Decision  Goodman v. MTRS, CR-25-0203

Date:	01/09/2026
Organization:	Division of Administrative Law Appeals
Docket Number:	CR-25-0203

• Petitioner: Jennifer Goodman
• Respondent: Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System
• Appearance for Petitioner: Jennifer Goodman, pro se
• Appearance for Respondent: Salvatore Coco, Esq.
• Administrative Magistrate: Judi Goldberg, Esq.

Summary of Decision

The petitioner is ineligible to purchase service under G.L. c. 32, § 3(5) for the time she worked at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Marlboro, Inc., a private non-profit corporation that was not a governmental unit. Accordingly, the Board’s denial of Ms. Goodman’s application is affirmed.

Decision

Petitioner Jennifer Goodman timely appealed, under G.L. c. 32, § 16(4), the decision of the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS) to deny her application to purchase creditable service from August 1994 to August 1999 for her work at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Marlboro, Inc. (“Boys & Girls Clubs”).[1] The parties did not object to having the appeal decided based on their written submissions. 801 CMR § 1.01(10)(c). I admit into evidence exhibits P1 to P11 and R1 to R5.

Findings of Fact

Based on the evidence in the record and reasonable inferences drawn from it, I make the following findings of fact:

1. Ms. Goodman is a teacher in the Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School District and is an active member of the MTRS. (R2.)
2. Ms. Goodman worked at the Boys & Girls Clubs in Marlborough, Massachusetts from August 1994 to August 1999. (R2.)
3. The Boys & Girls Clubs is a nonprofit corporation. (R4.)
4. The Boys & Girls Clubs became a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1946. The purpose of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is to promote the health, social, educational, vocational, and character development of youth throughout the United States. (R3, R5.)
5. Over the years, the Boys & Girls Clubs has received a variety of state and municipal funds to support its operations, along with funding from individuals, foundations, other public charities, and corporations. (P2 – P4, P6, P8 – P9.)
6. While at the Boys & Girls Clubs, Ms. Goodman served as the Youth Services Director. She worked with young people between 6 and 18 years old. She was the coordinator of the Learning Center and offered homework help, tutoring, a monthly essay program, and a summer book club. She was the advisor of the peer leadership group and was involved in a community reading program. (Petitioner’s Appeal Letter.)
7. On November 12, 2024, Ms. Goodman applied to purchase creditable service for her work at the Boys & Girls Clubs from August 1994 to August 1999. (R2.)
8. MTRS denied her application on February 13, 2025, because the “service was rendered as an employee of a private entity; therefore not meeting the definition of ‘public employee.’” (R1.)
9. In a letter dated February 25, 2025, Ms. Goodman timely appealed from that denial.

Analysis

As the petitioner, Ms. Goodman has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence, or that it is more likely than not, that the facts support her entitlement to purchase contract service under Chapter 32. See, e.g., Byrne v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Ret. Sys., CR-15-609, 2018 WL 1473269 (Div. Admin. Law App. Jan. 26, 2018).

When a member retires from public service she may be entitled to a retirement allowance based in part on her years of “creditable service.” G.L. c. 32, § 5(2)(a). Section 1 of Chapter 32 defines “creditable service” as “all membership service, prior service and other service for which credit is allowable to any member under the provisions of sections one to twenty-eight inclusive.” Id. § 1. One form of “other service” that a member may purchase under certain circumstances is “service as an employee of any governmental unit other than that by which he is presently employed.” Id. § 3(5). A governmental unit is “the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof” and an “employee” is a person “whose regular compensation . . . is paid by any political subdivision of the commonwealth.” Id. § 1.

Ms. Goodman worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs from August 1994 to August 1999. She does not dispute that this is a nonprofit organization. Rather, she argues that the Boys & Girls Clubs received state and municipal funding, operated some of its programming in city facilities, and collaborated with city education and recreation staff. However, a private nonprofit organization is not a “governmental unit,” even if it receives public funds. See Filkins v. State Bd. of Ret., CR-11-715, 2020 WL 14009539, at *3 (Contributory Ret. App. Bd. Jan. 8, 2020) (“Employment with a nonprofit organization is not considered to be employment with a governmental unit.”); see also Raymond v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Ret. Sys., CR-12-49 & CR-12-62, 2024 WL 664416 at *3 (Div. Admin. Law App. Feb. 9, 2024) (finding petitioner not eligible to purchase service for prior work at private nonprofit company); Gregory v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Ret. Sys., CR-19-0590 & CR-19-0591, 2023 WL 4637166 at *5 (Div. Admin. Law App. July 14, 2023) (affirming denial of purchase of service for work at state-funded, private nonprofit organizations); Bagley v. Massachusetts Teachers’ Ret. Sys., CR-16-166 (Div. Admin. Law App. Mar. 8, 2019) (“A private corporation is not a political subdivision of the Commonwealth.”); Pavoni v. State Bd. of Ret., CR-05-1365, 2006 WL 2126880 at *3 (Div. Admin. Law App. Feb. 17, 2006) (clarifying that receipt of grant funds does not mean that entity is functioning as governmental unit).

In this case, a preponderance of the evidence shows that Ms. Goodman was an employee of a private, nonprofit corporation from August 1994 to August 1999. She cannot purchase service based on her time as an employee of a non-governmental entity. 
 

Conclusion

The decision of the Board is hereby affirmed.

Dated: January 9, 2026

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

[1] In 2000, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Marlborough, Inc., the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson, and the Hudson Youth Center merged to become the Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest. (R5.) I note this merger to avoid confusion about her former employer’s name; it does not have an impact on Ms. Goodman’s appeal.