J.C. Gondek v. PA Municipal Retirement Board, J.C. Gondek v. PA Municipal Retirement Board

Gondek was hired by Antrim Township as Township Manager on December 3, 1985, and participated in the township’s pre-1989 pension plan.
The Township enacted an ordinance and entered into a Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (PMRS) Agreement effective January 1, 1989; membership was mandatory and the prior pension plan was terminated as of that date.
The PMRS Agreement defined credited service as accruing from the member’s date of hire and required five years of credited service to vest retirement annuity rights; prior service is measured by actual time employed.
Gondek left township employment on May 22, 1990, having worked 4 years and 171 days from his original hire date, and later applied for PMRS retirement benefits in 2014.
PMRS denied benefits because Gondek had less than five years of credited service (4.575342 years); the Board granted PMRS summary judgment and Gondek appealed to this Court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Gondek had five years of credited service for PMRS vesting	Gondek argued each calendar year he worked (1985–1990) counted as a full year, giving him five years	PMRS argued credited service is measured by actual days worked from date of hire; partial years count only pro rata	Court held credited service is limited to actual time worked; Gondek had ~4.575 years and did not vest
Whether equitable relief or estoppel can alter PMRS benefit rules	Gondek argued he was led to believe pre-PMRS credit would carry over and equitably should receive a full year for 1985	PMRS argued neither it nor the Board can change statutory/contractual benefit rules on equitable grounds	Court held equitable relief/estoppel cannot be used to change PMRS benefit entitlements and denied relief
Whether Gondek reasonably relied on alleged representations about service credit	Gondek claimed assurances he would retain prior plan credit	PMRS noted no evidence of specific misrepresentations and that agreement language was clear; Gondek knew he worked only 28 days in 1985	Court found no evidence of reasonable reliance and refused to apply estoppel

Hoerner v. Public School Employees' Retirement Board, 684 A.2d 112 (Pa. 1996) (credited service limited to time employee actually worked for employer)
Barringer v. State Employees' Retirement Board, 987 A.2d 163 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009) (equitable relief cannot alter pension statutory/contractual rights)
Martorano v. Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, 940 A.2d 598 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2008) (same)
Finnegan v. Public School Employes' Retirement Board, 560 A.2d 848 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1989) (same)
Hughes v. Public School Employes' Retirement Board, 662 A.2d 701 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1995) (estoppel requires reasonable reliance where employee knew actual service time)
Paupst v. Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Board, 788 A.2d 1067 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001) (scope of appellate review of Board decisions)