Lowe v. Board of Administration, California Public
Appellant Suzanne Lowe, a registered nurse at a women’s correctional facility, applied for industrial disability retirement from California’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) in 2007. The application was rejected and Lowe filed a petition for writ of administrative mandate in superior court. After the superior court denied her petition, Lowe filed this appeal, contending the court (1) failed to conduct a truly independent review of the evidence in the administrative record and (2) failed to consider doctor reports relating to her workers’ compensation case. The superior court correctly identified the applicable standard of review, which required the court to exercise its independent judgment as to the weight of the evidence. The court’s written decision demonstrated the court applied this standard when it examined the evidence in the administrative record and made its own factual findings, including credibility findings about the various doctor reports.
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