Opinion ID: 200109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Creditable Service

Text: 63 The Town argues that the magistrate judge erred when he concluded that Lapine was entitled to three years of creditable service toward his retirement. The final judgment states, in pertinent part, that: 64 The defendant, Town of Wellesley, for purposes of the retirement of the plaintiff, Gary W. Lapine, shall reinstate him as if he became a new employee of the Wellesley Police Department of May 13, 1990 and shall permit him to make whatever payments he would have made to the retirement system from May 13, 1990 to the date of judgment.... 65 The Town asserts that it is inappropriate for Lapine to be permitted to buy back into the retirement system for the three years he was in the military. 66 Federal law, and the cases interpreting its provisions, do not support the Town's assertion. While Lapine's reemployment rights stem from section 4304(b)(1) of the VRRA, the benefits to which he is eligible upon reemployment are found in section 4301(a). Tirado-Acosta v. Puerto Rico Nat'l Guard, 118 F.3d 852, 854 (1st Cir.1997). Section 4301(a)(2)(B)(ii) provides that a veteran, eligible for reemployment, shall be reemployed to a position of like seniority, status, and pay. 67 The Supreme Court has interpreted this provision to mean that [The veteran] does not step back on the seniority escalator at the point he stepped off. He steps back on at the precise point he would have occupied had he kept his position continuously during the war. Fishgold, 328 U.S. at 284-85, 66 S.Ct. 1105. Pension benefits are considered a perquisite of seniority protected by the VRRA. Alabama Power Co. v. Davis, 431 U.S. 581, 591, 97 S.Ct. 2002, 52 L.Ed.2d 595 (1976); Bunnell v. New Eng. Teamsters and Trucking Indus. Pension Fund, 655 F.2d 451, 452 (1st Cir.1981). Protecting veterans from the loss of such rewards when the break of their employment resulted from their response to the country's military needs is the purpose of [§ 4301]. Davis, 431 U.S. at 594, 97 S.Ct. 2002. 68 Lapine stepped off the seniority escalator when he resigned his position, effective May 13, 1990, in order to perform military duty. Pursuant to the VRRA, as interpreted by the Court in Davis, 431 U.S. at 591, 97 S.Ct. 2002, he steps back on the elevator as if he had not been absent for three years. Thus, Lapine is entitled to the three years of police service he would have accumulated had he not terminated his employment to enter upon active duty. 69 The result is the same under Massachusetts law. Paragraph 1 of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 32, § 4(h) provides that the period of time that a veteran 13 is on a leave of absence for military duty shall be allowed as creditable service for purposes of pension benefits. Federal law provides that a veteran is considered to be on a leave of absence during his period of service. § 4301(b)(1)(A). Specifically, section 4301(b)(1)(A) provides that any person who is restored to his position: 70 shall be considered as having been on furlough or leave of absence during such person's period of training and service... shall be so restored or reemployed without loss of seniority, shall be entitled to participate in insurance and other benefits offered by the employer pursuant to established rules and practices relating to employees on furlough or leave of absence.... 71 Id. Because Lapine is deemed to have been on a leave of absence, he is to receive creditable service for the three years he was on active duty. 72 Even if paragraph 1 did not apply, paragraph 4 of § 4(h) provides that: 73 Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other general or special law, rule or regulation to the contrary, a member of service of a retirement system ... who is a veteran who served in the Armed Forces of the United States and who has completed ten or more years of membership shall be entitled to credit for active service in the armed services of the United States;... provided further that such creditable service shall not be construed to include service for more than four years.... 74 Lapine was a member of the retirement system for more than ten years. As a result, his period of active duty is creditable under this provision as well. Thus, we concur with the magistrate judge's conclusion that Lapine is eligible for the three years of creditable service he would have accumulated had he not entered upon active duty.