San Francisco Fire Fighters, Local 798 v. Retirement Board

Statement of the Case

The San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798, International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO (plaintiff), filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of Joseph Del Bene, a fire fighter and member of the union, and on behalf of other members similarly situated. The plaintiff sought a peremptory writ to compel the Retirement Board of the San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System (Board) to include roughly three and one-half years Del Bene received disability retirement benefits as years of service necessary for service retirement benefits. The superior court denied the petition. Plaintiffs request for reconsideration of the decision was denied, and a judgment of dismissal was rendered on February 22, *606 1980. Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the judgment and enter a different judgment was denied. We affirm.

Facts

Joseph Del Bene was bom on January 5, 1927. He began his employment with the San Francisco Fire Department on April 23, 1952. On February 6, 1957, he retired because of an injury sustained in the course of his employment. He received disability retirement benefits until June 1, 1961,…