Rhode Island § 16-16-16 - Teachers’ Retirement [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]

§ 16-16-16. Retirement for accidental disability.

(a) Medical examination of an active teacher for accidental disability, and investigation of all statements and certificates by him or her or in his or her behalf in connection with the accidental disability, shall be made upon the application of the head of the department in which the teacher is employed or upon application of the teacher, or of a person acting in his or her behalf, stating that the teacher is physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of service as a natural and proximate result of an accident, while in the performance of duty, and certify the definite time, place, and conditions of the duty performed by the teacher resulting in the alleged disability, and that the alleged disability is not the result of willful negligence or misconduct on the part of the teacher, and is not the result of age or length of service, and that the teacher should, therefore, be retired.

(b) The application shall be made within five (5) years of the alleged accident from which the injury has resulted in the teacher’s present disability, and shall be accompanied by an accident report and a physician’s report certifying to the disability; provided, that, if the teacher was able to return to his or her employment and subsequently reinjures or aggravates the same injury, the application shall be made within the later of five (5) years of the alleged accident or three (3) years of the reinjury or aggravation. The application may also state that the teacher is permanently and totally disabled from any employment.

(c) If a medical examination conducted by three (3) physicians engaged by the retirement board, and any investigation that the retirement board may desire to make, shall show that the teacher is physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of service as a natural and proximate result of an accident, while in the performance of duty, and that the disability is not the result of willful negligence or misconduct on the part of the teacher, and is not the result of age or length of service, and that the teacher has not attained the age of sixty-five (65) years, and that the teacher should be retired, the physicians who conducted the examination shall so certify to the retirement board stating the time, place, and conditions of service performed by the teacher resulting in the disability, and the retirement board may grant the teacher an accidental disability benefit.

(d) The retirement board shall establish uniform eligibility requirements, standards, and criteria for accidental disability which shall apply to all members who make application for accidental disability benefits.