Del Toro v. Stamford, (AC 20207)

• Decision Date: 26 June 2001
• Docket Number: (AC 20207)
• Citation: 779 A.2d 202,64 Conn. App. 1
• Court: Connecticut Court of Appeals
• Parties: RICHARD DEL TORO v. CITY OF STAMFORD ET AL.

64 Conn. App. 1

779 A.2d 202

RICHARD DEL TORO v. CITY OF STAMFORD ET AL.

(AC 20207)

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 16, 2001.

Officially released June 26, 2001.

Schaller, Spear and O'Connell, JS.

Gary J. Wilson, for the appellant (plaintiff).

James L. Sullivan, with whom was James D. Moran, Jr., for the appellees (defendants).

Opinion

SCHALLER, J.

The plaintiff, Richard Del Toro, appeals from the decision of the workers' compensation review board (board) affirming the denial by the workers' compensation commissioner (commissioner) of his motion to preclude the defendant city of Stamford¹ from contesting liability. On appeal, the plaintiffs sole claim is that the board improperly upheld the commissioner's decision on the ground that subject matter jurisdiction did not exist. We reverse the decision of the board.

The relevant facts as found by the commissioner are as follows. Between 1981 and 1996, the plaintiff was employed as a police officer for the defendant city. On or about November 30, 1985, the plaintiff, while working within the scope of his employment, was involved in a shooting incident that resulted in the death of a civilian. He thereafter sought treatment to address the potential psychological distress resulting from the shooting incident. On May 12, 1994, Mark Rubinstein, a physician, examined the plaintiff pursuant to the defendants' request and opined that the plaintiff did not require psychiatric treatment or psychological counseling with respect to the shooting incident. Approximately one year later, a psychiatrist concluded to the contrary and, as a result, the plaintiff began receiving psychiatric treatment in connection with the shooting incident.

On July 9, 1996, the plaintiff filed a form 30C² in which he alleged a repetitive trauma stress injury with a July 27, 1995 date of injury. The injury is described in the form as "officer involved shooting on 11-30-85." The defendants failed to contest the claim within twenty-eight days of receipt of written notice of the claim as mandated by General Statutes § 31-294c (b),³ which establishes a conclusive presumption of liability if the employer fails to so contest. Consequently, on August 28, 1996, the plaintiff filed a motion to preclude the defendants from contesting liability. The commissioner denied that motion and, in doing so, accepted the defendants' argument that the plaintiffs injury was not a compensable "injury" within the meaning of General Statutes § 31-275 (16) (B) (ii).⁴ That statute precludes recovery for a mental or emotional injury unless it arises from a "physical injury" or "occupational disease." Id.

The plaintiff then appealed to the board from the commissioner's decision. Although the defendants had failed to contest the claim within twenty-eight days as required by § 31-294c (b), the board affirmed the commissioner's ruling on the ground that the commissioner lacked jurisdiction over the injury alleged by the plaintiff. In support of its decision, the board relied on Biasetti v. Stamford, 250 Conn. 65, 735 A.2d 321 (1999). The plaintiff now appeals from the board's decision.⁵ The plaintiff claims that the board improperly upheld the commissioner's decision denying the motion to preclude on the ground that subject matter jurisdiction did not exist. The crux of his claim is that the board mischaracterized the determination of whether the injury was compensable under § 31-275 (16) (B) (ii) as a jurisdictional matter, thereby circumventing the mandatory presumption of liability contained in § 31-294c (b). Such a determination, according to the plaintiff, does not implicate subject matter jurisdiction, and there is no claim questioning the existence of an employer-employee relationship. In response, the defendants argue that subject matter jurisdiction requires proof, not only of the employee-employer relationship, but also proof that the injury is the type of injury compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act, General Statutes § 31-275 et seq. We disagree.

Before addressing the merits of the plaintiff's claim, we set forth our 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.... 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.... 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." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Dowling v. Slotnik, 244 Conn. 781, 797-98, 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). Because this issue of statutory construction has not been subjected to judicial scrutiny, our review is plenary.

We begin by examining the statute that precludes the employer from contesting liability. Section 31-294c (b) provides in relevant part: "Whenever liability to pay compensation is contested by the employer, he shall file with the commissioner, on or before the twenty-eighth day after he has received a written notice of claim, a notice ... stating that the right to compensation is contested .... [A]n employer who fails to contest liability for an alleged injury or death on or before the twenty-eighth day after receiving a written notice of claim and who fails to commence payment for the alleged injury or death on or before such twenty-eighth day, shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the compensability of the alleged injury or death."

Although the conclusive presumption contained in § 31-294c (b) is phrased in absolute language, it does not preclude the employer from challenging the commissioner's subject matter jurisdiction. Castro v. Viera, 207 Conn. 420, 427, 541 A.2d 1216 (1988). "Jurisdiction of the subject-matter is the power [of the court] to hear and determine cases of the general class to which the proceedings in question belong.... A court has subject matter jurisdiction if it has the authority to adjudicate a particular type of legal controversy.... It is a familiar principle that a court which exercises a limited and statutory jurisdiction is without jurisdiction to act unless it does so under the precise circumstances and in the manner particularly prescribed by the enabling legislation....

"This concept, however, is not limited to courts. Administrative agencies [such as the commission] are tribunals of limited jurisdiction and their jurisdiction is dependent entirely upon the validity of the statutes vesting them with power and they cannot confer jurisdiction upon themselves.... We have recognized that [i]t is clear that an administrative body must act strictly within its statutory authority, within constitutional limitations and in a lawful manner.... It cannot modify, abridge or otherwise change the statutory provisions, under which it acquires authority unless the statutes expressly grant it that power....

* * *

"[O]nce the question of lack of jurisdiction of a court is raised, [it] must be disposed of no matter in what form it is presented ... and the court must fully resolve it before proceeding further with the case.... Subject matter jurisdiction, unlike jurisdiction of the person, cannot be created through consent or waiver." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 427-30. The dispositive question, therefore, is whether the compensability of an injury⁶ is a jurisdictional issue so that the conclusive presumption of § 31-294c (b) does not apply. We answer that question in the negative.

The concept that subject matter jurisdiction encompasses the issue of the compensability of an injury finds no support in our case law. To the contrary, our case law reveals that, in the context of workers' compensation proceedings, subject matter jurisdiction is implicated only with issues concerning the existence of an employee-employer relationship; id., 430-37; or the proper initiation of the claim itself. Infante v. Mansfield Construction Co., 47 Conn. App. 530, 534, 706 A.2d 984 (1998). Our courts have repeatedly refused to characterize as issues of subject matter jurisdiction claims involving whether an injury arose in the course of employment. In such circumstances, the courts precluded the employers from circumventing the conclusive statutory presumption of liability imposed if they failed to contest liability. LaVogue v. Cincinnati, Inc., 9 Conn. App. 91, 93, 516 A.2d 151, cert. denied, 201 Conn. 814, 518...