The Retirement Board of the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island v. Fred L. Randall

Syllabus

The defendant, Fred L. Randall, appealed from a Superior Court judgment revoking his pension benefits, denying his request for return of his retirement contributions paid into the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island (ERSRI), and ordering that retirement payments made to his spouse, Diane Randall, must be applied towards restitution ordered against him. On appeal, the defendant asserted that the trial justice erred in conditioning Mrs. Randall's payments on the assignment of those payments to his restitution judgment and in failing to apply his pension contributions towards his restitution obligations. The Supreme Court concluded that, pursuant to the Public Employee Pension Revocation and Reduction Act, G.L. 1956 chapter 10.1 of title 36 (PEPRRA), revoked or reduced pension benefits or payments can only be paid to an innocent spouse, domestic partner, dependent, or beneficiary. Accordingly, the Court concluded that the trial justice erred in conditioning the payment of pension benefits to Mrs. Randall upon the assignment of those payments to the University of Rhode Island (URI) because the final payee of defendant's pension payments would be URI, which does not qualify as an innocent spouse, dependent, or beneficiary as required by the plain language of PEPRRA. The Supreme Court also concluded that the trial justice erred in declining to apply the defendant's pension contributions to his restitution obligations merely because the defendant failed to make that specific request. Accordingly, the Supreme Court (1) affirmed that portion of the judgment that revoked, in full and on a permanent basis, the defendant's pension benefits (2) affirmed that portion of the judgment that declared that Mrs. Randall is an innocent spouse and is awarded pension payments (3) vacated that portion of the judgment that directed Mrs. Randall to pay her pension payments as an innocent spouse towards the defendant's restitution obligations and remanded for a recalcula