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Branson v. Municipal Fire & Police Retirement System of Iowa3/24/1999
ity; (2) causation; and (3) injury or disease); Robert M. Schoenhaus, Annotation, Determination Whether Firefighter's Disability is Service-Connected for Disability Pension Purposes, 7 A.L.R.4th 799, 804 (1981) (noting that some jurisdictions have bifurcated pension systems which provide one level of pension benefits to firefighters who sustain any disabling injury, while providing a higher level of benefits to firefighters who become disabled as a direct result of an accidental injury sustained in the performance of duty caused by a sudden and unexpected event).
The parties do not dispute that Branson satisfies the first element, that is, that Branson is permanently incapacitated for further duties as a firefighter. Nor do the parties dispute that Branson's incapacitation is a result of his duties as a firefighter, or that he is entitled to some type of disability retirement benefits under chapter 411.
Branson, however, does not contend that his disability is the result of a specific work-related incident that occurred during the performance of his work duties so as to satisfy the third element. Rather, Branson contends the System and the district court should have considered a cumulative trauma theory as to the issue of his qualifying for accidental disability retirement benefits. He says that the phrase "at some definite time and place" in section 411.6(5)(a) should be construed broadly to include a cumulative, progressing injury rather than a single event and thus his progressing knee condition would qualify him for accidental disability retirement benefits under that statute.
IV. Is plaintiff entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits?
The narrow question we must decide is whether a member of the retirement system, see Iowa Code sections 411.1(11), 411.3 (discussing definition of "member"), who sustains a cumulative, progressing injury , or aggravation of a condition, not caused by any specific accident or incident, is entitled to accidental disability retirement benefits under Iowa Code section 411.6(5). The answer to this question depends upon our interpretation of the phrase "an injury . . . incurred in or aggravated by the actual performance of duty at some definite time and place" as found in section 411.6(5)(a).
In considering the proper interpretation of section 411.6(5)(a), we keep in mind that laws creating pension rights are to be liberally construed to promote their legislative purpose and objective. See Patton v. Municipal Fire & Police Retirement Sys., 587 N.W.2d 480, 482 (Iowa 1998) (citations omitted). However, we are not free to ignore the statutory language of chapter 411 in favor of what the statute "should" provide. Id. Our task is to look at what the legislature said, rather than what it should or might have said. Id.; accord Stroup v. Reno, 530 N.W.2d 441, 444 (Iowa 1995).
Upon our review, we believe that the language of section 411.6(5)(a) is clear and unambiguous and plainly requires that a member's incapacitating disability be attributed to a specific event or incident in order to qualify for accidental disability retirement benefits. Specifically, the term "accident," in describing a type of disability retirement benefit, when read together with the phrase "at some definite time and place," suggests that the incapacitating disability is the result of, or can be traced to, a specific event. Because we believe the language of section 411.6(5)(a) is clear and unambiguous, we need not resort to rules of statutory construction to determine legislative intent. See Drahaus v. State, 584 N.W.2d 270, 274 (Iowa 1998) (when text of statute is plain and its meaning clear, court will not search for meaning beyon
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