NICHOLAS FRANK v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
(SC 18980)
Supreme Court of Connecticut
Argued December 2, 2013—officially released July 8, 2014
Rogers, C. J., and Palmer, Zarella, Eveleigh, McDonald and Espinosa, Js.
John R. Williams, for the appellee (plaintiff).
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Opinion
EVELEIGH, J. The defendant in this administrative appeal, the Department of Children and Families (department), substantiated allegations of emotional abuse by the plaintiff, Nicholas Frank, an elementary school teacher, against one of his students, K,1 and placed the plaintiff’s name on the department’s central registry of child abuse and neglect (central registry).2 The department appeals, upon our grant of certification, from the judgment of the Appellate Court, reversing the trial court’s judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s appeal from the department’s decision and remanding the case to the trial court with
The department hearing officer found the following facts, which are not contested on appeal. During the fall of 2008, the plaintiff taught fifth and sixth grade at an elementary school in the New Haven Public School District (school district). K, a student in the plaintiff’s sixth grade class, reported to his mother that the plaintiff was calling him names and pinching his cheeks. Specifically, K reported that the plaintiff had called K names such as ‘‘birthing mother,’’ ‘‘cheeks’’ and a ‘‘fish out of water’’ and other students reported that the plaintiff called K ‘‘pregnant.’’ K found the cheek pinching to be very painful because he had recently had metal bars implanted in his mouth. K also believed that the plaintiff used the cheek
In December, 2008, K’s mother initially met with the principal of the school, Laura Russo,4 and complained about the plaintiff’s behavior. K and his mother reported that the name-calling and pinching was very upsetting to K, and that as a result K became afraid of going to school, his schoolwork suffered, he had trouble sleeping and suffered from bedwetting due to anxiety. Russo advised the plaintiff to have less contact with K and to cease this behavior. Ultimately, Russo ordered Andrea Lobo-Wadley, the school district’s personnel director, to conduct an internal investigation of the accusations by K and his mother against the plaintiff.5 Lobo-Wadley’s investigation included interviews with other students, which confirmed that the plaintiff had called K and other students names that could be hurtful and embarrassing. Lobo-Wadley’s investigation also revealed that the plaintiff had previously received verbal warnings about his interactions with students, and had received a written warning in November, 2008, for calling another child a liar when the child complained that the plaintiff had called the child fat during a ‘‘boot camp’’ exercise.6 As a result of Lobo-Wadley’s investigation, the plaintiff was suspended for eight days without pay.7
The administrative record reveals that, following a meeting on May 19, 2009, Russo made a referral to the department and K’s mother also independently made two referrals to the department. Each of these referrals was denied.8 See footnote 5 of this opinion. Shortly after the plaintiff
The opinion of the Appellate Court provides the following relevant procedural history. ‘‘The [department] held an administrative hearing in [its] New Haven area office on December 21, 2009, and March 15, 2010, to determine whether to uphold the investigator’s substantiation. The hearing officer heard testimony from Morris, Russo and the plaintiff and admitted the [department’s investigation], the newspaper article and the plaintiff’s personnel record into evidence. On April 30, 2010, the hearing officer rendered her final decision, upholding the substantiation against the plaintiff and ordering the placement of his name on the . . . central registry . . . .
‘‘The plaintiff timely appealed from the hearing officer’s determination to the trial court, which heard argument on November 10, 2010. In a memorandum of decision filed November 22, 2010, the court affirmed the decision of the hearing officer, finding that there was substantial evidence to support the hearing officer’s decision and rejecting the plaintiff’s void for vagueness challenge.’’ Frank v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, 134 Conn. App. 300.
The plaintiff next appealed to the Appellate Court, claiming that: (1) the trial court should not have upheld the hearing officer’s substantiation of child abuse and placement of his name on the central registry because those decisions were not supported by substantial evidence; and (2)
I
We first address the issue of whether the Appellate Court failed to properly credit the findings of the administrative hearing officer. The department argues on appeal that the Appellate Court substituted its own judgment for that of the trier of fact in this case, in disregard of well established principles of administrative law regarding the appropriate level of deference afforded to the findings of a hearing officer at an administrative hearing and the conclusions he or she draws from them. The department claims that, although the hearing officer’s findings and conclusions were substantially supported by the evidence in the record, the Appellate Court ‘‘simply chose to credit the plaintiff’s story’’ instead of the findings and conclusions of the hearing officer. The plaintiff, in response, argues that the Appellate Court implicitly credited specific factual findings made by the hearing officer in support of the department’s substantiation of emotional abuse, which were found by the trial court to have been supported by substantial evidence in the record, but nonetheless determined that the statutory definition of abuse was too vague to put the plaintiff on notice that such facts could expose him to having his name placed on the central registry. The plaintiff does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support these enumerated findings but, instead, contends that the hearing officer’s ten enumerated factual findings were insufficient to substantiate her ultimate finding of emotional abuse that effectively resulted in a sanction that caused a ‘‘tenured school teacher’’ to be considered ‘‘a child abuser who should be barred from the profession . . . .’’ The plaintiff relies on our decisions Dolgner v. Alander, 237 Conn. 272, 676 A.2d 865 (1996), and Gupta v. New Britain General Hospital, 239 Conn. 574, 687 A.2d 111 (1996), in support of this premise. We conclude that the Appellate Court did not implicitly credit the hearing officer’s findings and, further, we conclude that, under the established standard to review an administrative decision, the record supports the trial court’s conclusion that the department’s decision was supported by substantial evidence. Therefore, we conclude that the Appellate Court improperly substituted its own findings for those of the department.
We begin with the standard of review. ‘‘[J]udicial review of the commissioner’s action is governed by the [Uniform Administrative Procedure Act,
‘‘The substantial evidence rule governs judicial review of administrative fact-finding under the UAPA. [See]
In the present case, substantial evidence in the administrative record supported the findings and conclusions of the hearing officer, most notably the information contained in exhibit 7, the internal investigation con-ducted by Lobo-Wadley of the school district, and exhibit 4, the investigation conducted by the department’s investigator, Morris. Specifically, in her decision following the administrative hearing, the hearing officer in this case made ten distinct factual findings, which were as follows:
‘‘1. The [plaintiff] was a teacher at [the school] during the 2008–2009 school year, teaching fifth and sixth graders.
‘‘2. Twelve year old [K] was a student at [the school] and had the [plaintiff] as a teacher.
‘‘3. [K] reported that during the 2008–2009 school year, the [plaintiff] would call him names, including: ‘cheeks,’ because he has big cheeks and they are even more pronounced since he had metal bars put in his mouth to assist in straightening his teeth; ‘birthing mother’ as he is overweight; and ‘fish out of water’ because of the way he looked when trying to get his binder out from under his desk. [K] reported that he found the names offensive and embarrassing. He was sad and very hurt that the [plaintiff] called him names.
‘‘4. [K] reported that the [plaintiff] would pinch his cheeks and this physically hurt due to the metal bars in his mouth. He reported he was afraid in class as he was afraid of what the [plaintiff] was going to say or do next to make fun of him. He reported [that] the [plaintiff] limited him to ten questions a day and if he exceeded the limit, he would either get lunch detention or the [plaintiff] would pinch his cheeks; [K] could choose the punishment.
‘‘5. [K] reported he had good grades until he started feeling afraid in class. His grades then went from A’s to C’s. He reported he is upset and cannot concentrate. He has trouble sleeping and his mother reported he had started bedwetting right before he disclosed to her what was occurring in the classroom. [K] stated he had problems sleeping because he was always thinking about what was happening in the classroom.
‘‘6. [K]’s mother had a meeting with school administrators in December, 2008, and relayed her concerns regarding the [plaintiff’s] treatment of [K]. In addition to her concerns regarding the [plaintiff], [K’s] mother also reported that [K] had been sexually abused by a family member and is very sensitive to the [plaintiff’s] comments.
‘‘7. The [plaintiff] was advised by [Russo] to have less contact with [K],
‘‘8. Other students in the class confirmed that the [plaintiff] called [K] names and that the [plaintiff] also called other students names. The students reported they believed the [plaintiff] was joking, but that sometimes he went too far and hurt students’ feelings and embar-rassed them. Other students reported the [plaintiff] said [K] was pregnant due to his weight.
‘‘9. Following an investigation by the New Haven Board of Education, the [plaintiff] was suspended for eight days without pay, due in part to his actions and statements toward [K].
‘‘10. According to [e]xhibit 7, the [plaintiff’s] [e]mployment [r]ecord, the [plaintiff] had received prior verbal warnings regarding his comments to students. He received at least one written warning in November, 2008, for calling another child a liar when the child complained that the [plaintiff] had called him fat during a boot camp exercise. An investigation of the incident found that the [plaintiff] had called the child a turtle, not fat.’’
In addition to these enumerated findings, the hearing officer also made numerous additional factual findings, as well as several legal conclusions, when applying the relevant law, regulations, and policies to the situation at hand. The hearing officer, relying on the guidance provided by a department manual; see Dept. of Children and Families, Policy Manual § 34-2-7 (policy manual); concluded that the department had demonstrated by a fair preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff had emotionally abused K. In making this determination, the hearing officer found, for example, that at least some of the plaintiff’s behavior was directed at K due to K’s weight. In addition, the hearing officer determined that, as a result of the plaintiff’s behavior, other students in the class also began pinching K’s cheeks until the plaintiff stated that this behavior was inappropriate. The hearing officer expressly found the plaintiff not to be credible insofar as he claimed that: (1) the emotional distress exhibited by K through his sleeping issues, bedwetting, fear of school, and falling grades were not the result of the plaintiff’s conduct, but instead due to sexual trauma previously inflicted on K by a third party; and (2) K and his mother were complaining of the plaintiff’s conduct because of K’s bad grades. Instead, the hearing officer noted that ‘‘[t]he record supports [that] a number of students confirmed that the [plaintiff] had a tendency to call students, including [K], derogatory names and that he often pinched [K’s] cheeks. The record also supports a finding that [K’s] mother maintained a close relationship with the school and tried to address problems as they arose. . . . [K’s] mother approached school officials several times to address the [plaintiff’s] statements and actions [toward K]. Her concern did not materialize after the poor grade was received, but did intensify after that as [K] continued to show signs of distress. The [plaintiff’s] name-calling and cheek pinching resulted in [K] being fearful in class and having difficulty sleeping.’’
Having concluded that the plaintiff emotionally abused K, the hearing officer then determined that, pursuant to § 34-2-8 of the policy manual, the department was warranted in placing the plaintiff’s name on the central registry. Regarding the issue of intent, the hearing officer noted that the department ‘‘examines whether there is reason to believe the perpetrator had sufficient knowledge and resources, the ability to utilize them and an understanding of the implications for failing to
In its decision dismissing the plaintiff’s appeal, the trial court concluded that the administrative hearing officer’s findings, and conclusions drawn therefrom, were supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record. The trial court concluded: ‘‘Exhibit 4, [the department’s investigation conducted by Morris] supports the hearing officer’s findings that the plaintiff called [K] embarrassing names and that other students heard these names. [Exhibit 7, the internal investigation conducted by Lobo-Wadley] contains a reprimand issued by the school district to the plaintiff for his treatment of [K], as well as an admission by the plaintiff that he makes such comments to keep the atmosphere in the classroom light and entertaining.’’ The trial court continued: ‘‘The court also does not accept the policy argument made by the plaintiff that the placement of his name on the [central] registry list would wrongly interfere with teaching methods chosen to be employed by classroom teachers. The court defers to the conclusion of the hearing officer who noted that teachers [throughout] the school districts are on notice that poking fun at students is inappropriate behavior.’’
When one reads the opinion of the Appellate Court, it is immediately apparent that the panel omitted critical findings and conclusions of the hearing officer. For example, the Appellate Court acknowledged some of the less egregious name calling but did not acknowledge that K accused the plaintiff of calling him names such as ‘‘birthing mother’’ or that other students in the class reported that the plaintiff called K ‘‘pregnant.’’10 Similarly, the Appellate Court omitted the fact that the hearing officer concluded that the plaintiff called K by these names in reference to the child’s weight. The Appellate Court also quoted selectively from the hearing officer’s decision. For example, the Appellate Court acknowledged that ‘‘[t]he hearing officer’s findings show that the plaintiff intended his nicknames and horseplay to be taken in a joking manner, and that is how K’s classmates interpreted the plaintiff’s actions, although the hearing officer noted that some students reported that ‘some-times [the plaintiff] went too far and hurt students’ feelings and embarrassed them.’ ’’ Frank v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, 134 Conn. App. 310. The Appellate Court omitted the next sentence in that same factual finding by the hearing officer: ‘‘Other students reported the [plaintiff] said [K] was pregnant due to his weight.’’ Finally, the Appellate Court opinion not only failed to acknowledge that the hearing officer did not find the plaintiff’s explanation for the allegations to be credible, it credited evidence that the hearing officer had rejected in connection with this credibility assessment. For example, the Appellate Court opinion notes that ‘‘[i]t was not until the plaintiff informed K’s mother that K’s grade in his class had been lowered because of K’s failure to turn in his assignments that K’s mother complained further about the plaintiff.’’ Frank v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, 310 n.17. The hearing officer expressly rejected this understanding of the motive behind the complaints of K’s mother. In light of these omissions and inconsistencies with the administrative record, there is simply nothing to substantiate the plaintiff’s claim that the Appellate Court implicitly credited the hearing officer’s conclusions. The Appellate Court, therefore, manifestly failed to apply the proper standard of review. Accordingly, we now engage in the proper inquiry.
We now examine whether the factual findings of the hearing officer, and legal conclusions drawn therefrom, are supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record. The separate and independent investigations conducted by Morris and Lobo-Wadley reveal that K and other students in the class told adults that the plaintiff called K names such as ‘‘birthing mother’’ and told them that K was ‘‘pregnant.’’ K and other students in the class considered these remarks to be derogatory references to K’s weight. With regard to the plaintiff’s pinching of K’s cheeks, K reported that he had metal bars installed in his mouth and that ‘‘the inside of his cheeks would bleed after [the plaintiff] would pinch them as the bars were so close to the inside of his mouth.’’ The plaintiff engaged in this conduct with such frequency that it prompted some of K’s classmates to also pinch K’s cheeks. K’s mother stated that the school was aware of the metal bars as she had notified the school of the procedure. On another occasion, K attempted to resist the plaintiff’s attempt to pinch his cheeks and the plaintiff stepped on K’s foot to prevent him from getting away, tackled him to the ground, placed a foot on his back, and then proceeded to pinch K’s cheeks. K also reported that, unlike other students in the class, the plaintiff limited K to ten questions in class per day, and if K exceeded this limit ‘‘[K] would have lunch detention or [the plaintiff] would pinch [K’s] cheeks’’ and that the plaintiff ‘‘would allow [K] to pick which punishment he wanted.’’ Other students in the class observed that K had a visible reaction to the plaintiff’s behavior, noting that ‘‘[K] would look sad, like he was going to cry, but he would try to laugh with everyone else.’’ K and his mother reported that the plaintiff’s behavior had affected K’s sleeping patterns, his grades, and it also resulted in K exhibiting bedwetting behavior.
The department and internal school investigations of the plaintiff also demonstrated that the plaintiff’s questionable behavior toward his students was not limited to the aforementioned conduct. Both investigations revealed that, for a time, the plaintiff created an activity called ‘‘The Mr. Frank Show,’’ which one of the investigations describes as ‘‘like Jerry Springer with a microphone’’ in which ‘‘[k]ids get to talk about other kids on the microphone.’’ Russo stopped this activity when she became aware of it. In addition, the plaintiff was disciplined in 2008 for an incident that
As discussed previously in this opinion, the hearing officer stated that she did not find the plaintiff’s testimony regarding K’s motivation for reporting the plaintiff’s conduct to be credible and also concluded that the plaintiff had acted intentionally. For purposes of this issue, it is not appropriate to find that there is insufficient evidence in support of administrative findings simply because, as the Appellate Court noted in its opinion, ‘‘there is more than one possible explanation for K’s state of mind during the relevant time period.’’ Frank v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, 134 Conn. App. 311. Nor is it sufficient to argue, as the plaintiff does, that a conflict exists between the conclusion of the hearing officer and the conclusion of the school district after it conducted its own internal investigation that a brief suspension of the plaintiff was the appropriate sanction. ‘‘In determining whether an administrative finding is supported by substantial evidence, the reviewing court must defer to the agency’s assessment of the credibility of witnesses. . . . The reviewing court must take into account contradictory evidence in the record . . . but the possibility of drawing two inconsistent conclusions from the evidence does not prevent an administrative agency’s finding from being supported by substantial evidence . . . .’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Moraski v. Connecticut Board of Examiners of Embalmers & Funeral Directors, 291 Conn. 242, 266–67, 967 A.2d 1199 (2009). Rather, the findings and conclusions of the hearing officer in the present case were supported by substantial evidence in the record, most notably the investigations set forth in exhibits 4 and 7. These investigations both contained descriptions of the plaintiff’s past discipline and accounts by students regarding the plaintiff’s behavior toward K and K’s subsequent reaction to it. These reports not only supported the findings made by the hearing officer regarding the name-calling and physical conduct that the plaintiff inflicted on K, but also that K had experienced an adverse impact as a result of this behavior, which was evident to some of K’s classmates. Although the record contained evidence that supported the plaintiff’s position, primarily in the form of the plaintiff’s own testimony, ‘‘[i]t is well established that it is the exclusive province of the trier of fact to make determinations of credibility, crediting some, all, or none of a given witness’ testimony. . . . Additionally, [a]n administrative agency is not required to believe any witness, even an expert. . . . Nor is an agency required to use in any particular fashion any of the materials presented to it as long as the conduct of the hearing is fundamentally fair. . . . Questions of whether to believe or to disbelieve a competent witness are beyond our review. As a reviewing court, we may not retry the case or pass on the credibility of witnesses. . . . We must defer to the trier
We do not find persuasive the plaintiff’s argument that the trial court’s conclusion is contrary to our decision in Dolgner. The plaintiff argues that in Dolgner, this court refused to uphold a finding of emotional abuse, when in that case a day care provider had been alleged to have subjected children in her care to ‘‘humiliating and frightening treatment and punishment . . . .’’ Dolgner v. Alander, supra, 237 Conn. 277. The plaintiff misconstrues the basis for our decision in that case. In Dolgner, this court concluded that the decision of the Commissioner of Human Resources to revoke the plaintiff’s license that permitted her to run a day care center out of her home was not supported by substantial evidence. Id., 273. In that case, however, we based our decision primarily due to the following concerns: ‘‘The evidence presented at the [administrative] hearings failed to disclose the factual particulars regarding inappropriate conduct that had occurred at the plaintiff’s family day care home, the dates on which inappropriate conduct occurred, the frequency of inappropriate conduct or any other details concerning the plaintiff’s alleged violations . . . . Moreover, although the . . . case summary [of the Department of Human Resources] disclosed the age of one of the children who had reported abusive treatment, no other evidence disclosed the ages of the children who had reported inappropriate conduct.’’ Id., 282. This court continued: ‘‘Although the reports prepared by [the Department of Human Resources] and the . . . police . . . contained the specific factual foundation of the plaintiff’s alleged misconduct, neither report was introduced into evidence at the administrative hearings. In the absence of such basic factual predicates, the hearing officer was not provided with an opportunity to assess and to weigh independently and adequately the accuracy and the reliability of the evidence presented.’’ Id. Unlike the situation in Dolgner, the record in the present case, particularly those portions discussed previously in this opinion, was replete with evidence containing the specific factual foundation underlying the department’s decision to substantiate the charge of child abuse against the plaintiff and recommend that his name be placed on the central registry.
We also reject the plaintiff’s contention that neither courts nor the department should be ‘‘second-guessing the judgment of the New Haven Board of Education, which has fully investigated and decided this matter . . . .’’ The plaintiff analogizes the present situation to the one presented to this court in Gupta v. New Britain General Hospital, supra, 239 Conn. 590. We do not find the situations to be comparable. In Gupta, the dispute arose when the plaintiff, a surgical resident, was dismissed in what he claimed was a breach of the residency agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant hospital. Id. In part, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had breached the agreement by failing to provide him with adequate training. Id. We noted that the plaintiff’s claim in Gupta raised issues such as standard of care, the existence of a duty, and reasonableness that ‘‘are difficult, if not impossible, to apply in the
II
Having concluded that the ultimate finding of the hearing officer, substantiating the allegation of emotional abuse against the plaintiff, was supported by substantial evidence, we now turn to the second issue: whether the definition of ‘‘abused’’ found in
‘‘As a threshold matter, it is necessary to discuss the applicable standard of review. A statute is not void for vagueness unless it clearly and unequivocally is unconstitutional, making every presumption in favor of its validity. . . . [T]he void for vagueness doctrine embodies two central precepts: the right to fair warning of the effect of a governing statute . . . and the guarantee against standardless law enforcement. . . . If the meaning of a statute can be fairly ascertained a statute will not be void for vagueness since [m]any statutes will have some inherent vagueness, for [i]n most English words and phrases there lurk uncertainties. . . . References to judicial opinions involving the statute, the common law, legal dictionaries, or treatises may be necessary to ascertain a statute’s meaning to determine if it gives fair warning.’’ (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Ferreira v. Pringle, 255 Conn. 330, 355–56, 766 A.2d 400 (2001). ‘‘[T]he degree of vagueness that the [c]onstitution tolerates . . . depends in part on the nature of the enactment. . . . The [United States Supreme Court] has . . . expressed greater tolerance of enactments with civil rather than criminal penalties because the consequences of imprecision are qualitatively less severe. . . . Therefore, [c]ivil statutes . . . may survive a vagueness challenge by a lesser degree of specificity than in criminal statutes.’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Hogan v. Dept. of Children & Families, 290 Conn. 545, 575, 964 A.2d 1213 (2009), quoting Gonzalez v. Surgeon, 284 Conn. 573, 583–84, 937 A.2d 24 (2007).
Before reaching the merits of our analysis, we refer to this court’s earlier decision in Hogan v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, 290 Conn. 568–70,13 in which we previously rejected a
The definition of ‘‘abuse’’ in
With this understanding in mind, we turn to the merits of this issue, namely, the question of whether the definition of ‘‘abused’’ set forth in
Recently, however, this court underscored that an agency interpretation, whether of its own regulations or of a statute that the agency is charged with enforcing, is not accorded deference by the
In this case, the relevant provision of the policy manual is located in § 34-2-7. This section defines emotional maltreatment and abuse to include ‘‘act(s), statement(s), or threats, which has had, or is likely to have an adverse impact on the child and/or interferes with a child’s positive emotional development.’’ Policy Manual, supra, § 34-2-7. This section further indicates that ‘‘evidence’’ of such abuse is ongoing if it includes the following types of behavior: ‘‘rejecting’’; ‘‘degrading’’; ‘‘isolating and/or victimizing a child by means of cruel, unusual, or excessive methods of discipline’’; and ‘‘exposing the child to brutal or intimidating acts or statements.’’ Id. Similarly, the section indicates that evidence a child has suffered an adverse impact from such behavior includes, inter alia, the following signs: ‘‘depression’’; ‘‘withdrawal’’; ‘‘low self-esteem’’; ‘‘anxiety’’; ‘‘fear’’; ‘‘sleep disturbances’’; ‘‘academic regression’’; and ‘‘trust issues.’’ Id.
As noted previously in this opinion, trial courts have relied on this specific provision when evaluating whether particular conduct qualifies as ‘‘abuse’’ for purposes of the central registry regulatory scheme. In fact, at least one trial court has relied on this specific provision to uphold a claim of emotional abuse by a teacher based on similar conduct. See Handleman v. Dept. of Children & Families, supra, Superior Court, Docket No. CV-06-4012364-S (The court affirmed the substantiation of emotional abuse and placement of the plaintiff on the central registry when ‘‘numerous witnesses repeated identical stories that [the plaintiff] shoved the sobbing child out of her classroom, while screaming at him to get out of her room . . . seeing her yell at the child, who was again in tears at the school market place . . . . [T]he hearing officer concluded that the [plaintiff’s] actions [toward] the child had a negative impact on the child’s behavior who ‘was frequently crying, sobbing and complaining about no longer wish[ing] to attend school.’ ’’); cf. Medina v. Dept. of Children & Families, Superior Court, judicial district of New Britain, Docket No. CV-07-4013879-S (November 14, 2007) (upholding substantiation of physical and emotional neglect against group home employee when allegations included choking and use of profanity against child living in group home in such manner so that child felt ‘‘scared and unsafe’’).
This definition is consistent with other authoritative published sources. In January, 2008, prior to the conduct at issue in the present case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (centers) published uniform definitions for child maltreatment. The centers defined ‘‘psychological abuse,’’ which it noted also included the term ‘‘emotional abuse,’’ to mean ‘‘[i]ntentional caregiver behavior . . . that conveys to a child that he/she is worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or valued only in meeting another’s needs.’’17 R. Leeb et al., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements (2008) pp. 16, 70.18 The centers included, among others, the following behavior as examples of emotional maltreatment: ‘‘[b]elittling the child’’; ‘‘[d]egrading the child’’; ‘‘[s]purning the child’’; and ‘‘[b]ehaving in a manner that is harmful . . . or insensitive to the child’s developmental needs.’’ Id., p. 69. Similarly, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed. 1993) defines ‘‘abuse,’’ when used as a noun, to mean ‘‘language that condemns or vilifies usu[ally] unjustly, intemperately, and angrily’’ or, when used as a verb, ‘‘to use so as to injure or damage’’ and ‘‘to attack in words . . . .’’ These definitions of abuse, which were published before the plaintiff engaged in the conduct at issue as determined by the hearing officer, serve as additional resources through which the plaintiff could have become aware that his conduct could be considered emotional abuse within the meaning of
Furthermore, the language contained in other statutes reinforces this conclusion. The anti-bullying statute in effect during the time period relevant to the present case included in its definition of ‘‘bullying’’ any ‘‘overt acts by a . . . group of students
In light of these sources of information, we readily find that the plaintiff had fair notice that his conduct could qualify as emotional abuse. The plaintiff, as K’s teacher, was placed into a unique position to have an impact on K’s life. A young person’s experience at school shapes his or her identity. School is where our youths learn about the world, how to interact with one another, how to work together, and how to form ties with people inside of a community infused with many cultures. In this setting, the plaintiff made frequent, degrading comments or references to K’s weight and caused K further physical and mental pain by pinching his cheeks. The plaintiff did this despite the fact that it was quite clear to both other children in the classroom and K’s mother that this behavior had a visible negative effect on K. The plaintiff’s conduct continued to the point that, according to the report authored by Lobo-Wadley, other children joined in and carried out similar behavior against K. In acting as he did, the plaintiff, thus, essentially encouraged other students within the class to aid him in causing K emotional harm. Such behavior can only be categorized as ‘‘isolating,’’ as it is used in § 34-2-7 of the policy manual, and it quite plainly had a visible, profoundly negative impact on K. It should be obvious to anyone, let alone a professional educator, that this type of behavior—the targeting of a particular student’s physical characteristics in a demeaning and hurtful way—would readily fall within the terms ‘‘degrading’’ or ‘‘victimizing’’ as they are used within § 34-2-7 of the policy manual.
We conclude that the definition of ‘‘abused’’ found in
We respectfully disagree with the Appellate Court that our decision in State v. Scruggs, 279 Conn. 698, 905 A.2d 24 (2006), warrants a determination that the term ‘‘abused’’ as defined in
In sum, we conclude that the Appellate Court improperly failed (1) to give deference to the factual findings made by the hearing officer and the factually supported legal conclusions drawn therefrom, and (2) to give con-sideration to sources of information available to the plaintiff that provided him with adequate notice that his conduct toward K would be considered abuse as defined in
The judgment of the Appellate Court is reversed and the case is remanded to that court with direction to render judgment affirming the judgment of the trial court dismissing the plaintiff’s appeal.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.