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Branson v. Municipal Fire & Police Retirement System of Iowa3/24/1999
d express terms of statute or resort to rules of statutory construction). Rather, we must simply enforce the language of section 411.6(5)(a) as written. See id.
We also point out that none of the cases relied upon by Branson assist us in this appeal. In those cases where accidental disability retirement benefits were awarded, a specific injury could either be pinpointed or was not required. See, e.g., City of Cedar Rapids, 572 N.W.2d at 925 (upholding System's award of accidental disability benefits to police officer for mental injury, without accompanying physical injury, based on specific stressful events that occurred during work as officer); City of Cedar Rapids, 526 N.W.2d at 290 (award by System of accidental disability benefits upheld where firefighter's specific 1984 back injury was substantial factor in precipitating degenerative disc disease); Butler v. Pension Bd., 147 N.W.2d 27, 30 (Iowa 1966) (former police matron was diagnosed with heart disease, a service connected disability which is presumed under language of statute to arise from active duty, and thus it was unnecessary for claimant to pinpoint any particular event as the cause of her condition).
Additionally, the fact that we recognized the availability of workers' compensation benefits in cases involving a cumulative injury , see McKeever Custom Cabinets v. Smith, 379 N.W.2d 368, 374 (Iowa 1985), does not control the outcome of this case. Unlike the workers' compensation statute which simply requires that the injury arise out of and in the course of employment, see Iowa Code section 85.3(1), the legislature has decided that in order to be eligible for the higher level of accidental disability retirement benefits, the injured person must show that the injury is attributable to a specific event at some definite time and place, not simply that the injury arose out of the course and scope of employment.
Simply stated, Iowa Code section 411.6(5)(a) requires a member to prove that his or her incapacitating injury is the result of a specific, work-related accident or incident to qualify for accidental disability retirement benefits. The record shows Branson does not meet this requirement and thus he is not entitled to receive accidental disability retirement benefits from the defendant System. Cf. Chapman v. Sanders, 528 S.W.2d 462, 464-65 (Mo. Ct. App. 1975) (police officer who was involved in several automobile accidents during his career, none of which resulted in total and permanent incapacity, did not qualify for accidental disability retirement benefits; series of accidents or "traumatic events" did not constitute an "accident" under Missouri statute requiring that the member's disability result from an accident "occurring at some definite time and place").
We do not question the wisdom of legislation concerning the availability of greater benefits to a member who sustains a disabling injury which can be attributed to a specific time or event versus a member who develops a disabling injury over time. See Utilicorp United Inc. v. Iowa Utilities Bd., 570 N.W.2d 451, 456 (Iowa 1997) (determining wisdom or effectiveness of legislation is not a judicial function). Moreover, the fact that Branson receives a lesser amount of disability retirement benefits than a member who sustains a disabling injury attributable to a specific event does not mean that the legislature does not value Branson's years of service. The legislature has simply made the requirements for accidental disability retirement benefits more stringent than those required for ordinary disability retirement benefits. Because those requirements are clear and unambiguous, our only task is to enforce them. See Drahaus, 584 N.W.2d at 274. We also note
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