Opinion ID: 1734067
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did a conflict of interest exist within the Appeals Committee?

Text: ¶ 28. Miss.Code Ann. § 25-11-120(3), which deals with hearings before the PERS Appeals Committee, provides that the Board of Trustees is authorized to appoint a committee of the [B]oard to serve as hearing officer or to employ or contract with qualified personnel to perform the duties of hearing officer and court reporter as may be necessary for conducting, recording and transcribing such hearings. When Byrd appeared before the Appeals Committee, it was comprised of three voting members: Dr. David Duddleston, Dr. William Nicholas, and Assistant Attorney General Michael Langford, who served as the hearing officer. In addition to these three voting members, Dr. Michael Winkelmann also sat on the Appeals Committee; however, he did not vote on Byrd's appeal. All four of these individuals questioned Byrd during the course of her hearing. At the conclusion of the testimony, the three voting members of the Appeals Committee voted to affirm the Medical Board's initial decision to deny benefits. ¶ 29. Byrd now argues that Dr. Winkelmann's presence on the Appeals Committee created a conflict of interest which deprived her of a fair hearing. Byrd bases this argument on the fact that Dr. Winkelmann shared a medical practice with Dr. Vohra, who provided evidence which weighed against her claim of disability. Byrd asserts that in denying her claim, PERS relied heavily on Dr. Vohra's opinion as to the lack of severity of her impairment. She further asserts that the Appeals Committee could not fairly and impartially review the Medical Board's decision when that decision was predicated on the opinion of the partner of a member sitting on its committee. PERS counters this argument by stating that, regardless of the relationship between Dr. Winkelmann and Dr. Vohra, no conflict of interest could exist since Dr. Winkelmann did not vote on Byrd's appeal. ¶ 30. Although the case is factually distinguishable from the case sub judice, Dean v. PERS, is dispositive on the current issue. Dean v. PERS, No. 98-CT-00033-SCT, ___ So.2d ___, 2000 WL 1864480 (Miss. Dec.21, 2000). In that case, Dean's application for disability benefits was initially denied by the PERS Medical Board. Dean notified PERS that he would appeal, and PERS arranged for Dean to be examined by a physician of its choice, Dr. Vohra. After examining Dean, Dr. Vohra submitted an opinion that Dean was not entitled to disability benefits. Thereafter, the Medical Board issued a second denial of Dean's application. Dean appealed this second denial, and he was afforded a hearing before the PERS Appeals Committee. Sitting on the Appeals Committee were Dr. Vohra, who had just examined Dean, and Dr. Winkelmann, both of whom were members of the PERS Medical Board. The Appeals Committee voted to affirm the Medical Board's denial of benefits, a decision adopted by the PERS Board of Trustees. ¶ 31. In reversing and remanding the denial of Dean's application, this Court held that no reasonable interpretation of Miss.Code Ann. § 25-11-120(3) and the relevant attendant statutes will allow the Board of Trustees to appoint a committee comprised partly of members of the Medical Board to sit in review of a decision by the Medical Board. Id. ¶ 26. ¶ 32. Although Drs. Duddleston and Nicholas were not members of the Medical Board when Byrd appeared before the Appeals Committee, Dr. Winkelmann was. Dr. Winkelmann questioned Byrd about the physical therapy she had undergone, the pain she suffered, the requirements of her job with the school system, the medications she took, and the effects of those medications. Notwithstanding that he did not actually vote on Byrd's appeal, under this Court's holding in Dean, Dr. Winkelmann's presence on the Appeals Committee, and his participation in Byrd's hearing, was not allowed by the statutes which govern PERS. Accordingly, we find this assignment of error to be well taken.