Fulkes

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In the proceedings below, the Board did not deny that Fulkes had become permanently disabled to carry out his job duties and it granted Fulkes a non-service- connected disability retirement. The crux of the dispute between the parties was whether that permanent disability was, in fact, service-connected. According to the relevant statutory provision, a county employee qualifies for a service-connected disability if, and only if, “[t]he member’s incapacity is a result of injury or disease arising out of and in the course of the member’s employment, and such employment contributes substantially to such incapacity .…” (Gov. Code, § 31720, subd. (a).)1 The main focus of the evidence and argument below was the particular issue whether Fulkes’s employment contributed substantially to his permanent disability. With that brief introduction, we now summarize the factual record and procedural matters leading to the present appeal. Fulkes’s Testimony We begin with a synopsis of Fulkes’s testimony in the administrative hearing before a hearing officer appointed by the Board. Again, the purpose of the administrative Unless otherwise indicated, statutory…