Decision  Shaw v. State Bd. of Ret., CR-25-0550

Date:	11/14/2025
Organization:	Division of Administrative Law Appeals
Docket Number:	CR-25-0550

• Petitioner: Erik Shaw
• Respondent: State Board of Retirement
• Administrative Magistrate: Yakov Malkiel

Order of Dismissal

Petitioner Erik Shaw appeals from a decision of respondent the State Board of Retirement (board) denying his application to purchase retirement credit for a period of military service.

The applicable statutes authorize certain purchases of credit by “member[s] in service.”  See Acts 1996, c. 71, §§ 2-3; Acts 2002, c. 468, § 2; Acts 2024, c. 178, § 18 (codified at G.L. c. 32, § 4(1)(h)).  As the Contributory Retirement Appeal Board has explained, “in the usual case, purchases of prior service may only be made at a time when the purchaser is an active member of a retirement system.”  Zavaglia v. Gloucester Ret. Bd., No. CR-09-459, 2015 WL 14085596, at *1 & n.1 (Contributory Ret. App. Bd. Apr. 13, 2015) (Zavaglia II).[1]

The documents on file reflect the board’s understanding that Mr. Shaw “last worked for the Commonwealth on or around 04/30/2005,” i.e., approximately twenty years before he filed his purchase application.  Mr. Shaw did not deny this point of fact in his notice of appeal.  A prior decision therefore required him to show cause why his appeal should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim.

Mr. Shaw’s filing deadline has expired.  He has filed nothing further.  Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED.

Dated:  November 14, 2025

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

[1] The board’s decision letter to Mr. Shaw omitted the important qualification “in the usual case,” relying on an inaccuracy in Zavaglia v. Gloucester Ret. Bd., No. CR-09-459, 2014 WL 13121798 (Contributory Ret. App. Bd. July 3, 2014) (Zavaglia I), which Zavaglia II corrected several months later.