Lubrano v. Mohegan Sun Casino

54 A.3d 593, 138 Conn. App. 812, 2012 WL 4873071, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 483
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 23, 2012
DocketAC 33566
StatusPublished

This text of 54 A.3d 593 (Lubrano v. Mohegan Sun Casino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lubrano v. Mohegan Sun Casino, 54 A.3d 593, 138 Conn. App. 812, 2012 WL 4873071, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 483 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion

BEAR, J.

The defendants, Mohegan Sun Casino and Safety National Casualty Corporation, appeal from the decision of the workers’ compensation review board [815]*815(board) affirming the decision of the workers’ compensation commissioner for the second district (commissioner) denying the defendants’ request to review their claim challenging the allocation of certain third party settlement proceeds between the plaintiff, Joseph Lubrano, and his wife, Jill Lubrano. On appeal, the defendants claim that (1) the board improperly affirmed the commissioner’s finding that the workers’ compensation commission (commission) lacked jurisdiction to review the amount of a spouse’s recovery from a third party claim for loss of consortium when determining the appropriate moratorium due to the defendants,1 (2) “the commissioner erred in finding, and the board erred in affirming, that the [defendants] had waived reimbursement of workers’ compensation benefits paid” and (3) “the commissioner erred in finding, and the board erred in affirming, that the [defendants’] moratorium was only $2,190,056.37.” We affirm the decision of the board.

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of this appeal. On June 15, 2004, the plaintiff was injured when he fell from a roof at a time when he was an employee of Mohegan Sun Casino. The plaintiff and his wife brought an action against six defendants in the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court (tribal court), the plaintiff suing for negligence and his wife suing for loss of consortium. The defendants filed an intervening complaint to recover workers’ compensation benefits they had paid or would become obligated to pay the plaintiff. In August, 2009, following mediation, the plaintiff and his wife settled their respective claims with the remaining defendants, with the [816]*816plaintiff receiving $2,190,056.37 for his injuries and his wife receiving $2,021,590.46 for her loss of consortium claim. Prior to that settlement being completed, the defendants had objected to the settlement, but eventually they withdrew their intervening complaint.

The defendants chose to proceed before the commission, seeking to assert a moratorium of the plaintiffs future workers’ compensation benefits against both the entirety of the plaintiffs settlement and a portion of his wife’s settlement with the tortfeasors. The parties agreed that the defendants were entitled to a moratorium in the amount of the plaintiffs net recovery, but the plaintiff asserted that the commission lacked jurisdiction to affect his wife’s settlement with the tortfea-sors pursuant to the Supreme Court’s holding in Soracco v. Williams Scotsman, Inc., 292 Conn. 86, 971 A.2d 1 (2009). On May 10, 2010, the commissioner issued his finding and award, concluding that “[t]he . . . [c]om-mission has no jurisdiction over and cannot affect [the] rights [of the plaintiffs wife] with respect to the third party defendants and has no authority to dictate the appropriate terms of settlement.” After the commissioner denied the defendants’ motion to correct the decision, the defendants petitioned for review to the board. On June 3, 2011, the board affirmed the commissioner’s decision. This appeal followed.

On appeal, the defendants first claim that the board erred in affirming the commissioner’s finding that the commission lacked jurisdiction “to review the amount of a spouse’s recovery from a third party claim for loss of consortium when determining the appropriate moratorium due [the defendants].” The defendants contend that, pursuant to this court’s holding in Schiano v. Bliss Exterminating Co., 57 Conn. App. 406, 750 A.2d 1098 (2000), the commissioner has not only the authority but also the obligation to review the subject settlement allocation between the plaintiff and his wife [817]*817“to determine whether any of the [consortium settlement amount should inure to the benefit of the [defendants] in terms of additional moratorium sums.”2 We are not persuaded.

“The principles that govern our standard of review in workers’ compensation appeals are well established. The conclusions drawn by [the commissioner] from the facts found must stand unless they result from an incorrect application of the law to the subordinate facts or from an inference illegally or unreasonably drawn from them. . . . Neither the review board nor this court has the power to retry facts.” Sellers v. Sellers Garage, Inc., 92 Conn. App. 650, 650-51, 887 A.2d 382 (2005). “The jurisdiction of the commissioner is confined by the [Workers’ Compensation Act (act)] and limited by its provisions. Unless the [a]ct gives the [c]ommissioner the right to take jurisdiction over a claim, it cannot be conferred upon [the commissioner] by the parties either by agreement, waiver or conduct. . . . [B]ecause [a] determination regarding . . . subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law, our review is plenary.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Gamez-Reyes v. Biagi, 136 Conn. App. 258, 269-70, 44 A.3d 197 (2012).

[818]*818The defendants argue that pursuant to our decision in Schiano v. Bliss Exterminating Co., supra, 57 Conn. App. 406,3 it is settled law that the commissioner “has not only jurisdiction but also the obligation to review the allocation . . . .” The defendants further argue that our Supreme Court’s holding in Soracco v. Williams Scotsman, Inc., supra, 292 Conn. 86, supports their contention that “the [cjomissioner must have jurisdiction to review settlements as they pertain to the consortium allocation as is settled law in Schiano. Otherwise the Schiano mandated review is eliminated and [claimants are free to allocate settlement without oversight to the detriment of employers.” Specifically, the defendants contend that the Soracco court merely “held that the Superior Court lacks jurisdiction to review third party settlements as to a consortium allocation as the employer is not aggrieved by any such decision.” (Emphasis added.)

At the outset, we reject the defendants’ argument that Schiano provides that the commissioner must perform a review of a third party settlement as to a consortium allocation. To the contrary, the Schiano court noted that “a commissioner may not dictate the terms or the amount of a loss of consortium claim . . . .” Schiano v. Bliss Exterminating Co., supra, 57 Conn. App. 413. Rather, Schiano stands for the proposition that, pursuant to General Statutes §§ 31-278, 31-293 and [819]*81931-352, the commissioner is entitled to know an employee’s portion of a settlement in order to determine what part could be allocated to a moratorium of benefits by the employer. Id., 412-14.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cruz v. Montanez
984 A.2d 705 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2009)
Sellers v. Sellers Garage, Inc.
887 A.2d 382 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2005)
Soracco v. Williams Scotsman, Inc.
971 A.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2009)
GAMEZ-REYES v. Biagi
44 A.3d 197 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2012)
Love v. J. P. Stevens & Co.
587 A.2d 1042 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1991)
Potvin v. Lincoln Service & Equipment Co.
6 A.3d 60 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2010)
Schiano v. Bliss Exterminating Co.
750 A.2d 1098 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2000)
Short v. Connecticut Bank & Trust Co.
759 A.2d 129 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2000)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 A.3d 593, 138 Conn. App. 812, 2012 WL 4873071, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lubrano-v-mohegan-sun-casino-connappct-2012.