Opinion ID: 2584026
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the agreement entitles plaintiff to payment for all accumulated, unused sick leave in excess of one hundred and twenty days

Text: ¶ 10 Two paragraphs of Article 21 of the Agreement address the disposition of an employee's accumulated, unused sick leave upon retirement. The first states: Sick leave days may be cumulative up to a maximum total of one hundred twenty (120) days.... Any unused sick leave days in excess of the one hundred twenty (120) days is irrevocably transferred to the individual employees (sic) sick leave retirement bank and may be used for retirement purposes only. (the retirement bank clause) Several paragraphs later, the Agreement states: A teacher who has his/her last ten consecutive years of service in the Okmulgee Public Schools prior to retirement will be paid for all unused sick leave above one hundred twenty (120) days at the teacher's per diem rate when he/she retires from the school system. (the reimbursement clause) ¶ 11 There is no dispute (1) that plaintiff spent the last ten (10) consecutive years in the service of the Okmulgee Public Schools and (2) that he accumulated a total of one hundred sixty-five and one-half (165½) days of unused sick leave prior to the date of his retirement. Plaintiff relies on the reimbursement clause of the Agreement, which he asserts clearly and unambiguously entitles him to be paid for all the sick leave he accumulated in excess of one hundred twenty (120) days. ¶ 12 Defendant argues that both the retirement bank clause and the reimbursement clause apply to plaintiff and that one directly contradicts the other. Defendant urges that the court can and must reconcile the conflicting provisions and that the key to that endeavor is to be found in the sick leave reimbursement policy adopted by the Board in 1998. That policy states: Employees of [the] Okmulgee School District upon retirement will be compensated at their per diem rate for any and all unused sick leave above one hundred twenty days (120). ADOPTED: May 12, 1998. (the sick leave reimbursement policy) ¶ 13 Defendant argues that prior to the adoption of the sick leave reimbursement policy, the disposition of unused sick leave was governed solely by the (then extant version of the) retirement bank clause of the Agreement, which controlled (and continues to control) the disposition of all unused sick leave days accumulated before the sick leave reimbursement policy was adopted. [11] Under that provision all sick leave days in excess of one hundred twenty (120) days were irrevocably transferred to the individual employee's retirement bank to be used for retirement purposes only. [12] Defendant contends that reimbursement of unused sick leave is not a retirement purpose, that phrase being limited to the credit toward retirement provided by the terms of 70 O.S.2001 § 17-116.2(H). ¶ 14 In 1998 defendant decided that it would offer teachers payment for some of their unused sick leave in excess of one hundred twenty (120) days in place of the Agreement's negotiated arrangement for the transfer of all of those days to the employee's retirement bank. Accordingly, the school district adopted the sick leave reimbursement policy on 12 May 1998. According to defendant, the retirement bank clause of the Agreement and the sick leave reimbursement policy work together in the following way. Any sick leave days accumulated before the adoption of the policy, having been irrevocably transferred to the individual employee's retirement bank before the policy was adopted, remain subject to the retirement bank clause of the Agreement and are unavailable for reimbursement purposes. Any unused sick leave days accumulated after the policy's adoption can be reimbursed as provided by the policy. ¶ 15 Turning to the Agreement's reimbursement clause, [13] defendant argues that if that clause is considered alone in relation to the retirement bank clause, the two clauses are irreconcilably in conflict. This is so, defendant contends, because unused sick leave days cannot be both irrevocably transferred to a retirement bank for the purpose of credit toward retirement and thereafter still be retrievable for reimbursement. In short, for the retirement bank clause to mean what it says, the reimbursement clause cannot literally mean what it says. Defendant then argues that the repugnancy can be cured only by resort to the sick leave reimbursement policy. Defendant proposes that the reimbursement clause should simply be treated as a contractual adaptation of the sick leave reimbursement policy applicable only to sick leave accumulated after 12 May 1998. In this manner, defendant contends, both clauses of the Agreement are given effect without seriously violating the literal meaning of either. ¶ 16 Whether a contract is ambiguous and hence requires extrinsic evidence for its clarification is a matter of law for the court to resolve. [14] There is no need to resort to extrinsic evidence to ascertain a contract's meaning where its language is clear and explicit. [15] When a contract is reduced to writing, the parties' intent is to be ascertained from the writing alone whenever possible. [16] Where a contract contains clauses seemingly repugnant to each other, the repugnant clauses must be reconciled if it can be done by any reasonable construction. [17] ¶ 17 We perceive no irreconcilable conflict between the contract provisions at issue that requires resort to extrinsic evidence for its clarification or resolution. The school district and the teachers specifically contracted that the Agreement represents the full and complete agreement between the parties. We will not look beyond the four corners of the Agreement to interpret the contract unless it is absolutely necessary. In this case it is not. The two clauses at issue simply provide nonuniform arrangements for the disposition of unused sick leave depending upon the retiring teacher's tenure with the school district. The retirement bank clause provides the general rule for the disposition of sick leave applicable to all teachers except those who qualify for participation in the reimbursement clause. The reimbursement clause provides more favorable treatment for those teachers who have served in the Okmulgee Public Schools for ten (10) consecutive years prior to retirement. The latter are eligible to receive reimbursement for their unused sick leave. ¶ 18 This interpretation does not conflict with the irrevocable nature of the transfer of excess unused sick leave days to the individual employee's retirement bank because nothing in the Agreement precludes reimbursement as a retirement purpose. That a teacher might accumulate unused sick leave days with the intent of receiving additional compensation upon retirement is just as clearly a retirement purpose as receiving credit for those days. ¶ 19 Finally, the Agreement does not make the distinction defendant posits between days accumulated before 12 May 1998 and those accumulated after that date. If it had been the parties' intent to limit reimbursement in the manner defendant proposes, it would have been a simple matter to do so either by an explicit statement to that effect or by including in the Agreement a reference to the sick leave reimbursement policy. ¶ 20 Plaintiff had at least ten (10) years of consecutive service with the school district on the date of his retirement. He is hence entitled to be paid for all unused sick leave in excess of one hundred twenty (120) days. That portion of the trial court's judgment is affirmed.