Estate OF Frederick v. General Dynamics Corp. (1997)

Our plain-English summary of Estate OF Frederick v. General Dynamics Corp. (Connecticut Supreme Court, October 30, 1997).

Robert Frederick worked for the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics from 1964 until he retired in 1984 without a disability. The opinion says he was exposed to asbestos during his first nine years there and was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 1990. He filed a timely workers' compensation claim and died in 1992. The compensation commissioner awarded benefits to his estate and his wholly dependent widow, Anne Frederick, and the review board affirmed. The Appellate Court reversed, relying on its decision in Green v. General Dynamics Corp. The Connecticut Supreme Court had just decided Green, holding that a surviving dependent spouse is entitled to benefits even if the decedent had not worked for the employer in the twenty-six weeks before the disease appeared. It rephrased the certified question to cover both the widow and the estate, answered yes, and held benefits are to be calculated as in Green. It reversed the Appellate Court and sent the case back for an award to the estate and widow. One justice dissented for the reasons given in Green.

We wrote this summary from the court's opinion with the help of AI. It is not the court's wording, and it is not legal advice. The full opinion is below.

The decision

• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Decided: October 30, 1997
• Citation: 245 Conn. 84
• Stage: Appeal from workers' compensation or benefits
• State: Connecticut

Outcome. The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court and remanded so benefits would be awarded to the decedent's estate and dependent widow, ruling against Electric Boat/General Dynamics and its insurer.

What the court held. A surviving dependent spouse and the estate of an employee who died of an occupational disease are entitled to benefits under §§ 31-306 and 31-307 even if the decedent had not worked for the employer in the twenty-six weeks before the disease manifested, following Green v. General Dynamics Corp.

Issues decided: Compensatory Damages, Wrongful Death and Survival.

The people and their exposure

• Robert Frederick: mesothelioma; died

The defendants

• Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation (employer)
• CIGNA Property and Casualty Company (insurer)

Decisions this opinion cites

Earlier decisions in our library that the court cited:

• Green v. General Dynamics Corp. (Connecticut Supreme Court, 1997). The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court, which had denied the widow's claim, and remanded so the commissioner could calculate her weekly death benefits under § 31-310c; the widow, Celestina Green, won against Electric Boat and its insurers.
• Green v. General Dynamics Corp. (Connecticut Appellate Court, 1996). The Appellate Court reversed the compensation review board's decision affirming dependent's death benefits for the widow, Celestina Green, and remanded with direction to deny her claim, so General Dynamics/Electric Boat and its insurers won.

The court's opinion

The text below is Google Scholar's copy of the court's opinion, a public record. Numbers in brackets, such as [*921], mark where each page of the printed reporter begins.

245 Conn. 84 (1998)

ESTATE OF ROBERT FREDERICK ET AL.

v.

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION, ELECTRIC BOAT DIVISION, ET AL.

(SC 15650)

Argued October 30, 1997.

Officially released June 9, 1998.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Callahan, C. J., and Borden, Berdon, Norcott and McDonald, JS.

[*85] Stephen C. Embry, with whom, on the brief, was Gerard Rucci, for the appellants (claimants).

Lucas D. Strunk, for the appellees (named respondent et al.).

Opinion

MCDONALD, J.

The principal certified issue in this appeal provides as follows: "Is the surviving dependent spouse of an employee who died as a result of an occupational disease entitled to benefits under General Statutes § 31-306 when: (a) the decedent did not work for [*86] the twenty-six weeks preceding the date of the manifestation of the occupational disease; and (b) the occupational disease manifested itself prior to October 1, 1990, the effective date of Public Acts 1990, No. 90-116?"[1] Estate of Frederick v. General Dynamics Corp., 240 Conn. 917, 692 A.2d 812 (1997).

Robert Frederick, the decedent, was employed by the named respondent, the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation (respondent),[2] from December 1, 1964, until January 6, 1984, when he retired without a disability. The decedent was exposed to asbestos during the first nine years of his employment with the respondent, and was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 1990. The respondent concedes that the decedent's disease arose out of and in the course of his employment with the respondent.

In 1990, the decedent filed a timely claim for workers' compensation benefits pursuant to General Statutes § 31-307. Following the decedent's death in 1992, the workers' compensation commissioner for the second district (commissioner) awarded benefits to his estate and his wholly dependent widow, Anne Frederick. The respondent appealed from the decision awarding benefits to the compensation review board (review board), which affirmed the commissioner's decision. The Appellate Court reversed the review board's decision on the basis of that court's decision in Green v. General Dynamics Corp., 44 Conn. App. 112, 687 A.2d 550 [*87] (1996). Estate of Frederick v. General Dynamics Corp., 44 Conn. App. 124, 686 A.2d 1003 (1996).

We recently decided in Green v. General Dynamics Corp., 245 Conn. 66, 712 A.2d 938 (1998), that a surviving dependent spouse is entitled to benefits under § 31-306, when the decedent has not worked for the employer for twenty-six weeks preceding the manifestation of an occupational disease. The certified issue in this case, however, does not sufficiently portray the issues originally presented by the appeal from the commissioner's decision. In this case, the decedent had filed a timely claim before his death, and, therefore, both his dependent widow and his estate have a claim. The certified issue, however, addresses only the dependent widow's entitlement to benefits. Therefore, we rephrase the certified issue "in order to render [it] more accurate in framing the issues that this case presents." Stamford Hospital v. Vega, 236 Conn. 646, 648 n.1, 674 A.2d 821 (1996). Accordingly, the certified issue is amended to provide as follows: "Are the surviving dependent spouse and the estate of an employee who died as a result of an occupational disease entitled to benefits under General Statutes § 31-306 and General Statutes § 31-307, respectively, when: (a) the decedent did not work for the twenty-six weeks preceding the date of the manifestation of the occupational disease; and (b) the occupational disease manifested itself prior to October 1, 1990, the effective date of Public Acts 1990, No. 90-116?"[3]

Both § 31-306 and § 31-307 provide that benefits are calculated pursuant to General Statutes § 31-310. In Green, we concluded that such benefits are calculated under General Statutes (Rev. to 1991) § 31-310c in the case of occupational disease. Green v. General Dynamics Corp., supra, 245 Conn. 78. Therefore, the amended [*88] certified issue is answered in the affirmative, and the benefits are to be calculated in accordance with our decision in Green.

The judgment of the Appellate Court is reversed, and the case is remanded to that court with direction to remand the case to the review board with direction that it be remanded to the commissioner to award benefits to the decedent's estate and to his dependent widow in accordance with this decision.

In this opinion CALLAHAN, C. J., and BERDON and NORCOTT, Js., concurred.

BORDEN, J., dissenting. I dissent for the same reasons that I gave in Green v. General Dynamics Corp., 245 Conn. 66, 79, 712 A.2d 938 (1998) (Borden, J., dissenting).

[1] The second certified issue provides as follows: "If the answer to the first question is yes, how should the average weekly wage used to determine the amount of the benefits to the surviving dependent spouse be calculated under the facts of this case?" Estate of Frederick v. General Dynamics Corp., 240 Conn. 917, 692 A.2d 812 (1997).

[2] The original respondents included the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation (Electric Boat), National Employers Company and CIGNA Property and Casualty Company (CIGNA). The respondents on appeal to this court are Electric Boat and CIGNA. [3] Public Acts 1990, No. 90-116, was codified as General Statutes (Rev. to 1991) § 31-310c.

Sources

• The opinion on Google Scholar
• Connecticut asbestos laws
• Connecticut asbestos exposure sites