Sameyah

Karen Sameyah appeals from a judgment entered after the trial court denied her petition for peremptory writ of mandate. By her petition, Sameyah sought an order compelling the Board of Retirement (Board) of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) to reverse its decision denying her application for service-connected survivor death benefits. In January 2004, Sameyah’s husband died of Burkitt’s lymphoma, after serving for seven years as a deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Sameyah received a non-service-connected survivor’s allowance.

Exercising its independent judgment, the trial court found, and the parties agree, that Sameyah established that her husband’s lymphoma is presumed to have arisen out of and in the course of his employment, within the meaning of the cancer presumption set forth in Government Code section 31720.6, subdivision (a). 1 The court also found that Sameyah demonstrated that her husband was exposed to known carcinogens as a result of his performance of the duties of a deputy sheriff, within the meaning of subdivision (b) of section 31720.6. Ultimately, the court concluded that the Board rebutted…