Lafayette v. General Dynamics Corp.

• Decision Date: 24 April 2001
• Docket Number: (SC 16420)
• Citation: 255 Conn. 762,770 A.2d 1
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: KATHRYN LAFAYETTE v. GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION/ELECTRIC BOAT DIVISION ET AL.

255 Conn. 762

770 A.2d 1

KATHRYN LAFAYETTE v. GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION/ELECTRIC BOAT DIVISION ET AL.

(SC 16420)

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 11, 2001.

Officially released April 24, 2001.

Borden, Norcott, Katz, Sullivan and Vertefeuille, Js.¹ Amy M. Stone, for the appellant (plaintiff).

Lucas D. Strunk, with whom were Peter D. Quay and, on the brief, James L. Pomeranz and Kristen L. Frazier, for the appellees (defendants).

Opinion

BORDEN, J.

The sole issue in this appeal is whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel operates to bar the adjudication of the issue of causation in this action under the Workers' Compensation Act (act); General Statutes § 31-275 et seq.; which was preceded by a judgment under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (Longshore Act); 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. The plaintiff, Kathryn Lafayette, appeals² from a decision of the workers' compensation review board (review board) affirming the decision of the workers' compensation commissioner (commissioner). The commissioner had concluded that the doctrine of collateral estoppel did not bar the named defendant, the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation (Electric Boat),³ from adjudicating the issue of causation. We conclude that the doctrine of collateral estoppel applies in the present case. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the review board.

This appeal comes to us after related federal litigation between the same parties involving some of the same issues. See Lafayette v. General Dynamics Corp., United States Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Nos. 1-30719/64586 (February 5, 1996). In light of the record in this case and the facts found in the federal proceeding, the following facts are undisputed for purposes of this appeal.

In January, 1965, Archie F. Lafayette, the plaintiffs decedent, began working as a test man for Electric Boat at its maritime facility in the town of Groton, where Electric Boat builds, repairs and overhauls submarines. In November, 1967, the decedent became a technical aide for Electric Boat, but was laid off in October, 1970. He returned to the Electric Boat shipyard in April, 1973, resuming his duties as a technical aide—the capacity in which he essentially remained until his death.

In December, 1981, as part of its screening of certain employees exposed to various stimuli at the shipyard, Electric Boat took a chest x-ray of the decedent, which was read as abnormal as showing pleural scarring or plaques. Pulmonary function tests also taken at that time showed reduced vital capacity. Subsequent chest x-rays also were read as abnormal as showing pleural scarring. In 1983, the decedent complained of shortness of breath. In 1984, bilateral pleural plaques were reported. By 1987, the decedent's pulmonary capacity had decreased. In November, 1992, the decedent was admitted to the William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich for a chest biopsy, at which time Gail R. Weingast, a physician, reported the existence of a "[p]leural based mass with bilateral pleural thickening and small left pleural effusion." She suspected that the mass might be "mesothelioma in a patient with previous asbestos exposure." In a November, 1992 consultation report, Dennis E. Slater, a physician, stated that: (1) the decedent had worked at the Electric Boat shipyard for almost twenty-seven years; (2) during the 1960s, the decedent worked in test groups stripping ships of piping and had unprotected heavy exposure to asbestos; (3) chest x-rays in the early 1980s showed asbestosis; (4) the decedent also worked in the nuclear reactor compartments of submarines with definite exposure to radiation; and (5) the decedent had a long history of cigarette smoking, a habit that he had stopped twelve years previously. The decedent's condition rapidly declined, and he died in March, 1993. The decedent's death certificate identified, as the immediate cause of death, cardiopulmonary arrest resulting from lung cancer. Additional facts will be stated as necessary. In May, 1994, the plaintiff, the decedent's dependent widow, filed two federal claims against Electric Boat seeking death benefits under the Longshore Act. The plaintiff alleged that the harm to the decedent, namely, his bilateral pleural plaques, his asbestos-related disease and his lung cancer, resulted from his exposure to and inhalation of asbestos at the Electric Boat shipyard. After a hearing, a United States Department of Labor administrative law judge (administrative judge) awarded death benefits to the plaintiff.⁴

Thereafter, the plaintiff applied, pursuant to the survivors' benefits provision of the act; General Statutes § 31-306;⁵ for survivors' benefits as the surviving dependent spouse. After a hearing to determine whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel applied, by virtue of the federal action, so as to preclude Electric Boat from contesting the causal connection between the decedent's death and his employment at Electric Boat, the commissioner concluded that the doctrine did not apply and, therefore, dismissed the plaintiff's assertion of collateral estoppel. The commissioner reasoned that the pertinent federal and state workers' compensation laws differ significantly and have different standards of proof with respect to the compensability of asbestos-related claims. Pursuant to General Statutes §§ 31-280b (b)⁶ and 31-301 (b),⁷ the plaintiff filed a petition for review with the review board, which affirmed the decision of the commissioner. This appeal followed.

Before reaching the merits of the plaintiffs appeal, we briefly address the standard of review applicable to workers' compensation appeals. "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.... Besade v. Interstate Security Services, 212 Conn. 441, 449, 562 A.2d 1086 (1989). Neither the review board nor this court has the power to retry facts. See Six v. Thomas O'Connor & Co., 235 Conn. 790, 798-99, 669 A.2d 1214 (1996).... Doe v. Stamford, 241 Conn. 692, 696-97, 699 A.2d 52 (1997). It is well established that [a]lthough not dispositive, we accord great weight to the construction given to the workers' compensation statutes by the commissioner and review board.... A state agency is not entitled, however, to special deference when its determination of a question of law has not previously been subject to judicial scrutiny.... Duni v. United Technologies Corp., 239 Conn. 19, 24-25, 682 A.2d 99 (1996); Davis v. Norwich, 232 Conn. 311, 317, 654 A.2d 1221 (1995). Where ... [a workers' compensation] appeal involves an issue of statutory construction that has not yet been subjected to judicial scrutiny, this court has plenary power to review the administrative decision. Doe v. Stamford, supra, 697; see Davis v. Norwich, supra, 317.... Dowling v. Slotnik, 244 Conn. 781, 798, 712 A.2d 396, cert. denied [sub nom. Slotnik v. Considine], 525 U.S. 1017, 119 S. Ct. 542, 142 L. Ed.2d 451 (1998)." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Fimiani v. Star Gallo Distributors, Inc., 248 Conn. 635, 641-42, 729 A.2d 212 (1999).

The plaintiff contends that the review board improperly concluded that the doctrine of collateral estoppel did not apply so as to preclude Electric Boat from relitigating the causal relationship between the decedent's death and his employment at Electric Boat. Specifically, the plaintiff contends that the doctrine applies because the issue of causation was fully litigated, actually decided and necessarily determined in the federal action, and that the plaintiffs burden of proof under the Longshore Act was the same as her burden of proof under our workers' compensation laws. Electric Boat argues that collateral estoppel should not apply because the administrative judge applied the so-called § 20 (a) presumption under the Longshore Act. See 33 U.S.C. § 20 (a). Electric Boat refers to that presumption as a "statutory benefit of the doubt" principle that does not exist under our workers' compensation laws. Stated another way, Electric Boat argues that the statutory presumption under the Longshore Act required the administrative judge to resolve any doubts in favor of the plaintiff, whereas our workers' compensation laws allow the commissioner to resolve any doubts in favor of either party. The substance of this claim can be distilled into two distinct subparts: (1) the application of the § 20 (a) presumption resulted in a lighter burden of proof on the plaintiff in the federal action than would obtain in the state proceeding;⁸ and (2) because of the § 20 (a) presumption, it is not possible to discern whether the issue of causation was actually litigated and necessarily determined. We agree with the plaintiff.

The fundamental principles underlying the doctrine of collateral estoppel are well established. "The common-law doctrine of collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, embodies a judicial policy in favor of judicial economy, the stability of former judgments and finality. State v. Ellis, 197 Conn. 436, 466, 497 A.2d 974 (1985), on appeal after remand sub nom. State v. Paradise, 213 Conn. 388, 567 A.2d 1221 (1990)." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Walsh v. Stonington Water Pollution Control Authority, 250 Conn. 443, 460, 736 A.2d 811 (1999). "Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, is that aspect of res judicata which prohibits the relitigation of an issue when that issue was actually litigated and necessarily determined in a prior action between the same parties upon a different claim.... In re Juvenile Appeal (83-DE), 190 Conn. 310, 316, 460 A.2d 1277 (1983). For an issue to be subject to collateral estoppel, it must have been fully and fairly...