Rodriguez

Petitioner Josafat Rodriguez, Jr., a former Santa Cruz police officer, applied to the City of Santa Cruz (the City) for industrial disability retirement, alleging psychiatric disability due to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The City denied Rodriguez’s application. Rodriguez challenged that denial by means of a petition for a writ of administrative mandate, which the superior court denied. On appeal from that denial Rodriguez claims, among other things, that the trial court applied the incorrect standard of review. We agree and therefore shall reverse the order denying the petition and remand the case to the trial court.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

1. Rodriguez’s Military Service

Rodriguez joined the Marine Corps in 1989, immediately after graduating from high school. He served in the First Gulf War as the demolition specialist in a five-man infantry fire team. He and his team patrolled the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for approximately six months. A mortar attack killed three of his team members and injured the fourth. Following the attack, Rodriguez and another fire team had the gmesome task of collecting the slain marines’ bodies. Rodriguez…