Frantzen v. Davenport Electric

Citations

• 206 Conn. App. 359

Syllabus

W Co., a law firm that had previously represented the claimant in proceedings before the Workers' Compensation Commission, appealed to this court from the decision of the Compensation Review Board, which vacated the decision of the Workers' Compensation Commissioner that divided equally the attorney's fees between W Co. and V, an attorney who had also successfully represented the claimant in the matter before the commission. W Co. claimed on appeal to this court that the board improperly vacated the commissioner's ruling and remanded the case for a new evidentiary hearing on the ground that there was insufficient evidence in the record to support the commissioner's distribution of attorney's fees. Held that there was sufficient evidence in the record from which the commissioner reasonably could have based her ruling on attorney's fees and, accordingly, the board improperly vacated the commissioner's decision: the board incorrectly applied the appropriate legal standard to its review of the commissioner's decision by vacating her ruling on the basis of its speculation that her ruling could have rested on a more solid evidentiary foundation, thereby substituting its judgment for the conclusion of the commissioner; moreover, the board's decision was devoid of any analysis of the facts found by the commis- sioner, and the board improperly encroached on the commissioner's discretion without making any findings as to whether her conclusions were based on an incorrect application of the law or unreasonable inferences drawn from the facts found; furthermore, the commissioner's decision to divide the attorney's fees equally was made on the basis of the record and evidence presented at the hearing, the scheduling of which both parties were properly notified, and V failed to appear before the commissioner and presented no evidence in his favor. Argued March 9—officially released August 3, 2021