Decision  Bulic v. MTRS, CR-25-0632

Date:	01/23/2026
Organization:	Division of Administrative Law Appeals
Docket Number:	CR-25-0632

• Petitioner: Mevlida Bulic
• Respondent: Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System
• Administrative Magistrate: Yakov Malkiel

Order of Dismissal

Petitioner Mevlida Bulic appeals from a decision of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS) excluding her from the benefits program known as Retirement Plus.  See G.L. c. 32, § 5(4).  MTRS has filed a motion to dismiss, to which Ms. Bulic has responded:  “I do not oppose the Motion to Dismiss and respectfully defer to the Division of Administrative Law Appeals to dismiss the case.”  Dismissal is therefore appropriate based on a combination of failure to prosecute, mootness, and Ms. Bulic’s consent.

The motion is also meritorious for the reasons stated there.  Ms. Bulic failed to enroll in Retirement Plus—telling MTRS at the time that she does not wish to enroll—by a Legislature-imposed deadline that names no exceptions.  See Acts 2000, c. 114, § 2.  If enrollment after such a deadline is ever permissible, the specific circumstances that may so warrant are not alleged to be present here.  See Gabrielian v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Ret. Syst., No. CR-23-64, 2025 WL 2322617 (Contributory Ret. App. Bd. June 23, 2025); In the Matter of Enrollment in Retirement Plus, No. CR-21-369, 2023 WL 5332723 (Div. Admin. Law App. Aug. 7, 2023).  The result in cases of this nature is not affected by whether the petitioner’s circumstances are sympathetic or even unfair.  See Roussin v. Boston Ret. Syst., No. CR-23-28, 2024 WL 2956657, at *2 (Contributory Ret. App. Bd. June 3, 2024).  See generally Bristol Cty. Ret. Bd. v. Contributory Ret. Appeal Bd., 65 Mass. App. Ct. 443, 446, 450-51 (2006).

In view of the foregoing, it is hereby ORDERED that the motion to dismiss is ALLOWED and this appeal is DISMISSED.

Dated:  January 23, 2026

/s/ Yakov Malkiel
Yakov Malkiel
Administrative Magistrate
Division of Administrative Law Appeals
14 Summer Street, 4th floor
Malden, MA 02148
Tel:  [phone]
www.mass.gov/dala