Employees' Retirement System Board of Control v. Givhan

I concur in the well-reasoned analysis of the main opinion. My agreement with the main opinion is bolstered by my threshold observations that (1) the Legislature clearly must have intended that a retiring member of the Employees’ Retirement System be entitled to receive retirement benefits even if he or she does not exercise one of the options given to them in § 36-27-16(d), Ala.Code 1975, to select reduced retirement payments during their life in return for certain benefits payable after their death, and (2) accordingly, the Legislature likewise must have intended there to be a default as to…