Defining “In the Performance of Duties” in Accidental Disability Cases

In Michel v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (CR-24-0216), the Division of Administrative Law Appeals reversed the MTRS’s denial of accidental disability retirement benefits for a longtime adjustment counselor, holding that his post-concussion syndrome rendered him permanently incapacitated and that the injury was sustained in the performance of his job duties.

Wadson Michel, an educator and adjustment counselor with over two decades of service, supervised alternative high school students in both counseling and elective activities such as soccer. In May 2019, while participating as a goalie during the soccer elective, he collided with a student and struck his head against a padded wall. Soon after, he developed lasting neurological and psychological symptoms, including memory problems, headaches, mood swings, and sensitivity to light and noise.

Although Michel had prior head injuries, he had returned to work with accommodations and was performing his duties successfully before the 2019 accident. Following the incident, however, his condition worsened, leading to extended absence, medical treatment, and eventually an application for accidental disability retirement.

A majority of the medical panel found that Michel’s disability was either directly caused or significantly aggravated by the 2019 accident, even considering his prior history. His treating physicians supported that conclusion. One panelist dissented, citing a lack of “objective findings,” but the magistrate emphasized that statutory procedure vests the panel with authority to resolve such medical questions.

The MTRS argued that Michel was not injured “in the performance of his duties” because he played soccer with students rather than supervising from the sidelines as preferred by administrators. The magistrate rejected this, finding that Michel was performing his supervisory duty and that only “serious and willful misconduct” would bar benefits. Precedent confirmed that performing duties in an unwise or unconventional way still qualifies as “in the performance of duties.”

On causation, the magistrate accepted the majority medical panel’s view that the 2019 accident aggravated Michel’s prior condition to the point of disability, distinguishing cumulative deterioration from workplace aggravation.

This case underscores that public employees remain eligible for accidental disability retirement when performing job duties, even if their methods differ from supervisory preferences, and that workplace accidents aggravating preexisting conditions can establish causation for benefits.