Cicala v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act

• Decision Date: 25 June 1971
• Citation: 288 A.2d 66,161 Conn. 362
• Parties: Pat CICALA v. ADMINISTRATOR, UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 66

288 A.2d 66

161 Conn. 362

Pat CICALA v. ADMINISTRATOR, UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

June 25, 1971.

Carl D. Eisenman, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, was Robert K. Killian, Atty. Gen., for appellant (defendant).

Francis R. Mercier, Fairfield, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before HOUSE, THIM, RYAN, SHAPIRO and LOISELLE, ^* JJ.

RYAN, Associate Justice.

The plaintiff filed for and received unemployment compensation benefits covering the period from June 13, 1965, through November 27, 1965. On July 5, 1966, the administrator notified the plaintiff that the benefits paid to him during that period were improperly received and, therefore, the plaintiff owed the unemployment compensation fund the sum of $1272. From this ruling the plaintiff appealed to the unemployment compensation commissioner on July 7, 1966. The appeal was heard on January 30, 1967, and on February 14, 1967, the commissioner reversed the decision of the administrator. On February 27, 1967, the matter was opened on motion of the administrator. Following a delay, apparently due to the illness of the plaintiff, a further hearing was held on March 25, 1968. On the basis of new evidence produced at this hearing, the commissioner decided on June 7, 1968, that the plaintiff was not eligible for the benefits he received for the period from June 13, 1965, through November 27, 1965; that the decision of the administrator denying such benefits and ordering the plaintiff to reimburse the fund was correct and that the ruling of the administrator should be affirmed. The plaintiff appealed to the Superior Court which sustained his appeal. The defendant administrator has appealed to this court.

The commissioner found the following facts. In his decision letter of July 5, 1966, the defendant ruled that during the period in question the plaintiff was fully employed by Toroid Trans Electronics Company, hereinafter referred to as Toroid, a corporation in which he was an officer and principal stockholder. The plaintiff in this period traveled all over the country attempting to seek work for himself and, also, to expand the business of Toroid. Substantial promotional work was done for Toroid, which made periodic payments to the plaintiff to cover his traveling expenses, meals and lodging which were not less than $130 nor more than $160 per week. At the end of 1965, the plaintiff, who had become an owner of 80 percent of the stock of Toroid, became employed by it at a salary of $175 per week. The commissioner held that while the plaintiff did not receive a salary as such, he did receive payment in the form of expenses which allowed him to travel and enrich a corporation in which he was the principal owner and that such an arrangement was in effect self-employment.

In sustaining the plaintiff's appeal, the trial court found that the action taken by the defendant by his letter of July 5, 1966, was not justified by the provisions of § 31-243 of the General Statutes and that the commissioner did not have the power to open his first decision for the plaintiff because under the provisions of § 31-248 of the General Statutes no such action is permissible. These conclusions form the main issues in this appeal.

It is the claim of the defendant that § 31-273(b) of the General Statutes rather than § 31-243 applies to his action disallowing the benefits in question, and that under the provisions of that statute his actions were proper. 'There is a presumption that the legislature, in enactting a law, did so in view of existing relevant statutes and intended it to be read with them so as to make one consistent body of law. State v. Jordan, 142 Conn. 375, 378, 114 A.2d 694; Jennings v. Connecticut Light & Power Co., 140 Conn. 650, 657, 103 A.2d 535; Coombs v. Darling, 116 Conn. 643, 646, 166 A. 70.' Hurlbut v. Lemelin, 155 Conn. 68, 74, 230 A.2d 36, 38. If the statutes appear to be repugnant, they are to be construed, if that is reasonably possible, so that both are operative. Sloane v. Waterbury, 150 Conn. 24, 29, 183 A.2d 839; Danbury Rubber Co. v. Local 402, 145 Conn. 53, 57, 138 A.2d 783. To accomplish this, we must give effect to the expressed intention of the legislature, which is determined by the words employed to make that intention manifest. Park Regional Corporation v. Town Plan & Zoning Commission, 144 Conn. 677, 682, 136 A.2d 785.

The predecessor of § 31-243 (Public Acts, Spec.Sess.1936, c. 2 § 8) was enacted in 1936 and became § 1341e(d) of the 1939 Cumulative Supplement. Section 1341e contained ten subsections each of which dealt with claim procedure. The language of § 1341e(d) (now General Statutes § 31-243) has never been changed. While the statute gives the administrator continuous jurisdiction over benefits for a period of six months, its provisions do restrict what actions may be taken by him. As a condition precedent to a review of an award of benefits or denial of a claim therefor the administrator is permitted 'on the ground of a change in conditions' to 'review an award of benefits or the denial of a claim therefor, in accordance with the procedure prescribed in respect to claims, and may issue a new decision, which may award, terminate, continue, increase or decrease such benefits.' There is no suggestion in the record of any change of conditions as required by the statute nor does the administrator make any such claim. The statute provides also that any new decision shall not affect any benefits previously paid under the authority of the prior order. The statute has no application to the factual situation in the present case. It is clear that in § 31-243 the legislature was concerned with a later review of the original decision of the administrator. Wyka v. Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co., 129 Conn. 71, 75, 26 A.2d 465. It authorized modification based on changed conditions occurring after that decision was made and was not intended to apply in cases where the administrator seeks to recover benefits paid to one not entitled to receive them.

Section 31-273 provides penalties, both criminal and civil, for the improper receipt of benefits by any person and outlines the procedures to be followed. We are concerned in the present case with § 31-273(b), the first and second sentences of which are as follows: 'Any person who, by reason of nondisclosure or misrepresentation by him or by another of a material fact, whether or not such nondisclosure or misrepresentation was intentional or fraudulent, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled in his case, or while he was disqualified from receiving benefits, and any person who has received a greater amount of benefits than was due him under this chapter, shall be liable to repay to the administrator for the unemployment compensation fund a sum equal to the amount so received by him or so overpaid to him, and such sum shall be collectible in the manner provided in section 31-266 for the collection of past due contributions. Any person who, through error, has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not fulfilled in his case, or while he was disqualified from receiving benefits, and any person who has received a greater amount of benefits than was due him under this chapter, shall be liable to repay to the administrator for the unemployment compensation fund a sum equal to the amount so received by him or so overpaid to him, provided such error has been discovered and brought to his attention within one year of the date of receipt of such benefits.' The first sentence concerns any person who has received benefits by reason of the nondisclosure or the misrepresentation of a material fact, and has no application to the factual situation presented in this case in view of the fact that the commissioner made no specific finding of nondisclosure or misrepresentation. The second sentence was not part of the original public act adopted in 1936 but was added by a later amendment. It provides for reimbursement of the unemployment compensation fund by the recipient of benefits received through error (1) while any condition for the receipt of benefits imposed...