In October 2012, Alex Thomas, an employee, filed a lawsuit against the City of Birmingham seeking benefits under the Alabama Workers' Compensation Act. By October 2013, a settlement was reached where the City would pay the employee $225,000, split between a lump sum and bi-weekly or monthly payments over five years. The settlement did not cover future medical benefits. The trial court approved this settlement.
Later, the employee applied for Extraordinary Disability (EOD) benefits, which could be offset by the City's workers' compensation payments. By September 2015, the employee filed a "Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement," asserting that the City had reduced his potential pension benefits contrary to their agreement and an earlier case law, Ex parte City of Birmingham. The City countered that they had made all the agreed payments and that the EOD benefits were under the jurisdiction of the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief Board, a separate entity from the City. The trial court directed the City to pay the EOD benefits due from March 12, 2014, and future monthly payments. The City appealed this judgment.
Upon review, the appellate court found that the Retirement and Relief Board is separate from the City and not merely its "instrumentality." The City fulfilled its obligations as per the settlement. The Board's decision not to pay additional pension benefits was not within the trial court's enforcement power. The judgment ordering the City to pay EOD pension benefits was reversed, and the case was remanded to deny the employee's motion to enforce.