Zaleta v. Town of Fairfield

658 A.2d 166, 38 Conn. App. 1, 1995 Conn. App. LEXIS 257
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedMay 23, 1995
Docket13419
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 658 A.2d 166 (Zaleta v. Town of Fairfield) 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
Zaleta v. Town of Fairfield, 658 A.2d 166, 38 Conn. App. 1, 1995 Conn. App. LEXIS 257 (Colo. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

Heiman, J.

The defendant appeals, pursuant to General Statutes § 31-3011),1 from the decision of the compensation review board of the workers’ compensation commission finding the plaintiff entitled to benefits under the statute providing compensation for heart disease and hypertension to police officers and firefighters, General Statutes § 7-433c.2 On appeal, the defendant claims that the review board improperly determined that the plaintiff’s hypertension was an occupational disease and, therefore, subject to the three year statute of limitations provided in General Statutes § 31-294c.3

[3]*3The following facts, stipulated to by the parties, are necessary for the resolution of this appeal. In 1977, the plaintiff was hired by the defendant as a firefighter after passing a physical examination in which no evidence of heart disease or hypertension was revealed. On September 14,1987, the plaintiff was diagnosed as hypertensive and treated with medication. On January 4,1988, the plaintiff developed a severe headache while at work and an emergency medical technician was asked to check his blood pressure. The medical technician found the plaintiff’s blood pressure to be 160/100, and the plaintiff was sent home for the day. The plaintiff was able to return to work the next day.

On December 1,1989, the plaintiff requested the first of a series of formal hearings with the defendant, seeking benefits under General Statutes § 7-433c. He subsequently filed a form 30-C on December 3, 1990. The defendant timely contested liability on December 10, 1990, claiming that the plaintiff failed to make a claim within one year of his diagnosis.

A formal hearing was held on August 30,1991, before the workers’ compensation commissioner for the fourth district, who found in favor of the plaintiff. The commissioner found that the plaintiff’s claim was timely because “hypertension is an occupational disease and thus governed by the three year statute for filing that type of claim.”

On July 14,1992, the defendant moved to correct the finding of the commissioner that hypertension is an occupational disease governed by the three year statute of limitations. In support of its motion, the defendant claimed that the plaintiff failed to introduce any [4]*4evidence to justify such a finding. This motion was denied and the defendant timely appealed to the compensation review board of the workers’ compensation commission. See General Statutes § 31-301.

The board affirmed the decision of the commissioner, determining that the language of the statute evinces “that the legislature has determined, without the necessity of further evidentiary support in the record, that hypertension is so distinctively associated with the occupations of police officer and firefighter that there is a direct causal connection between the occupational duties and hypertension sufficient to qualify hypertension as an occupational disease for purposes of a claim under § 7-433c.”

On appeal to this court, the defendant claims that the compensation review board improperly determined that a claimant seeking benefits under § 7-433c need not submit evidence to establish that hypertension is an occupational disease in order to benefit from the three year statute of limitations. We agree with the defendant and reverse the decision of the compensation review board.

Before reaching the merits of the defendant’s appeal, we reiterate the standards governing our review of decisions by the compensation review board. “[W]hen a decision of a commissioner is appealed to the review [board], the review [board] is obligated to hear the appeal on the record of the hearing before the commissioner and not to retry the facts. Fair v. Peoples Savings Bank, 207 Conn. 535, 538-39, 542 A.2d 1118 (1988). The commissioner has the power and duty, as the trier of fact, to determine the facts. Castro v. Viera, 207 Conn. 420, 435, 541 A.2d 1216 (1988). The conclusions drawn by him from the facts found must stand unless they result from an incorrect application of the law to the subordinate facts or from an inference ille-[5]*5gaily or unreasonably drawn from them. Adzima v. UAC/Norden Division, [177 Conn. 107, 118, 411 A.2d 924 (1979)]. Id. Our scope of review of the actions of the review [board] is similarly limited. DeBarros v. Singleton, 21 Conn. App. 107, 110, 572 A.2d 69 (1990). Vanzant v. Hall, 219 Conn. 674, 677, 594 A.2d 967 (1991).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Romanski v. West Hartford, 34 Conn. App. 307, 316, 641 A.2d 439 (1994).

Section 7-433c provides compensation to police officers and firefighters who suffer from heart disease or hypertension and who meet the requirements set forth in the statute. In order to collect the benefits provided by § 7-433c, a claimant need show only that he or she is a uniformed member of a paid fire department or a regular member of a paid police department, whose preemployment physical examination revealed no evidence of hypertension or heart disease, who now suffers a condition or an impairment of health caused by hypertension or heart disease that has resulted in death or disability, and has suffered a resultant economic loss. Suprenant v. New Britain, 28 Conn. App. 754, 758, 611 A.2d 941 (1992).

Unlike eligibility for benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, a claimant under § 7-433c need not show that “the disease resulted from the employee’s occupation or . . . occurred in the line and scope of his employment.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Collins v. West Haven, 210 Conn. 423, 427, 555 A.2d 981 (1989), citing Bakelaar v. West Haven, 193 Conn. 59, 67, 475 A.2d 283 (1984), and Plainville v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 178 Conn. 664, 670, 425 A.2d 131 (1979). In this way, § 7-433c acts as bonus legislation that provides “special compensation”; Collins v. West Haven, supra, 426; to firefighters and police officers by allowing those who suffer from heart disease or hypertension outside the line of duty to collect benefits in the [6]*6same manner as those who are injured in the line of duty. Lambert v. Bridgeport, 204 Conn. 563, 566-67, 529 A.2d 184 (1987); Pyne v. New Haven, 177 Conn. 456, 460-61, 418 A.2d 899 (1979).

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

Related

Brocuglio v. Thompsonville Fire District 2
212 A.3d 751 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2019)
Staurovsky v. Milford Police Dept.
Connecticut Appellate Court, 2016
Ciarlelli v. TOWN OF HAMDEN
8 A.3d 1093 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2010)
Arborio v. Windham Police Department
928 A.2d 616 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2007)
Malchik v. Division of Criminal Justice
835 A.2d 940 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 2003)
Pearce v. City of New Haven
819 A.2d 878 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2003)
Deniro v. City of Bridgeport, No. Cv96 033 61 01 S (May 18, 2000) Ct Page 6120
2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 6119 (Connecticut Superior Court, 2000)
Discuillo v. Stone & Webster
698 A.2d 873 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1997)
Zaleta v. Town of Fairfield
661 A.2d 98 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 A.2d 166, 38 Conn. App. 1, 1995 Conn. App. LEXIS 257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zaleta-v-town-of-fairfield-connappct-1995.