Waterman v. Caprio

• Decision Date: 25 November 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2007-312-Appeal.,2007-312-Appeal.
• Parties: George WATERMAN v. Frank CAPRIO, in his capacity as Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island et al.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

983 A.2d 841

George WATERMAN v. Frank CAPRIO, in his capacity as Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island et al.¹

No. 2007-312-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

November 25, 2009.

Frederick Costello, Esq., Warwick, for Plaintiff.

Thomas R. Gonnella, Esq., Providence, for Defendants.

Present: SUTTELL, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

Justice GOLDBERG, for the Court.

This case comes before us on the plaintiff's appeal from summary judgment entered in the Superior Court in favor of the defendants, Frank Caprio and Frank J. Karpinski (defendants), in their capacities as Rhode Island state treasurer and as executive director of the Rhode Island Employees Retirement System, respectively. The plaintiff, George Waterman (plaintiff), argues three issues on appeal. First, he alleges that the defendants misapplied G.L. 1956 § 36-10-31 in conjunction with G.L. 1956 § 28-33-25.1, and that he is entitled to workers' compensation benefits that erroneously were offset against his disability retirement benefit payments. In the alternative, the plaintiff argues that the defendants should be estopped from offsetting the funds based on erroneous representations that the defendants' employee made to the plaintiff's attorney. Finally, the plaintiff argues that this Court should allow him to resurrect both his workers' compensation and accidental disability retirement claims. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Superior Court's grant of summary judgment.

Facts and Travel

The facts of this case are not in dispute. The plaintiff began employment with the State of Rhode Island in 1977 and worked as a correctional officer with the Department of Corrections from 1982 until October 1999. In February 1998, during a "cell extraction"² exercise at the Adult Correctional Institutions, plaintiff suffered severe chest pain; he ultimately required a cardiac stent implant. He returned to work for a short period, but stopped working the following year. In January 2000, plaintiff filed a petition with the Workers' Compensation Court, alleging that he was disabled with heart disease and that the illness was related to his employment as a correctional officer. The state opposed the petition, arguing that heart disease was not job related. The plaintiff also filed a claim for an accidental disability retirement from the state.

A few months later, the parties began workers' compensation settlement negotiations as contemplated by § 28-33-25.1. During this time, plaintiff's attorney contacted James Reilly (Reilly), the then-assistant executive director of the Rhode Island Employees Retirement System, to inquire whether any workers' compensation settlement that was paid in accordance with § 28-33-25.1 would be offset against plaintiff's disability retirement payments. Reilly told plaintiff's counsel that as long as the settlement was not considered a workers' compensation payment or benefit, the offset provision set forth in § 36-10-31 of the retirement act would not apply. Shortly after this conversation, plaintiff amended his accidental disability claim with the retirement system and instead applied for ordinary disability retirement benefits.³

In June 2000, plaintiff settled the workers' compensation claim based on § 28-33-25.1, and the state paid him $21,250.⁴ In September 2000, plaintiff was notified that his retirement payments would not commence until the entire $21,250 was offset against the pension benefits.⁵

The plaintiff filed a two-count complaint for declaratory judgment in January 2001. The first count alleged that defendants misapplied § 36-10-31's⁶ offset provision to plaintiff's § 28-33-25.1⁷ workers' compensation settlement. The second count alleged that plaintiff detrimentally relied on Reilly's statements; he requested that defendants be estopped from offsetting the disability benefits. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment in August 2001, but the Superior Court denied the motion.

A few years later, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Addressing count one of the complaint, alleging a misapplication of § 36-10-31, the hearing justice noted that the statute "is not only clear and unambiguous, it has a very, very broad reach" because the Legislature used the phrase "[a]ny amount paid or payable under any workers' compensation law." (Emphasis added.) The hearing justice stated that the offset contemplated by § 36-10-31 would apply to any money received under any type of workers' compensation payment, including a settlement in accordance with § 28-33-25.1, regardless of whether or not it is considered the "payment of workers' compensation benefits." Section 28-33-25.1. Additionally, the hearing justice noted that plaintiff's estoppel argument failed — not only because Reilly's statements were erroneous and conflicted with state law, but also because there was no evidence that Reilly made the statements with the intention of inducing plaintiff to act. The Superior Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment during a May 2007 hearing, and this timely appealed ensued.

Standard of Review

It is well established that this Court uses a de novo standard to review a hearing justice's decision to grant summary judgment. Lynch v. Spirit Rent-A-Car, Inc., 965 A.2d 417, 424 (R.I.2009); Lamarque v. Fairbanks Capital Corp., 927 A.2d 753, 756 (R.I.2007). The facts in this case are not in dispute; therefore, we are confronted only with a question of law. Lamarque, 927 A.2d at 756. This Court also uses a de novo standard to review a trial justice's rulings on questions of law. Hilley v. Lawrence, 972 A.2d 643, 649 (R.I. 2009).

Additionally, we review issues of statutory interpretation de novo See Town of North Kingstown v. Albert, 767 A.2d 659, 662 (R.I.2001) (recognizing that questions of statutory interpretation are questions of law and are therefore reviewed de novo); see also Lynch, 965 A.2d at 425; State v. Greenberg, 951 A.2d 481, 489 (R.I. 2008). "It is well settled that when the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, this Court must interpret the statute literally and must give the words of the statute their plain and ordinary meanings." Iselin v. Retirement Board of the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island, 943 A.2d 1045, 1049 (R.I.2008) (quoting Accent Store Design, Inc. v. Marathon House, Inc., 674 A.2d 1223, 1226 (R.I. 1996)); see also Lynch, 965 A.2d at 425; Matter of Falstaff Brewing Corp. Re: Narragansett Brewery Fire, 637 A.2d 1047, 1049 (R.I.1994). When this Court examines an unambiguous statute, "there is no room for statutory construction and we must apply the statute as written." Greenberg, 951 A.2d at 489 (quoting State v. DiCicco, 707 A.2d 251, 253 (R.I.1998)); Iselin, 943 A.2d at 1049 (noting that, when statutory language is clear and unambiguous, this Court cannot extend the statute's scope).

Statutory Construction

The first issue on appeal is whether a payment made in accordance with a workers' compensation settlement reached under § 28-33-25.1, constitutes an "amount paid or payable under the provision of any workers' compensation law" for purposes of the offset required by § 36-10-31.

Section 36-10-31 requires that "[a]ny amount paid or payable under the provisions of any workers' compensation law * * * shall be offset against and payable in lieu of any benefits payable out of funds provided by the state * * * on account of the death or disability of the member." (Emphasis added.) The plaintiff contends that payments made under § 28-33-25.1 are not settlements under the Workers' Compensation Act as contemplated by that statute.⁸ The hearing justice disagreed with plaintiff — correctly, we conclude.

Section 28-33-25.1 provides in pertinent part:

"[I]n cases where liability of the employer for payment of workers' compensation benefits has not been finally established, the parties may submit a settlement proposal to the workers' compensation court for approval. If, upon consideration, a judge of the workers' compensation court deems the settlement proposal to be in the best interest of the parties, the judge may approve the settlement. Payment by the employer or insurer shall not be deemed to be the payment of workers' compensation benefits, but shall be considered a compromise payment of a disputed claim."

The plaintiff contends that, because § 28-33-25.1 provides that settlements made under the statute "shall not be deemed to be the payment of workers' compensation benefits," such settlements are not within the reach of § 36-10-31. Mindful that this Court is the final arbiter on questions of statutory construction, we are of the opinion that settlements pursuant to § 28-33-25.1 are included among the payments contemplated by § 36-10-31. Matter of Falstaff Brewing Corp., 637 A.2d at 1049.

The terms of § 36-10-31 are not only clear and unambiguous, but also very broad. Section 36-10-31 requires offsets to "[a]ny amount paid or payable under the provisions of any workers' compensation law." Section 28-33-25.1 is found in the Workers' Compensation Act. See G.L. 1956 § 28-29-1 (noting "Chapters 29-38 of this title may be cited as the `Workers' Compensation Act'"). Additionally, this Court previously has recognized that § 28-33-25.1 is a part of this state's workers' compensation law. See Manzi v. State, 687 A.2d 461, 462 (R.I.1997) (mem.) (opining that the workers' compensation exclusivity clause is triggered by a workers' compensation settlement under § 28-33-25.1). Although plaintiff suggests otherwise, the offset required by § 36-10-31 simply is not limited to traditional workers' compensation benefits. If the Legislature wanted to so limit the offsets, it could have done so when it enacted the statute; however, the broader terminology of the enactment embraces, "any workers' compensation law." (Emphasis added.) This leads us to conclude that settlement payments made pursuant to § 28-33-25.1 are payable under the state's workers'...