Court Opinion

ID: 9641040
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 17:21:35.567812+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:34.692922
License: Public Domain

CLIFFORD, Justice,
with whom ROBERTS and GLASSMAN, Justices, join dissenting.
In my view, the language of 5 M.R.S.A. § 17001 is clear that the payment of up to thirty days of accumulated sick leave constitutes earnable compensation, and does not support the construction placed on it by the Board. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
What constitutes “earnable compensation” is crucial to determining the average final compensation on which the retirement benefits of teachers is based. To determine thé meaning of a statute, we look first to its language. Porter v. Maine State Retirement Sys., 609 A.2d 1146, 1149 (Me.1992). At the time the plaintiffs retired, section 17001 provided:
“Earnable compensation” means salaries and wages paid for services rendered in an employment position, subject to the following inclusions, exclusions and limitations.
B. “Earnable compensation” does not include:
(1) Payment for more than SO days of unused accumulated or accrued sick leave, payment for more than 30 days of unused vacation leave or payment for more than 30 days of a combination of both;
(2) Any other payment which is not compensation for actual services rendered or which is not paid at the time the actual services are rendered; ...
P.L.1989, eh. 800 (effective July 14, 1990) (codified as amended at 5 M.R.S.A. § 17001(13) (Supp.1994)) (emphasis added).
Section 17001(13)(B)(1) is not ambiguous. Subsection (B)(1) provides for the inclusion of up to thirty days of accumulated sick leave as earnable compensation by specifically excluding payment for more than thirty days. The exclusion in subsection (B)(2) is directed at any payment other than sick leave or vacation leave. Because the language is clear, there is no need to look beyond it. Central Me. Medical Ctr. v. Maine Health Care Fin. Comm’n, 644 A.2d 1383, 1386 (Me.1994).
By construing the statute to mean that thirty days of accumulated sick leave paid as a retirement incentive could not be included *21as earnable compensation, the Board imper-missibly writes into the statute a limitation that is not supported by its plain language. Such a construction is not conclusive on this Court. Soucy v. Maine State Retirement Sys., 456 A.2d 1279, 1281 (Me.1983). Moreover, the “statutory definition must be interpreted in light of the objectives of the statute, [at least one of which] is to fulfill the ‘legitimate retirement expectations of employees.’” Huard v. Maine State Retirement Sys., 562 A.2d 694, 698 (Me.1989) (quoting Soucy, 456 A.2d at 1281). “What an employee may reasonably expect is consistency over the years in the definition of ‘earnable compensation’ used in administering the Maine State Retirement System.” Huard, 562 A.2d at 698.
As authority for its action in denying benefits, the Board relies on a 1987 regulation that the Court acknowledges does not clearly support its position. It is not until 1992, after these plaintiffs had retired, that the Board promulgated a rule clearly providing that payment of up to 30 days of sick leave is not earnable compensation if paid as a retirement incentive.1 The Board’s interpretation not only is contrary to the plain language of the statute, but it undermines the employees’ reasonable expectation of consistency and clarity in the definition of earnable compensation under the retirement statute. Huard, 562 A.2d at 698.
I would vacate the Superior Court judgment.

. Likewise, section 17001(13)(B) has been amended, subsequent to the retirement of these plaintiffs, to provide that unused sick leave is not earnable compensation unless paid before an application for retirement benefits is made. P.L. 1991, ch. 432.