.
2

The Indiana Public Retirement System (“the INPRS”) appeals the Vigo Superior 

Court’s order awarding Robert Effner (“Effner”) retroactive Public Employee Retirement Fund 

benefits (“PERF benefits”) to a date more than four years before Effner applied for benefits. 

Concluding that the trial court erred as a matter of law, we reverse and remand for proceedings 

consistent with this opinion.

Facts and Procedural History

In 1978, Effner obtained employment with the Vigo County Prosecutor’s Office, which 

position made him eligible for PERF benefits. In 1994, Effner was employed by the Vigo 

County Public Defender. Effner left that position in 1997 and has not been employed in a job 

covered by PERF benefits since terminating that employment. 

On some date after December 31, 2006, Effner received his first PERF Annual Member 

Statement concerning his PERF benefits. The statement listed PERF’s record of Effner’s

creditable service and wages as of December 31, 2006. The statement informed Effner that 

PERF “uses this service and wage data to calculate what your estimated pension benefits will 

be once you become eligible to receive and apply for retirement benefits. This can be an 

excellent tool as you make plans for retirement. Note that this calculation only estimates 

your projected pension benefit . . . .” Appellant’s App. p. 308 (emphasis in original). The 

statement also provides, “[e]ach year you work in a PERF-covered position, you are earning 

creditable service towards a retirement from the fund. The tables below show the creditable 

service and average salary used to estimate your future pension benefit.” Id. at 310. 

The statement contains a table calculating Effner’s estimated benefit, which informed 

Effner that “if he had retired as of December 31, 2006,” his monthly pension benefit “would be 
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approximately” $427.76. Next, the table estimates Effner’s increased monthly pension benefit 

if he “worked 5 additional years.” Id. Finally, the PERF statement provides, “We cannot 

provide your actual benefit amount until you apply for benefits when you chose to retire.” Id. 

Effner received annual member statements with identical information for the years 2007, 2008, 

and 2009. 

On November 10, 2010, Effner attended a PERF pre-retirement workshop. Five days 

later, he filed his PERF Retirement Application and listed his retirement date as August 1, 

2006. PERF acknowledged receipt of the application but informed Effner that “PERF has a 6 

month retro policy that says we cannot retro any benefit farther back than 6 months from the 

date we receive the retirement application.” Id. at 347. PERF told Effner that his “earliest date 

available for retirement is 6-1-2010.” Id. 

On November 29, 2010, Effner sent a letter to PERF and stated that his “decision to 

delay PERF retirement until age 65 was based upon the Annual Member Statement sent to me 

in 2006.” Id. at 348. Effner alleged that he was misled by the information provided in the 

2006 Statement and believed that his pension benefit would increase if he delayed his 

retirement by five years. Therefore, Effner claimed that he was entitled to “said additional 

benefit, or in the alternative, benefits retroactive to August 1, 2006.” Id. 

PERF denied Effner’s request for additional benefits because he was “not employed in a 

PERF-covered position earning creditable service during the five (5) years in which [he] 

delayed retirement.” Id. at 350. PERF explained that it could not grant Effner five years “of 

service credit for years in which [he] were not earning service credit” because the calculation 

of benefits “is statutory and mandatory.” Id. 
4

Effner requested administrative review of the PERF decision and the matter was 

submitted to an administrative law judge on January 4, 2011. PERF and Effner filed motions 

for summary judgment. On August 3, 2011, the administrative law judge granted PERF’s 

motion for summary judgment and affirmed PERF’s denial of Effner’s request for additional 

benefits. Id. at 27. Effner subsequently filed Objections to Decision and Recommended Order 

of Administrative Law Judge, and after reviewing the matter, the Executive Director of the 

INPRS affirmed the administrative law judge’s decision.

Effner timely filed a petition for judicial review in Vigo Superior Court on September 

28, 2011. The trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law on July 17, 2012. The 

court found that the administrative law judge’s decision was “arbitrary, unsupported by 

substantial evidence and not in accordance with law[.]” Id. at 164. The trial court concluded 

that the statement in Effner’s 2006 Annual Statement providing that if Effner “worked five (5) 

additional years, thus delaying his retirement, that he would be eligible to receive additional 

monthly pension benefits” was false, and Effner “being unaware of the falsity of this 

representation, relied upon said representation to his substantial detriment.” Id. at 165. 

Ultimately, the trial court concluded that Effner was entitled to prevail on his claims of 

equitable estoppel, fraud and promissory estoppel. The court ordered PERF to calculate 

Effner’s monthly pension benefit as if he had retired on August 1, 2006, and pay damages in an 

amount equal to the monthly benefits from August 1, 2006 to the date of commencement of 

payment of those benefits. And PERF was ordered to pay 8% interest on “such payments from 

the date each such payment would have been due if Petitioner had commenced retirement on 
5

August 1, 2006.” Id. at 167. The INPRS now appeals. Additional facts will be provided as 

necessary. 

Standard of Review

In an appeal involving a decision of an administrative agency, our standard of review is 

governed by the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act, and we are bound by the same 

standard of review as the trial court. Dev. Servs. Alternatives, Inc. v. Ind. Family & Soc. Servs. 

Admin., 915 N.E.2d 169, 176 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009), trans. denied. Although the General 

Assembly has granted courts the power to review the action of state government agencies taken 

pursuant to the AOPA, such power of judicial review is quite limited. Beaty Const., Inc. v. Bd. 

of Safety Review, 912 N.E.2d 824, 828 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

The reviewing court may neither try the case de novo nor substitute its judgment for that 

of the agency. Dev. Servs., 915 N.E.2d at 176 (citing Ind. Code § 4-21.5-5-11). Judicial 

review of disputed issues of fact must be confined to the agency record for the agency action. 

Id. We will not reweigh the evidence, and we give deference to the expertise of the 

administrative body and will reverse the agency’s decision only if it is: (1) arbitrary, capricious, 

an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; (2) contrary to a constitutional 

right, power, privilege, or immunity; (3) in excess of statutory jurisdiction, authority, or 

limitations, or short of statutory right; (4) without observance of procedure required by law; or 

(5) unsupported by substantial evidence. Id. (citing Ind. Code § 4-21.5-5-14(d)). A decision is 

arbitrary and capricious when it is made without any consideration of the facts and lacks any 

basis that could lead a reasonable person to make the same decision made by the administrative 
6

agency. Id. The burden of demonstrating the invalidity of an agency action is on the party 

asserting its invalidity. Beaty Const., 912 N.E.2d at 828 (citing Ind. Code § 4–21.5–5–14(a)).

Discussion and Decision

“The public employees’ retirement fund of Indiana . . . is established to pay benefits to 

officers and employees of the state and its political subdivisions after specified years of service 

and under other specified circumstances.” Ind. Code § 5-10.3-2-1. One component of the 

computation of a PERF member’s benefits is the member’s years of creditable service. See Ind. 

Code § 5-10.2-4-4. Creditable service “consists of all service in a position covered by a 

retirement fund plus all other service for which the retirement fund law gives credit.” Ind. 

Code § 5-10.2-3.1. The parties agree that Effner has nearly 19 years of creditable service.1 

The parties also agree that pursuant to Indiana Code section 5-10.2-4-1, Effner was 

eligible to retire when he received the 2006 Annual Statement from PERF. In 2006, Effner 

was 60 years old and had over fifteen years of creditable service. See I.C. § 5-10.2-4-1(b)(2) 

(stating a “member is eligible for normal retirement if: . . . (2) the member is at least sixty (60) 

years of age and has at least fifteen (15) years of creditable service[.]”). But Effner did not 

apply for PERF benefits until November 2010. 

The General Assembly has unambiguously limited retroactive pension benefits to six 

months before the date the member’s application is received. Ind. Code § 5-10.2-4-1(d)(3) (“A 

member who is eligible for normal or early retirement is entitled to choose a retirement date on 

which the member’s benefit begins if the following conditions are met: . . . (3) The retirement 

 1 Effner’s 2006 Annual Statement lists only fifteen years of his creditable service. In 2010, Effner successfully 

obtained additional creditable service for his employment with the Vigo County Public Defender, where he was 

employed from June 6, 1994 to November 30, 1997.
7

date is not more than six (6) months before the date the application is received by the board.”); 

see also Ind. Mun. Power Agency v. Town of Edinburgh, 769 N.E.2d 222, 226 (Ind. Ct. App. 

2002) (“A statute that is clear and unambiguous must be read to mean what it plainly expresses, 

and its plain and obviously meaning may not be enlarged or restricted.”). Therefore, the 

administrative law judge correctly concluded that “by law, PERF is prohibited from paying a 

PERF member retirement benefits retroactive to a date more than six (6) months before the 

member’s retirement application is received by PERF.” See Appellant’s App. p. 26. 

In spite of this unambiguous statutory limitation, Effner claims that he is entitled 

damages equaling the amount of his “lost benefits” based on the theories of fraud, equitable 

estoppel and promissory estoppel. At the heart of Effner’s claims is his argument that the 2006 

Annual Statement contained an “inaccurate, misleading and a material misrepresentation” 

concerning increased pension benefits if Effner continued to work for five additional years. 

Appellee’s Br. at 14. Effner claims that “PERF is not insulated from responsibility for 

damages incurred . . . as a result of its misrepresentation in the 2006” Statement under the 

theories of fraud, promissory estoppel and equitable estoppel. Id. at 15. 

Fraud, promissory estoppel and equitable estoppel each require proof of a material 

misrepresentation and/or that Effner reasonably relied on a promise to his detriment. See e.g.

Brown v. Branch, 758 N.E.2d 48, 52 (2001); American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ginther, 803 

N.E.2d 224, 234 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004), trans. denied; Comfax Corp. v. North Am. Van Lines, 

Inc., 587 N.E.2d 118, 125 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992). Because we conclude, that as a matter of law, 

the 2006 Annual Statement did not contain a false or misleading statement or a statement that 
8

Effner reasonably relied on to his detriment, Effner cannot prevail on these theories of 

recovery.

The 2006 Annual Statement provides that Effner could receive an increased monthly 

pension benefit “if [Effner] worked 5 additional years[.]” When that statement is read in the 

context of the entire Annual Statement it is more than clear that to receive an increased pension 

benefit, Effner was required to work an additional five years in PERF-covered employment. 

The first two sentences of the 2006 Annual Statement provide: “This is PERF’s firstever Annual Member Statement, which lists our record of your PERF-covered service and 

wages as of Dec. 31. It uses this service and wage data to calculate what your estimated 

pension benefit will be once you become eligible to receive and apply for retirement benefits.” 

Appellant’s App. p. 308. The Statement contains a table titled “Your PERF Work History” 

listing each year of service, the employer during that year of service, Effner’s salary, and his 

service credit. Id. at 309. Moreover, the Annual Statement repeatedly cautions Effner that the 

amount calculated is his “estimated” or “projected” pension benefit. Id. at 308-11. Also, the 

term “pension” is defined in the Statement as: “Your employer-sponsored retirement plan 

where the benefits are calculated using a formula that includes salary history and length of 

employment in a PERF-covered position (creditable service). You must meet specific age and 

service criteria to be eligible to receive this benefit.” Id. at 308 (emphasis added). 

Importantly, and on the page titled “Estimating Your PERF Benefits,” the Statement 

provides, “Each year you work in a PERF-covered position, you are earning creditable service 

towards a retirement from the fund. The tables below show the creditable service and average 

salary used to estimate your future pension benefit.” Id. at 310. One of the two tables referred 
9

to in this statement is the table listing Effner’s increased pension benefits if he “worked 5 

additional years.” Id. (emphasis added).

Effner has isolated one phrase from his 2006 Annual Statement to attempt to support his 

claims. In its entirety, the 2006 Annual Statement clearly and unambiguously informs the 

recipient that only employment in a PERF-covered position resulting in additional years of 

creditable service will increase the member’s monthly pension benefit upon retirement. 

Effner’s reliance on the phrase “if you worked 5 additional years” to conclude that additional 

years of service in non-covered PERF employment should increase his PERF pension benefits

is simply not reasonable.2 

We therefore reverse the trial court and remand this case with instructions to reinstate 

the final order of INPRS’s executive director granting summary judgment to PERF.

Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

KIRSCH, J., and CRONE, J., concur.

 2 Because we have so concluded, we do not address the parties’ discussion of the trial court’s findings 

concerning the Administrative Law Judge’s resolution of certain discovery disputes and the fact that the 

Executive Director’s final order was not served on Effner by certified mail. There are no material facts in 

dispute between the parties and Effner does not dispute actual service of the Final Order.