Source: https://openjurist.org/88/f3d/886/gatewood-v-railroad-retirement-board
Timestamp: 2018-03-23 13:12:29
Document Index: 120669389

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 231', '§ 355', '§ 231', '§ 209', '§ 231', '§ 231', '§ 231', '§ 231', '§ 210', '§ 231', '§ 210', '§ 231', '§ 231']

88 F3d 886 Gatewood v. Railroad Retirement Board | OpenJurist
88 F. 3d 886 - Gatewood v. Railroad Retirement Board
88 F3d 886 Gatewood v. Railroad Retirement Board
88 F.3d 886
Roth A. GATEWOOD, Petitioner,
No. 95-9537.
This court has jurisdiction to review decisions of the Railroad Retirement Board under 45 U.S.C. § 231g. That section incorporates the standard of review under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, which states that "[t]he findings of the Board as to the facts, if supported by evidence and in the absence of fraud, shall be conclusive." 45 U.S.C. § 355(f). This court held long ago that the "judgments [of the Board] are final and conclusive if supported by substantial evidence and if free from arbitrary or capricious conduct." Utah Copper Co. v. Railroad Retirement Bd., 129 F.2d 358, 361 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 317 U.S. 687, 63 S.Ct. 258, 87 L.Ed. 550, 551 (1942). Our view of this standard has not changed. Once we determine that the Board's factual findings are supported by substantial evidence and its decision is not based on an error of law, our task is complete. Accord Bowers v. Railroad Retirement Bd., 977 F.2d 1485, 1488 (D.C.Cir.1992).
Section 9 of the Railroad Retirement Act requires employers under the Act to file with the Board returns of compensation for their employees. 45 U.S.C. § 231h. The regulations promulgated under the Railroad Retirement Act require that employers must file these reports annually by the end of February of the year following that for which the report is made. 20 C.F.R. § 209.6(a). Covered employees may bring any errors in the Board's records to the attention of the Board "within four years after the day on which return of the compensation was required to be made;" after such time, the Board's records "shall be conclusive." 45 U.S.C. § 231h. After the four years expire, the Board is no longer required to alter its records in response to an employee complaint. Pawelczak v. United States, 931 F.2d 108, 110 (D.C.Cir.1991).
Mr. Gatewood argues primarily that the four-year statute of limitations does not apply in this case because 45 U.S.C. § 231h by its language only applies to restrict protests regarding compensation, and not to the issue of service records. See 45 U.S.C. § 231h. We disagree. While service is not explicitly mentioned in the statute, the terms "service" and "compensation" are closely interrelated throughout the Railroad Retirement Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder. The statute defines "years of service" as "the number of years an individual as an employee shall have rendered service to one or more employers for compensation." 45 U.S.C. § 231(f)(1); see also 20 C.F.R. § 210.3(a) (defining a "reported month of service" as "any calendar month ... for which an employee receives compensation for services performed"). Similarly, "compensation" is defined as "any form of money remuneration paid to an individual for services rendered as an employee." 45 U.S.C. § 231(h)(1). Mr. Gatewood seeks to persuade the court that service is defined in terms of "payment" and not "compensation," citing the definition of "service" found at 20 C.F.R. § 210.2. Such an interpretation ignores the statutory and regulatory provisions cited above which clearly demonstrate that service and compensation are interrelated concepts.
Irwin v. Department of Veterans Affairs, 498 U.S. 89, 96, 111 S.Ct. 453, 457-58, 112 L.Ed.2d 435 (1990) (footnotes and citations omitted).
Under the Railroad Retirement Act, "employee" is defined as "any individual in the service of one or more employers for compensation." 45 U.S.C. § 231(b)(1)(i). The issue thus becomes whether Mr. Gatewood was "in the service of" ATSF. Under the Act:
45 U.S.C. § 231(d)(1). The expansive language found in subsections (B) and (C) was added by amendment in 1946 for the purpose of bringing "a self-employed individual who was rendering service to a railroad under contract" within the definition of "employee" for purposes of the Act. Kelm v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Ry. Co., 206 F.2d 831, 835 (8th Cir.1953). The legislative history of the 1946 amendment explains how courts should determine if attorneys and other professionals are in fact "employees" for purposes of the Act: