DocketNumber: No. CV-94-0539691 S
Citation Numbers: 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 4581
Judges: SHELDON, J.
Filed Date: 6/6/1996
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Defendant Yocum is a resident of Wallingford, Connecticut, who, from 1958 through 1963, was employed at various times by defendants Katy and Wallace International. In a claim now pending before the WCC, Yocum alleges that she suffers from mesothelioma as a result of her exposure to asbestos while working for Katy and/or Wallace International. CT Page 4582
While Yocum was employed by Katy and Wallace International, both employers maintained workers' compensation insurance under one or more policies issued by American Mutual. On March 9, 1989, however, American Mutual was determined to be insolvent by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Under the CIGA Act, CIGA is obligated to pay any "covered claim" arising under a policy of insurance issued by an insurer later determined to be insolvent if the claim is filed with it, or is made the subject of a notice to be receiver or liquidator of the insolvent insurer, within two years from the date of the declaration of insolvency. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§
By March 10, 1991, neither Yocum nor Katy nor Wallace International had filed with CIGA or given notice to the receiver of American Mutual of any claim for benefits on behalf of Yocum under any workers' compensation insurance policy issued to Katy or Wallace International by American Mutual. Therefore, claims CIGA, it is not now obligated to pay Yocum's pending claim, which was first filed after March 10, 1991, or to reimburse Katy or Wallace International for any expenses they may have incurred or payments they may be required to make on account of that claim.
Yocum has answered by way of special defense that she has done everything necessary to recover for Workers' Compensation benefits pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes §
CIGA now moves for summary judgment as to its obligation to pay Yocum's pending claim or to reimburse Katy or Wallace International for any expenses they may incur as a result of that claim. CIGA's argument, simply stated, is that since Yocum's claim was not filed on or before March 9, 1991, CIGA is not obligated to pay that claim because the CIGA Act absolutely bars any claim filed more than two years after the insurer was declared insolvent. CIGA has supported its motion with two Memoranda of Law.
Yocum has filed her own Memorandum of Law in opposition to CT Page 4583 CIGA's motion, and has filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, requesting either that judgment enter in her favor or, in the alternative, that this Court determine which of the other defendants in this action must pay pending her claim. Yocum argues first, that insofar as there is a conflict between the CIGA Act and the Workers' Compensation Act ("WC Act") with respect to the date by which claims must be filed, the WC Act should prevail. Here, then, she claims, she is entitled to have CIGA pay her claim because it was timely filed under the WC Act. Yocum also argues that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to CIGA's entitlement to judgment because of the doctrine of equitable tolling. Under that doctrine, claims Yocum, CIGA should not prevail because Yocum was not in a position to make her claim against CIGA before the expiration of the two-year time period. Finally, Yocum puts forth several constitutional arguments challenging the two-year time limit provision of the CIGA Act.
Katy has also filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, arguing that the liability of CIGA for workers' compensation claims is not subject to the two-year time bar in the CIGA Act.
The CIGA Act directs that CIGA "shall pay the full amount of any such claim arising out of a workers' compensation policy, provided in no event shall (B) [CIGA] be obligated to any policyholder or claimant in an amount in excess of the obligation of the insolvent insurer under the policy form from which the claim arises, or for any claim filed with the association after the expiration of two years from the date of the declaration of insolvency." Conn. Gen. Stat. §
Katy argues, in the alternative, that when read in conjunction with the WC Act, the CIGA Act's two-year time bar provision should not be given effect. The WC Act, codified as Chapter 568 of the Connecticut General Statutes, provides that no claim for compensation can be made "unless a written notice of claim for compensation is given within one year from the date of the accident or within three years from the first manifestation of a symptom of the occupational disease[.]" Conn. Gen. Stat. §
In 1986, §
Conceding that §
Katy's argument is flawed for the following reasons. The reference in §
"[T]he General Assembly is always presumed to know all the existing statutes and the effect that its action or non-action will have upon any one of them. And it is always presumed to have intended that effect which its action or non-action produces." Inre Valerie D.,
IV CT Page 4586
The defendants next argue that even if the typical claimant for workers' compensation benefits against CIGA must file or give notice of her claim within two years of the date on which her insurer is declared insolvent, Ms. Yocum's later-filed claim is saved from the CIGA Act's two-year time bar by the doctrine of equitable tolling. Under that doctrine, it is argued, the filing period for Ms. Yocum's claim did not begin to run until she first discovered or had reason to discover that she had a work-related injury, and thus a basis for filing the claim. The defendants assert that since Ms. Yocum has no valid basis for filing a workers' compensation claim until December 1991, when she first discovered that she suffered from mesothelioma, her April 1992 claim against CIGA was timely filed.
The plaintiff does not dispute the chronology of events leading to the filing of Ms. Yocum's claim. Even so, it argues that that claim cannot be saved by the doctrine of equitable tolling, for: (1) no Connecticut court has ever followed that doctrine; and (2) even if the doctrine were to be adopted in Connecticut, it could not be invoked to avoid application of a time bar like the one here at issue.
The doctrine of equitable tolling finds its origins in federal case law. Its well settled purpose is to "permit a plaintiff to avoid the bar of the statute of limitations if despite all due diligence he is unable to obtain vital information bearing on the existence of his claim." Code v.Baxter Healthcare Corporation,
So defined, equitable tolling is distinct and different from the more familiar doctrine of equitable estoppel. For there to be estoppel, the party sought to be estopped "must do or say something that is intended or calculated to induce another to believe in the existence of certain facts and to act upon that belief; and the other party, influenced thereby, must actually change his position or do some act to his injury which he would not otherwise have done." Morris v. Costa,
The Court, however, need not attempt to resolve the federal controversy over the applicability of equitable tolling principles to actions not based upon or delayed because of fraud. This is so because however that controversy is resolved, the doctrine of equitable tolling cannot be invoked to avoid the CT Page 4588 applicability of the time bar here at issue, which is a statute of repose, not a statute of limitations.
A statute of limitations extinguishes the right to prosecute an accrued cause of action unless it is filed within a specified period of time after injury occurs. A statute of repose, by contrast, restricts potential liability by limiting the time during which a cause of action can arise. Statutes of repose thus cut off the right of action after a specified period of time regardless of when the action accrues or when the plaintiff receives notice that his rights have been related. Blacks Law Dictionary, (6th Ed. 1990), p. 1411. See also Baxter v. Sturn.Ruges Co.,
Under federal law, it is well settled that neither equitable tolling nor equitable estoppel applies to statutes of repose, for "the very purpose [of such statutes] is to set an outer limit unaffected by what the plaintiff knows." Code v. BaxterHealthcare Corporation, supra, 451. Since a plaintiff's knowledge of facts supporting his right of action is immaterial to the legislature's judgment that after a certain period of time, no right of action should arise, it is apparent that the operation of the statute should not be suspended merely because the plaintiff has no knowledge or means of obtaining knowledge of his right of action.
Here, it is clear on the face of the statute that the two-year time bar in the CIGA Act is a statute of repose. It operates to cut off all liability for claims made more than two years after an insurer is declared insolvent, regardless of when the claim arose, who knew or had reason to know about it, or any other factor traditionally associated with a statute of limitations. This cut-off date is tied exclusively to the date of an event that has nothing to do with the nature of the claim or the knowledge of the claimant. Thus it is a statute of repose, which should not be avoided by any claimed failure by the plaintiff to be aware of the claim. The legislature, by passing the statute, decreed such knowledge to be irrelevant to the enforceability of the statute; hence the Court cannot refuse to enforce this statute by invoking its equitable powers.
As no inherently suspect class or fundamental right has been discriminated against, the statute needs only survive rational basis review. "The relevant inquiry is whether the classification and disparate treatment inherent in the statute of repose legislation bears a rational relationship to a legitimate state end and is based on reasons related to the accomplishment of that goal." Daily v. New Britain Machine Co.,
The Legislature has afforded an increased degree of protection to workers who make a claim under the WC Act and some degree of protection — coverage for two years from the date of insolvency — to a claimant under the CIGA Act. While one purpose of the CIGA Act is undoubtedly to protect claimants and policy holders, the two-year time bar provision therein serves the legitimate purpose of limiting stale claims and reducing the burden on the insurance — buying public in the form of increased premiums. CIGA funds its obligations by assessing its member insurers, who, in turn Pass the cost on to the public in the form of higher rates and premiums. The time — bar provision CT Page 4590 thus serves the additional legitimate purposes of setting reasonable limits on CIGA's liability and providing finality to the liquidation process for the insolvent insurer.
The two-year cutoff, furthermore, applies to all claims, not just to workers' compensation claims. The purpose of the CIGA Act is to compensate claimants who make claims against insolvent insurers for up to two years from insolvency, regardless of the nature of the claim. The rationale for the application of the CIGA Act's two-year time bar provision to claims made against insolvent insurers applies no less to workers' compensation claims than to any other claim against an insolvent insurer as well.
Yocum further argues that the Connecticut constitution prohibits the legislature from abolishing a cause of action recognized at common law. Gentile v. Alermatt,
According to Yocum, her common-law claim against her employer, trespass on the case, could have been brought but for the WC Act. This was an acceptable abridgment, however, since the CT Page 4591 legislature simultaneously established the alternative of filing a workers' compensation claim. In 1971, the legislature abolished her right to file a claim against an insolvent workers' compensation insurer with the Second Injury Fund.5 However, the legislature simultaneously established her right to file the same claim with CIGA. In 1981, when the two-year time bar provision was adopted, the Legislature altered her right to file a claim with CIGA. Since Yocum was unaware of her injury before the two-year time limit passed, she now has no redress
The CIGA Act's two-year time bar does not deprive Yocum of a remedy. The CIGA Act does not abolish any common-law rights Yocum may once have had, but rather provides an additional layer of protection within certain parameters, one of which is the two-year time bar, when an insurer is declared insolvent. "When a statute creates a cause of action that does not exist at common law, and simultaneously specifies a time limitation in which to bring that action, the remedy exists only during the prescribed period and not thereafter." Ambroise v. William Raveis RealEstate, Inc.,
Much weight is placed upon the Attorney General's opinion letter dated May 24, 1994, which concludes that the Second Injury Fund would not assume liability for workers' compensation claims filed against insolvent insurers after CIGA's two-year coverage ends. This issue is not before the Court.
Michael R. Sheldon, J.
38-fair-emplpraccas-801-37-empl-prac-dec-p-35487-richard-cerbone-v , 768 F.2d 45 ( 1985 )
W. Kenneth Tregenza, James E. Haas, and Erwin B. Seegers v. ... , 12 F.3d 717 ( 1993 )
Gallop v. Commercial Painting Co. , 42 Conn. Super. Ct. 187 ( 1992 )
Morris v. Costa , 174 Conn. 592 ( 1978 )
Gentile v. Altermatt , 169 Conn. 267 ( 1975 )
Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson , 111 S. Ct. 2773 ( 1991 )