Dondi S. Stemple v. West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board, 23-ica-308

Dondi S. Stemple, a longtime teacher in West Virginia and Virginia, withdrew from the WV Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) in 1986 with a notarized request.
In 2022, upon retirement, Stemple discovered over $16,000 was removed from her retirement accounts in 2002 via forms she asserts she never signed; signatures were not notarized and addressed to a possibly mistaken address in Virginia.
Stemple alleges the withdrawals were fraudulent and possibly committed by her now-deceased ex-husband, who managed the couple's finances at the time.
The West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board (the Board) denied her claim, maintaining that its fiduciary duty did not require verification of withdrawal requests beyond statutory or policy requirements.
The Board adopted a Hearing Examiner decision denying relief, focusing only on its fiduciary duties and not whether an error (fraudulent withdrawal) had occurred per relevant statutes.
On appeal, the Intermediate Court of Appeals found the Board failed to address whether a correctable error occurred and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Did the Board breach fiduciary duty by not preventing/fixing alleged unauthorized withdrawals?	Board didn’t fulfill its duty to safeguard her account, failed to correct error.	Board only needs to comply with statutory duties, not further verification.	Board failed by not addressing whether error statute applies; reversed and remanded.
Must the Board correct errors (fraudulent withdrawals) under WV Code §§ 18-7A-14c, 18-7B-21?	Statutes require Board to rectify any errors once found, no matter the cause.	"Error" is limited; Board not required to reimburse due to pooled nature of funds.	Statutes require Board to correct any error, including reimbursing wrongly withdrawn funds.
Is "error" in retirement statutes broad enough to include possible fraud or unauthorized action?	Yes; any mistake, including fraud, counts as an error to be corrected.	No; definition shouldn’t be broadly applied as Board lacked evidence of error.	Court applied common meaning of "error"—must be corrected if established.
Whether the Board's actions satisfied its procedural obligations as an administrative agency?	Failed to even consider alleged error; thus, failed statutorily and procedurally.	Followed all statutory procedures required at the time of withdrawal.	Board’s decision affected by error of law for not addressing existence of error.

In Re Queen, 196 W. Va. 442 (clearly wrong/arbitrary and capricious standard for administrative review)
Cahill v. Mercer Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 208 W. Va. 177 (de novo review for application of law to fact)
W. Va. Consol. Pub. Ret. Bd. v. Clark, 245 W. Va. 510 (board's highest fiduciary duty as a statutory trustee)
State v. Epperly, 135 W. Va. 877 (statutory clarity—clear provisions must be applied as written)
Tug Valley Recovery Center v. Mingo County Commission, 164 W. Va. 94 (words in a statute given ordinary meanings)