Opinion ID: 1924211
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: should freeman be granted a new hearing because pers wrongfully placed the burden of proving continuing disability upon freeman?

Text: ¶ 16. A claimant has the burden of proving to the medical board and to the Appeals Committee that she is in fact disabled, in an initial application for disability benefits. PERS v. Dishmon, 797 So.2d 888, 893. There is a rebuttable presumption in favor of the action of an administrative agency and the burden of proof is on the one challenging its action. Fulce, 759 So.2d at 404. ¶ 17. Freeman claims that this Court has never spoken concerning who has the burden of proof in a PERS disability termination case. Freeman further asserts that since PERS is acting in an adjudicative capacity it is bound by principles of res judicata as to facts that have already been decided by that body in a particular case. PERS responds by noting that the cases cited by Freeman for authority were zoning decisions and, thus, clearly distinguishable. ¶ 18. A plain reading of the statute indicates that a determination of disability by PERS cannot be res judicata. Clearly the Legislature did not intend that a determination of disability is permanent. It provided for reevaluation on a yearly basis for the first five years, and every three years thereafter. Miss.Code Ann. § 25-11-113(3) (1999). ¶ 19. Recently this Court has affirmatively stated that the burden is on the claimant to initially prove disability to the Medical Review Board and the Disability Appeals Committee. However, this Court has not previously addressed the question of who bears the burden of proving continuing disability. The disabled retiree must undergo medical examinations as requested by the Board, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-113(3) (1999), to continue to receive disability benefits. However, because the statutory language is permissive, not mandatory, PERS must not only properly notify the disabled retiree when such medical examinations are required, but also specify what information must be included in the report of the examinations. [2]