Buchanan v. East Hartford

Citations

• 233 Conn. App. 698

Syllabus

The defendant town appealed from the decision of the Compensation Review Board reversing the decision of the administrative law judge, who had dismissed the plaintiff's claim for survivorship benefits pursuant to statute (§ 31-306) following the death of her husband, a town police officer. The defendant claimed, inter alia, that the board improperly substituted its own factual findings for those of the administrative law judge. Held: The board improperly substituted its judgment on causation for that of the administrative law judge, whose factual findings were not clearly erroneous and which found support in the record, as it was not the role of the board to retry the issue of causation. The board's decision could not be affirmed on the plaintiff's alternative ground that, when the decedent suffered a physical injury responding to an apartment complex fire, it aggravated a preexisting mental health condition, which, in turn, caused him to die by suicide, as the administrative law judge, faced with conflicting evidence on the question of causation, comprehen- sively summarized the evidence presented, weighed that evidence, and made appropriate credibility determinations in making its factual findings on the essential issues in the case. Argued January 8—officially released July 15, 2025