Pyne v. City of New Haven

• Decision Date: 08 May 1979
• Citation: 418 A.2d 899,177 Conn. 456
• Parties: Elizabeth PYNE v. CITY OF NEW HAVEN.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court

Page 899

418 A.2d 899

177 Conn. 456

Elizabeth PYNE v. CITY OF NEW HAVEN.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Jan. 10, 1979.

Decided May 8, 1979.

Frederick W. Danforth, Jr., Deputy Corp. Counsel, New Haven, for appellant (defendant).

Stephen I. Traub, New Haven, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before COTTER, C. J., and LOISELLE, BOGDANSKI, PETERS and PARSKEY, JJ.

PARSKEY, Associate Justice.

The plaintiff is the widow of Joseph Pyne, a New Haven police officer who died on April 1, 1973, as a result of a heart attack. At the time Pyne became a police officer, he passed a physical examination, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of heart disease or hypertension. His gross weekly salary at the time of his death was $213.15. The plaintiff claimed, pursuant to General Statutes § 7-433c, to be entitled to workmen's compensation benefits, and was awarded compensation in the amount of $102 per week. The plaintiff receives, additionally, pension payments, pursuant to § 258 of the charter of the city of New Haven, in the amount of $230.92 per month.

The plaintiff brought suit against the city of New Haven for further compensation to which she claimed to be entitled by reason of the provisions of General Statutes § 7-433c. Under § 7-433c, if "a regular member of a paid municipal police department who successfully passed a physical examination on entry into such service, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of hypertension or heart disease, suffers either off duty or on duty any condition or impairment of health caused by hypertension or heart disease resulting in his death," then his dependents are entitled to (1) workmen's compensation benefits, and (2) "the same retirement or survivor benefits which would be paid under (the municipality's retirement) system if such death or disability was caused by a personal injury which arose out of and in the course of his employment." The plaintiff claimed that if her husband's death had been caused by a "personal injury which arose out of and in the course of his employment," she would be entitled to the benefits provided by § 258A of the New Haven charter. Under § 258A, the widow of a police department member who is "killed while in the actual performance of duty or shall die from the proximate effects of any injuries received while in the actual discharge of such duty" is entitled to "a weekly compensation equal to the difference between the maximum weekly compensation to which a widow of any deceased member is entitled and received under the provisions of the general statutes relating to workmen's compensation, and the weekly earnings of her deceased husband at the time of his death." The plaintiff applied to the city of New Haven for weekly compensation benefits, in accordance with § 258A of the charter, in the amount of $112 per week (the difference between her husband's weekly basic pay at the time of his death and the workmen's compensation benefits she was receiving). The city denied this claim and the plaintiff brought suit seeking an amount equal to $112 per week retroactive to the time of her husband's death and an order requiring the defendant to pay her $112 weekly until she dies or remarries.

The plaintiff moved for summary judgment. She filed an affidavit in which she stated, in relevant part, the following: She is the widow of a New Haven police officer who died of a heart attack, and who, at the time he became a police officer, had successfully passed a physical examination which failed to reveal any heart disease or evidence of hypertension; as a result of a workmen's compensation award she is presently receiving $102 weekly; and the city has refused to pay her the weekly benefits provided for by § 258A of the charter, which benefits would amount to the difference between her husband's weekly pay at the time of his death and the workmen's compensation benefits she is receiving. The plaintiff subsequently filed a second affidavit in which she reestimated her claim, taking into consideration monthly pension payments of $230.92 which she had also been receiving. The plaintiff thus claimed to be entitled to retroactive payments of $111.15 per week (the difference between workmen's compensation, weekly benefits and weekly earnings at death) for the number of weeks from the date of her husband's death to the date of judgment minus the $230.92 monthly payments. As of November 12, 1976, this amounted to $11,180.32.

The plaintiff's motion for summary judgment was granted as to liability and a hearing in damages was ordered. The court subsequently found that the city of New Haven should pay damages of $23,008.05 to the plaintiff, that is that the city owed the plaintiff the sum of $111.15 for the 207 weeks between the date of death of the plaintiff's husband and the date of judgment, March 23, 1977. This appeal followed.

On appeal, the city of New Haven raises two issues: (1) whether General Statutes § 7-433c entitles the plaintiff to the benefits provided by § 258A of the charter of the city of New Haven (27 Spec. Acts 346, No. 439); and (2) whether, assuming liability, the amount of damages was correctly set at $23,008.05.

The city raises several arguments in defense of its claim that General Statutes § 7-433c does not entitle the plaintiff to widow's death benefits payable under § 258A of the charter of the city of New Haven. The city first argues that although General Statutes § 7-433c entitles the plaintiff to receive from the municipal retirement system under which her husband was covered the same retirement or survivor benefits which would be paid to her if his death were service related, § 258A of the New Haven charter provides benefits separate and distinct from the police retirement system benefits and, thus, the plaintiff is not entitled to the benefits provided by § 258A of the charter. This position is not tenable.

The city bases its argument primarily on a distinction in the source of funding of the benefits payable under § 258A and other retirement or survivor benefits payable under the city charter. That is, while for example § 258 of the charter provides certain survivor benefits to dependents of deceased police officers which are payable from a contributory relief fund, § 258A benefits are payable from the general funds of the city of New Haven. But the source of funding of benefits does not determine whether they are part of that city's retirement system for its policemen.

"System" is defined as "a complex unity formed of many often diverse parts . . . serving a common purpose." Webster, Third New International Dictionary. A retirement system would then be the set of benefit provisions which serve the common purpose of providing a level of economic protection to police officers and their dependents in the case of retirement, death or disability. Sections 252 through 259 of the New Haven charter set forth various provisions for the funding, administration and payment of retirement and survivor benefits to policemen under a contributory pension plan. Section 258A of the charter provides certain additional survivor benefits in the event that death occurs while in the actual performance of duty. These charter provisions are clearly all part of a plan for appropriately compensating New Haven policemen or their dependents in the event of retirement, death or disabling injury.

The legislature enacted General Statutes § 7-433c for the purpose of placing policemen who die or are disabled as a result of hypertension or heart disease in the same position vis-a-vis compensation benefits as policemen who die or are disabled as a result of service related injuries. The legislative rationale, set forth in the preamble to § 7-433c, was to recognize the many problems...