Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc.

588 A.2d 194, 218 Conn. 181, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 84, 1991 WL 40475
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMarch 26, 1991
Docket14015
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 588 A.2d 194 (Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc., 588 A.2d 194, 218 Conn. 181, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 84, 1991 WL 40475 (Colo. 1991).

Opinions

Hull, J.

The defendants appeal the decision of the Appellate Court affirming the decision of the workers’ compensation review division (review division) which affirmed the decision of the workers’ compensation commissioner for the second district (commissioner) granting the plaintiff’s motion to preclude. We affirm.

Although the facts are set forth in the decision of the Appellate Court; Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc., 21 Conn. App. 610, 575 A.2d 257 (1990); we discuss those facts pertinent to the issues. On March 11,1986, the plaintiff, Joseph Cleveland, a resident of New Jersey employed as a truck driver by the named defendant,1 U.S. Printing Ink, Inc., a New Jersey corporation, was injured during the course of his employment in the town of South Windsor. Thereafter, the plaintiff received workers’ compensation benefits for total incapacity under the New Jersey Workmen’s Compensation Act. On or about September 22,1986, the plaintiff mailed to the named defendant a notice of his injury and his intent to file a claim for benefits under the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act, General Statutes § 31-275 et seq. After the named defendant failed to file a timely notice of its intent to contest liability for the plaintiff’s claim, the plaintiff filed a motion, pursuant to General Statutes § 31-297 (b),2 to preclude the [183]*183defendants from contesting liability or the extent of the plaintiffs disability. In response, the defendants challenged the jurisdiction of the commissioner to award benefits to the plaintiff. The commissioner determined that between Connecticut deliveries and driving through the state, the plaintiff spent 35 to 40 percent of his employment time in Connecticut. Furthermore, the plaintiff “ha[d] enough significant contacts with this state and . . . therefore Connecticut [had] an interest in applying its statutes for the protection of working men injured within its borders.” The commissioner thereupon granted the plaintiffs motion to preclude and ordered the defendants to accept liability for the plaintiffs claimed injury.

The defendants appealed the commissioner’s decision to the review division, which affirmed, concluding that the commissioner had made an appropriate factual finding about the plaintiff’s employment situs, and had correctly applied conflict of laws principles. Thereafter, the defendants appealed the review division’s decision to the Appellate Court, which also affirmed, concluding, inter alia, that: (1) Connecticut had an interest in compensating the plaintiff; (2) New Jersey had no legitimate interest in preventing Connecticut from awarding the plaintiff supplemental compensation; and (3) “the commissioner correctly applied the law . . . that the facts sufficiently supported his decision, and . . . the compensation review division correctly affirmed the decision.” Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc., supra, 617-18. We subsequently granted the defendants’ peti[184]*184tion for certification to appeal to this court limited to the following issues: (1) “ ‘Did the Appellate Court properly conclude that because there was sufficient contact with Connecticut by the plaintiff truck driver and his employer, both being domiciled in New Jersey, to give this state jurisdiction, the Connecticut workers’ compensation law, both procedural and substantive, should apply? [and (2)] Should the Appellate Court have dismissed the appeal suo motu for lack of a final administrative determination?’ ” Cleveland v. U.S. Printing Ink, Inc., 216 Conn. 802, 577 A.2d 715 (1990).

I

We must first address the question of whether the Appellate Court should have dismissed the defendants’ appeal for lack of a final administrative determination. This question has two subparts: does the Appellate Court have jurisdiction to hear an appeal from the review division in the absence of a final decision; does the record in this case manifest the existence of a final decision? We conclude that a final decision is a jurisdictional prerequisite to an appeal and that there was such a final decision in this case.

The defendants claim that because the right of appeal from the review division to the Appellate Court is statutory; General Statutes § 31-301b;3 and because General Statutes § 31-301b nowhere states that the decision appealed from must be final, a final decision was not required in order for the defendants to appeal the decision of the review division. Practice Book § 2015 provides, however, that “[t]he practice and procedure for workers’ compensation appeals to the appellate court shall conform to the rules of practice governing other [185]*185appeals to the appellate court . . . .” The practice and procedure of the Appellate Court require that, “[i]f a party is aggrieved by the decision of the court or judge . . . that party may appeal from the final judgment of the court or of such judge . . . .” Practice Book § 4000; see also Practice Book § 2000. “It is clear, therefore, that in order for a decision of the review division to be appealable under General Statutes § 31-301b it must be a decision which has the same elements of finality as a final judgment rendered by a trial court.” Timothy v. Upjohn Co., 3 Conn. App. 162, 164, 485 A.2d 1349 (1985); see also Szudora v. Fairfield, 214 Conn. 552, 556, 573 A.2d 1 (1990); Matey v. Estate of Dember, 210 Conn. 626, 630, 556 A.2d 599 (1989).

The plaintiff claims that the decision of the review division was a final decision appealable pursuant to § 31-301b. The defendants assert, to the contrary, that the decision is final only if the plaintiffs claim for workers’ compensation benefits is limited to a claim for incapacity benefits already received because otherwise, the plaintiff may still file a claim for specific benefits. We agree with the plaintiff.

“It is axiomatic that appellate review of disputed claims of law and fact ordinarily must await the rendering of a final judgment by the compensation review division. Matey v. Estate of Dember, [supra, 629-30]; Schieffelin & Co. v. Department of Liquor Control, 202 Conn. 405, 409-12, 521 A.2d 566 (1987); Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. v. Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities, 202 Conn. 150, 156-57, 520 A.2d 186 (1987); Rapasi v. Jenkins Bros., 16 Conn. App. 121, 122-23, 546 A.2d 965, cert. denied, 209 Conn. 817, 550 A.2d 1085 (1988). . . . The test that determines whether such a decision is a final judgment turns on the scope of the proceedings on remand: if such further proceedings are merely ministerial, the decision [186]*186is an appealable final judgment, but if further proceedings will require the exercise of independent judgment or discretion and the taking of additional evidence, the appeal is premature and must be dismissed. Matey v. Estate of Dember, supra, 630.” Szudora v. Fairfield, supra. “A decision of the compensation review division is a final judgment if the claimant involved is entitled to temporary total disability benefits and the salary and period of time during which there was an inability to work are known.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
588 A.2d 194, 218 Conn. 181, 1991 Conn. LEXIS 84, 1991 WL 40475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-v-us-printing-ink-inc-conn-1991.