State v. Connecticut Council 4, Clerical Employees Union, American Federation of State, County and Mun. Employees, AFL-CIO

• Decision Date: 06 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 3930,AFL-CIO,3930
• Citation: 508 A.2d 806,7 Conn.App. 286
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: STATE of Connecticut v. CONNECTICUT COUNCIL 4, CLERICAL EMPLOYEES UNION, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES,

Page 806

508 A.2d 806

7 Conn.App. 286

STATE of Connecticut v. CONNECTICUT COUNCIL 4, CLERICAL EMPLOYEES UNION, AMERICAN

FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL

EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO.

No. 3930.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued Jan. 15, 1986.

Decided May 6, 1986.

Barbara J. Collins, with whom, on brief, were J. William Gagne, Jr. and Raymond C. Bliss, Hartford, for appellant (defendant).

Thadd A. Gnocchi, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on brief, were Joseph I. Lieberman, Atty. Gen., and Robert E. Walsh, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee (State).

Before HULL, SPALLONE and DALY, JJ.

DALY, Judge.

This is an appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the trial court which vacated the defendant's arbitration award on the grounds that the award violated public policy and contravened the purposes of General Statutes § 14-50a(a). The defendant claimed that the court erred in so holding and in not remanding the case for a rehearing. We disagree and find no error.

The facts are not in dispute. The defendant, Connecticut Council 4, Clerical Employees Union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME) represents court reporters who take testimony at hearings conducted by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD). The state and the union entered into a collective bargaining agreement for a period extending from July 1, 1982, through June 30, 1985. This agreement provided for the final and binding arbitration of disputes arising between the parties.

On July 23, 1982, the commissioner of motor vehicles issued a memorandum ¹ requiring that transcripts would thenceforth be sold at a rate of $1 per page in accordance with General Statutes § 14-50a(a)(13). ² Prior to the issuance of the memorandum, MVD hearing reporters, in addition to their regular compensation, received payment for the preparation of transcripts at the request of outside parties and persons other than state officials. At the time this practice was terminated in 1982 by the commissioner, the transcript rate for MVD reporters had progressed to $1.75 per page. The person ordering such a transcript paid the fee directly to the hearing reporter at a rate equivalent to rates charged by hearing reporters employed in the courts and in the workers' compensation offices. The reporters often prepared these transcripts at home or outside of the office, earning as much as $1000 per year in additional compensation. The commissioner's memorandum also provided that the reinstated $1 per page fee should be paid in advance to the MVD and that reporters unable to prepare transcripts during work hours could request overtime. The memorandum effectively precluded reporters from receiving any extra compensation, contrary to previous practice, for transcripts prepared for private parties outside of work.

The defendant filed a grievance on behalf of several reporters under the collective bargaining agreement. The arbitrator found that the reporters were still entitled to charge private parties for the preparation of transcripts of hearings but limited the amount to $1 per page. The plaintiff filed an application to vacate the arbitrator's award claiming that the arbitrator had exceeded her powers. The trial court concluded that the award violated the policy of the state and the legislative intent as expressed in § 14-50a and ordered the award vacated. From that decision in favor of the state, the defendant appealed.

Arbitration affords a contractual remedy designed to expedite, in an informal setting, the resolution of disputes. Daginella v. Foremost Ins. Co., 197 Conn. 26, 33, 495 A.2d 709 (1985). Because of our respect for the autonomy of the arbitration process, which requires only minimal judicial intrusion, we will not disturb an arbitration award unless it clearly falls within the proscriptions of General Statutes § 52-418. Schwarzschild v. Martin, 191 Conn. 316, 323, 464 A.2d 774 (1983); Milford Employees Assn. v. Milford, 179 Conn. 678, 682, 427 A.2d 859 (1980). "We are adamant in our adherence to these principles which serve to perpetuate the autonomous nature of the arbitration process. To hold otherwise would expand the role of the trial court in arbitration proceedings which would result in an unwarranted and counterproductive diminution of the efficacy of such proceedings." Hartford v. Local 760, 6 Conn.App. 11, 14, 502 A.2d 429 (1986).

General Statutes § 52-418(a) provides in relevant part that "[u]pon the application of any party to an arbitration, the superior court ... shall make an order vacating the award if it finds any of the following defects: ... (4) if the arbitrators have exceeded their powers or so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final and definite award upon the subject matter submitted was not made."

The right to review an arbitration award exists only by statute. Milford Employees Assn. v. Milford, supra, 179 Conn. at 682, 427 A.2d 859. Under the facts of this case, the principal issue raised was whether the arbitrator exceeded her powers under § 52-418(a)(4). "Every reasonable presumption and intendment will be made in favor of the award, and, hence, the burden rests upon the plaintiffs to produce evidence sufficient to invalidate or avoid it." Id., 683. Parties cannot expect an intervening arbitral award approving conduct which is illegal or contrary to public policy to receive judicial endorsement any more than parties can expect a court to enforce such a contract between them. Board of Trustees v. Federation of Technical College Teachers, 179 Conn. 184, 195, 425 A.2d 1247 (1979). "In such a case, we are not concerned with the correctness of the arbitrator's decision but with the lawfulness of enforcing the award.... If the contract term is illegal in light of conflicting statutes, it is not legitimated by the arbitration process; and if...