VINCENT D‘ERAMO v. JAMES R. SMITH, CLAIMS COMMISSIONER
SC 17112
Supreme Court of Connecticut
Argued October 22, 2004—officially released May 17, 2005
Sullivan, C. J., and Norcott, Katz, Zarella and Corradino, Js.
if necessary, treatment was a reasonable change within the meaning of
We conclude that the trial court properly sustained the plaintiff‘s consolidated appeal and reversed the zoning commission‘s denial of the plaintiff‘s modified application. We further conclude that the conditions imposed by the trial court were reasonable changes within the meaning of
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion
Joseph A. Kubic, with whom, on the brief, were James R. Winkel and Stephen P. Wright, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Thomas P. Clifford III, assistant attorney general, with whom, on the brief, were Richard Blumenthal, attorney general, and William J. McCullough, assistant attorney general, for the appellee (defendant).
Opinion
The record reveals the following facts and procedural history. The plaintiff injured his wrist on or about February 3, 1998. Thereafter, he made arrangements for surgery to repair the injury. Prior to the scheduled surgery, the plaintiff was committed to the custody of the department of correction (department). While in the custody of the department, the plaintiff underwent surgery on July 27, 1998. On January 6, 1999, the plaintiff filed with the claims commissioner a notice of claim alleging that the delay by the department in providing adequate medical care to the plaintiff, even though it had been notified of his condition, had resulted in permanent damage to his wrist.
Meanwhile, in 1998, the legislature enacted No. 98-76 of the 1998 Public Acts (P.A. 98-76), now codified in relevant part at
The claims commissioner filed a motion to dismiss, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the action under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Specifically, the claims commissioner argued that he is absolutely immune to suits arising from the exercise of his adjudicative powers. He also argued that he was not required to authorize the plaintiff‘s medical malpractice action against the state under
On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the trial court improperly concluded that P.A. 98-76 is not retroactive because it constituted a substantive rather than a procedural change to the statutory scheme and the legislature did not clearly and unequivocally express an intent that it apply retroactively. We note that the trial court‘s determination that
The claims commissioner argues that the trial court‘s judgment may be affirmed on the alternate ground that the plaintiff‘s application should be dismissed because he
“Ordinarily, we would consider the defendant‘s alternate grounds for affirmance only after finding merit in [the claim] raised on appeal. [O]nce the question of lack of jurisdiction of a court is raised, [however, 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.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Dow & Condon, Inc. v. Brookfield Development Corp., 266 Conn. 572, 578-79, 833 A.2d 908 (2003). We therefore consider as a threshold issue the claims commissioner‘s claimed alternate ground for affirmance.
“Under our exhaustion of administrative remedies doctrine, a trial court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over an action that seeks a remedy that could be provided through an administrative proceeding, unless and until that remedy has been sought in the administrative forum. . . . In the absence of exhaustion of that remedy, the action must be dismissed.” (Citation omitted.) Drumm v. Brown, 245 Conn. 657, 676, 716 A.2d 50 (1998). “We have recognized that a party aggrieved by a decision of an administrative agency may be excused from exhaustion of administrative remedies if: recourse to the administrative remedy would be futile or inadequate . . . or injunctive relief from an agency decision is necessary to prevent immediate and irreparable harm.” (Citations omitted.) Polymer Resources, Ltd. v. Keeney, 227 Conn. 545, 561, 630 A.2d 1304 (1993).
In the present case, the claims commissioner argues that the plaintiff‘s claim is barred by the exhaustion doctrine because he failed to proceed with the scheduled September 16, 2002 hearing before the claims commissioner. This argument has two prongs. First, he argues that, if this court determines that
Second, the claims commissioner argues that the plaintiff must exhaust his administrative remedies because the claims commissioner‘s current position that
We also reject the claims commissioner‘s claim that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiff‘s application because the determination of whether to waive immunity to suit is committed solely to the legislature and, through the legislature, to the claims commissioner.
The claims commissioner argues that these authorities establish that the trial court did not have jurisdiction over the plaintiff‘s application because the claims commissioner, through the legislature, is vested with the power to determine whether to waive immunity to suit. The flaw in the claims commissioner‘s argument is that the plaintiff in the present case, unlike in Circle Lanes of Fairfield, Inc., is not attempting to appeal from a decision by the claims commissioner and is not asking the court to substitute its views for the claims commissioner‘s discretionary legislative determination as to whether sovereign immunity should be waived. Rather, the plaintiff is asking the court to determine whether the legislature, in enacting
We now turn to the substance of the plaintiff‘s claim on appeal. As a preliminary matter, we set forth the standard of review. “[T]he standard of review of a trial court‘s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment is well established. Practice Book [§ 17-49] provides that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Craig v. Stafford Construction, Inc., 271 Conn. 78, 83, 856 A.2d 372 (2004).
The plaintiff in the present case does not claim that any material facts are in dispute. The sole issue in dis-pute is whether, as a matter of law, the plaintiff has a clear right under
We begin our analysis with the language of the statute. Section 4-160 (b) provides in relevant part that an “attorney or party filing [a malpractice] claim may submit a certificate of good faith to the Claims Commis-sioner in accordance with section 52-190a. If such a certificate is submitted, the Claims Commissioner shall authorize suit against the state on such claim.” Before
With this background in mind, we conclude that the enactment of P.A. 98-76, now codified at
The plaintiff argues that the following legislative history contains such a clear and unequivocal expression of legislative intent to the contrary. See Taylor v. Kirschner, 243 Conn. 250, 252-53, 702 A.2d 138 (1997) (considering legislative history in determining whether substantive statute is retroactive). During debate before the judiciary committee on the bill that ultimately was enacted as P.A. 98-76, Representative Michael Lawlor asked Robert Reardon, an attorney and president of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association at the time: “[S]hould this bill become law, what would be the practical effect in a case such as this if these new rules were adopted?” Conn. Joint Standing Committee Hearings, Judiciary, Pt. 1, 1998 Sess., p. 140. Reardon responded: “I would think that I would file a [c]ertificate of [g]ood [f]aith promptly and the case would move on.” Id. Thereafter, Reardon commented: “We only seek to get to the jury and get an opportunity to have our day in court in these medical negligence cases against the [s]tate and not have to wait . . . .” Id., p. 141. Later, Representative Lawlor stated: “I think it‘s our obligation in light of the reality of the sovereign immunity of the [s]tate and tribes and federal government, etc., that we have to make it as simple as possible to accomplish justice even when the sovereign is involved.
“So, I‘m relatively optimistic this bill will be successful this year and hopefully that you won‘t and people like yourself in the future won‘t have to deal with this kind of thing.” (Emphasis added.) Id., p. 147. During the debate on the bill in the House of Representatives, Representative Richard D. Tulisano summarized the changes made by P.A. 98-76 and explained that the bill “reduces [the need for] having another hearing and then bringing it to court for a hearing.” 41 H.R. Proc., Pt. 8, 1998 Sess., p. 2697. The plaintiff argues that this history establishes that “the intent of the legislation was to allow the persons who had pending claims at the time of the public hearing to [proceed] to Superior Court upon the filing [of] a certificate of good faith.”
We are not persuaded that these general remarks clearly and unequivocally express a legislative intent for the bill to apply retroactively. If anything, Representative Lawlor‘s statement that future claimants would not have to deal with the delays caused by the claims commissioner‘s investigation expresses the legislature‘s intent that the legislation would apply prospectively. Accordingly, we conclude that
Having concluded that
The plaintiff‘s original injury occurred on or about February 3, 1998, and he received surgery for the injury on July 27, 1998. Accordingly, any injury caused by the department‘s delay in providing surgery occurred between those dates. Because the plaintiff‘s injury occurred before the statute‘s effective date of October 1, 1998,
The form of the judgment is improper, the judgment is reversed and the case is remanded with direction to render judgment for the defendant on the merits of the plaintiff‘s application for a writ of mandamus.
In this opinion NORCOTT, KATZ and CORRADINO, Js., concurred.
ZARELLA, J., concurring. I agree with the conclusion of the majority. I write separately, however, because I disagree with the majority that legislative history may be consulted when determining whether a statute that affects the substantive rights of the parties is to be given retrospective effect.
The majority begins its analysis of
The notion that a statute is to be construed as having prospective effect unless it contains specific language to the contrary, without reference to the legislative history, is firmly rooted in the common law and was expressed clearly and forcefully in an early opinion of this court. See Goshen v. Stonington, 4 Conn. 209 (1822). In Goshen, Chief Justice Stephen Titus Hosmer declared that, “by construction, if it can be avoided, no statute should have a retrospect, anterior to the time of its commencement . . . . This principle is founded on the supposition, that laws are intended to be prospective only. But when a statute, either by explicit provision, or necessary implication, is retroactive, there is no room for construction . . . .” (Citations omitted; emphasis added.) Id., 220. Chief Justice Hosmer also cited English common law for the proposition that “a statute is not to be construed as having a retrospect. . . . Such a construction ought never to be given, unless the expression of the law imperiously requires it. The cases of Helmore v. [Shuter, 89 Eng. Rep. 764, 2 Shower 16 (K.B. 1678)] . . . [and] Couch v. Jeffries, [98 Eng. Rep. 290, 4 Burrow 2460 (1769)] . . . were determined on this principle.”1 (Citation omitted; emphasis altered.) Goshen v. Stonington, supra, 223.
Connecticut cases decided after Goshen reiterated the principle that the retroactive application of a statute must be expressed in strong and explicit language in the statute itself and cannot be inferred by construction. See, e.g., Thames Mfg. Co. v. Lathrop, 7 Conn. 550, 557 (1829) (“[A]cts of the legislature, although in certain cases an explicit provision may [be retrospective], by construction, can never have given to them a retrospective operation. . . . Where a new rule of law is declared, it never looks backwards, unless it is so enacted
The legislature later codified the common-law principle that statutes affecting substantive rights are intended to be prospective in their application. General Statutes (1875 Rev.) tit. 22, § 4, p. 551 (“[n]o provision of the General Statutes, not previously contained in the statutes of the State, which impose[s] new obligations on any person or corporation, shall be construed to have a retrospective effect“). The text of that statute survives to this day unchanged. See
In the early twentieth century, cases continued to be decided in accordance with the complementary principles that statutes affecting substantive rights are intended to be prospective only and cannot be retroactively applied except by express provision or necessary implication. See, e.g., Atwood v. Buckingham, 78 Conn. 423, 426, 62 A. 616 (1905) (considering language of statute within context of broader statutory scheme and observing that “the presumption is that statutes are intended to operate prospectively, and that they should not be construed as having a retrospective effect unless their terms show clearly and unmistakably a legislative intention that they should so operate“); Massa v. Nastri, 125 Conn. 144, 146-47, 3 A.2d 839 (1939) (“The general rule is that laws are to be interpreted as operating prospectively and considered as furnishing a rule for future cases only, unless they contain language unequivocally and certainly embracing past transactions. . . . The presumption is that statutes affecting substantive rights are intended to operate prospectively . . . .” [Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.]); East Village Associates, Inc. v. Monroe, 173 Conn. 328, 332-33, 377 A.2d 1092 (1977) (“Statutes should be construed retrospectively only when the mandate of the legislature is imperative. . . . In the absence of express directions for retroactive application of [the statute] . . . the inference is clear that the [statute] was
In 1984, however, we departed from these long-standing principles of statutory construction and embarked on a different path. In Schieffelin & Co. v. Dept. of Liquor Control, 194 Conn. 165, 479 A.2d 1191 (1984), we were required to determine whether Public Acts 1981, No. 81-367 (P.A. 81-367), which established certain procedures to be followed by out-of-state wholesalers when terminating liquor distributorships, applied to distributorships in existence at the time the act became effective or only to distributorships that came into existence after the effective date of the act. See id., 173. At the outset of our analysis, we noted that no statute affecting substantive rights shall be construed to have a retrospective effect under
Thereafter, we sometimes considered legislative history, in addition to statutory language, as a reliable indicator of legislative intent. See, e.g., State v. Lizotte, 200 Conn. 734, 742, 517 A.2d 610 (1986) (neither language nor legislative history supported conclusion that statute was intended to have retroactive effect); Taylor v. Kirschner, 243 Conn. 250, 253-55, 702 A.2d 138 (1997) (language, legislative history, objective and underlying policy of public act established that legislature intended statute to be applied retrospectively); but see Darak v. Darak, 210 Conn. 462, 468, 556 A.2d 145 (1989) (no ” ‘clear and unequivocal’ ” language in act to support inference in favor of retrospective application); Miano v. Thorne, 218 Conn. 170, 180, 588 A.2d 189 (1991) (no ” ‘clear and unequivocal’ ” language in statute to rebut presumption that legislature did not intend statute to apply retrospectively). More recently, we have declared that “[w]e generally look to the statutory language and the pertinent legislative history to ascertain whether the legislature intended that the [statute] be given retrospective effect.” (Emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Nowell, 262 Conn. 686, 702, 817 A.2d 76 (2003); accord Johnson v. Commissioner of Correction, 258 Conn. 804, 820, 786 A.2d 1091 (2002). This expression of governing legal principles not only elevates legislative history to a level of importance seemingly equal to that of the language of the statute itself but also improperly suggests that an examination of legislative history is generally undertaken when conducting such an analysis despite nearly 200 years of case law to
In my view, the time has come to reverse this recent trend of examining legislative history to determine the intent of the legislature when the substantive rights of the parties are affected. It should be self-evident that, in light of our continued reliance on the principle that no statute affecting substantive rights shall be construed to have a retrospective effect in the absence of an unequiv-ocal expression of legislative intent to the contrary, it is impermissible to construe a statute‘s terms by seeking guidance from the legislative history. In Goshen v. Stonington, supra, 4 Conn. 209, Chief Justice Hosmer expressed, in the strongest possible terms, that the court should avoid construing a statute as having retrospective application when he referred to English case law providing that “[s]uch a construction ought never to be given, unless the expression of the law imperiously requires it.” (Emphasis added.) Id., 223. In other words, a statute may be construed to apply retrospectively when there is no express provision to that effect only if, by necessary or unavoidable implication, such a result is required. See id., 220.
Our case law also militates against the use of legislative history to determine whether a statute is to be given retrospective effect because, historically, there was no written record of public hearings prior to the early 1900s and no record of House of Representatives and Senate debates prior to 1945. Consequently, this court‘s early expression of the applicable governing principles did not anticipate examination of the legislative history of a statute, as reflected in the legislative proceedings, to determine legislative intent because there was no recorded legislative history to examine.
Finally, it only stands to reason that the retrospective application of a statute should be expressed clearly in the words of the statute itself or the result of necessary or unavoidable implication. As the majority properly notes, “the presumption against retroactive legislation is deeply rooted in our jurisprudence, and embodies a legal doctrine centuries older than our Republic. Elementary considerations of fairness dictate that individuals should have an opportunity to know what the law is and to conform their conduct accordingly; settled expectations should not be lightly disrupted. For that reason, the principle that the legal effect of conduct
Accordingly, I would dismiss the plaintiff‘s argument that the legislative history should guide us in this matter because
SULLIVAN, C. J.
ZARELLA, J.