Almstead v. Department of Employment Sec., Bd. of Review, 82-133-M

• Decision Date: 27 July 1984
• Docket Number: No. 82-133-M,82-133-M
• Citation: 478 A.2d 980
• Parties: Ethel L. ALMSTEAD v. DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, BOARD OF REVIEW. P.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 980

478 A.2d 980

Ethel L. ALMSTEAD v. DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, BOARD OF REVIEW.

No. 82-133-M.P.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

July 27, 1984.

Edward L. Gnys III, Raymond A. LaFazia, Providence, for petitioner.

Joseph R. DeCiantis, Providence, for respondent.

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This is a petition for a writ of certiorari filed pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, G.L.1956 (1977 Reenactment) § 42-35-16, to review a judgment of the District Court affirming the decision of the Board of Review of the Department of Employment Security (board of review), denying the plaintiff's request for unemployment compensation.

The plaintiff, Ethel L. Almstead, filed a claim for unemployment compensation on January 14, 1977, with the Director of the Department of Employment Security (director). Notice of disqualification was mailed to plaintiff on January 28, 1977. The plaintiff appealed the director's decision to the board of review. The board affirmed the disqualification in a decision dated March 23, 1977. Having exhausted her administrative remedies, plaintiff sought judicial review in the Sixth Division District Court pursuant to § 42-35-15. The District Court affirmed the board of review in a decision dated February 14, 1982.

The pertinent facts are as follows. The plaintiff sustained injuries to her left leg, knee, and thigh on July 1, 1976. These injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment with Rhode Island Textile Company. The plaintiff filed for workers' compensation benefits, and a decree was entered by the Workers' Compensation Commission ordering the payment of weekly compensation benefits beginning July 14, 1976. In January 1977 a commutation decree was entered pursuant to which plaintiff received a lump-sum payment of $1,720. The plaintiff agreed to resign from her job with Rhode Island Textile Company as part of the settlement agreement entered into between plaintiff and her employer.

The director determined that plaintiff's resignation, under these circumstances, constituted a leaving with good cause which would otherwise qualify her to receive unemployment benefits. The plaintiff was nevertheless found to be ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. The director decided that since plaintiff had received a lump-sum payment in commutation of her workers' compensation claim that was based upon an estimated twenty-five weeks of future payments, she could not receive unemployment compensation during that period. This decision was based upon G.L.1956 (1979 Reenactment) § 28-44-19 ¹ and was affirmed by the board of review and the Sixth Division District Court.

The sole question before us is whether plaintiff was in receipt of workers' compensation benefits during the period for which she applied for unemployment compensation and was therefore properly disqualified from receiving such unemployment benefits pursuant to § 28-44-19. The plaintiff argues that she was not receiving remuneration in the form of workers' compensation benefits. It is her contention that the lump-sum payment that she received in commutation of her claim cannot be projected into the future. She argues that lump-sum awards are an exception to the general purpose of providing weekly compensation in lieu of wages to an injured employee, that those awards are out of the normal course, and that they have no relation to an employee's right to receive compensation. We are not persuaded by these arguments and consequently must deny her petition for certiorari.

In Berberian v. Department of Employment Security, R.I., 414 A.2d 480, 482 (1980), we set forth the paramaters of our scope of review in cases like the one before us.

"We note initially that our scope of review on writs of certiorari is limited to a review of the record. General Laws 1956 (1977 Reenactment) § 42-35-16. We may review only questions of law which appear in the petition. Providence Journal Co. v. Mason, 116 R.I. 614, 620, 359 A.2d 682, 685 (1976); A.T. & G., Inc. v. Zoning Bd. of Review, 113 R.I. 458, 462, 322 A.2d 294, 296 (1974). The grounds for reversal must appear on the face of the record. Prospecting Unlimited, Inc. v. Norberg, R.I., 376 A.2d 702, 706 (1977); Lemoine v. Department of Mental Health, Retardation & Hospitals, 113 R.I. 285, 288, 320 A.2d 611, 613 (1974). We do not weigh the evidence however, we merely search for any legally competent evidence that supports the decision under review. Prospecting Unlimited, Inc. v. Norberg, 376 A.2d at 706; Lemoine v. Department of Mental Health, Retardation & Hospitals, 113 R.I. at 288, 320 A.2d at 613."

It is our opinion that the decision below is supported by legally competent evidence.

The plaintiff's right to receive workers' compensation payments was commuted to a lump sum pursuant to § 28-33-25. ² It is plaintiff's contention that since such a lump-sum award is based upon probable future payments and is authorized as an exception to the general purpose and payment scheme of the Workers' Compensation Act, the director and the board of review had no basis for projecting the award for a period of six months into the future. In support of this argument, plaintiff cites various cases to support the proposition that lump-sum payments are an exception to the policy that compensation be paid weekly and may be made for various reasons that are shown to be in the best interest of the employee.

Although we agree with plaintiff's general characterization of commutation awards, we cannot agree with the conclusion she urges upon us by her argument. The core of this argument, that commutation awards cannot be projected into the future because they are based upon probable future payments, begs the very question before us. It is precisely because lump-sum awards are based upon a commutation of probable future payments that the director and the board of review denied plaintiff unemployment benefits. See Sarrasin v. Crescent Co., 104 R.I. 69, 74, 241 A.2d 818, 820 (1968).

Initially, we shall focus upon § 28-33-25, which provides for the commutation of future payments to a lump sum. This statute clearly states that in considering a petition for a commutation order, "a commissioner shall give due weight to the fact that it is the policy of this chapter that compensation be paid weekly." The statute goes on to provide that a petition "may be granted where it is shown to the satisfaction of the commission that the payment of a lump sum in lieu of future weekly payments will be for the best interest of the person or persons receiving or dependent upon such compensation * * *." The key portion of the statute for purposes of our analysis, however, is that portion which instructs the commission to "fix the lump sum to be paid at an amount which will equal the total sum of the probable future payments capitalized at their present value * * *." This language is clear and unambiguous: "the lump-sum settlement is arrived at, not on the theory that the injured employee would be entitled to the maximum benefits of the act, but rather on the commission's determination of the present value of the probable future weekly payments." Sarrasin v. Crescent Co., 104 R.I. at 74, 241 A.2d at 820; Dupere v. Brassard, 87 R.I. 205, 208, 139 A.2d 879, 881 (1958). In the face of this language, it is impossible for us to reach the conclusion that the amount of lump-sum award is not based fundamentally upon the commission's best approximation of the number of weeks that an employee would be entitled to compensation in the absence of a commutation.

The decision below is further supported by the language of the commutation order itself, which states that "the future...