Flanagan v. Contributory Retirement Appeal Board

This case requires that we determine whether the State Board of Retirement has authority under G. L. c. 32, § 20(5)(6), to recover pension benefits the plaintiff received in violation of G. L. c. 32, § 91. The facts and procedural background, as to which there is no dispute, are as follows.

The plaintiff, James Flanagan, retired from State service in 1987 after thirty years employment at Southeastern Massachusetts University (now the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth) and seven years as a school teacher. Shortly after retiring, Flanagan began working for Bristol County as a consultant,…