Opinion
CASE NO. 1270 CRD-4-91-8
MAY 13, 1992
The claimant was represented at trial by Peter J. Blessinger, Esq. and on appeal by Mark Wrenn, Esq., and James P. Caulfield, Esq.
The respondent was represented by Catherine M. Thompson, Esq., Sullivan, Lettick Schoen.
This Petition for Review from the July 16, 1991 Finding and Dismissal of the Commissioner for the Fourth District was heard December 13, 1991 before, a Compensation Review Division panel consisting of the Commission Chairman, John Arcudi and Commissioners A. Thomas White, Jr., and George Waldron.
OPINION
Claimant has appealed the Fourth District's dismissal of his Sec. 7-433c heart and hypertension claim. The commissioner ruled that the claim filing had failed to comply with the time limitations of Sec. 31-294. We agree with the ruling.
Respondent sought to have the appeal dismissed as untimely. But claimant appealed within ten days of July 27, 1991 when he received the July 16 ruling. See Trinkley v. Ella Grasso Regional Center, 220 Conn. 739, 743 (1992).
In April, 1982 claimant sought hypertension benefits under Sec. 7-433c for disabilities suffered in November, 1981. He was awarded benefits on that claim in an October 26, 1983 award. He suffered heart disease, acute pericarditis, in 1985 for which he treatment. As a result, he was unable to work from May 22 through June 16, 1985. Between May, 1985 and June 1988 he lost several more days of work due to the same disease. On June 20, 1988, he had a pericardial window procedure performed, and on March 17, 1989 he underwent a total pericardiectomy.
He made a claim for the disability from pericarditis on April 26, 1989. The commissioner found claimant knew or should have known that he had heart disease as early as May 22, 1985; as the claim was not filed for four years after that date, April 26, 1989, the Sec. 31-294 time limitations for filing were not satisfied.
Deck v. City of Groton, 8 Conn. Workers' Comp. Rev. Op. 1, 2, 745 CRD-2-88-6 (1989) reviewed the limitations provisions of Sec. 31-294 as they related to heart attacks, hypertension and cardiac disease. We noted that our law has treated chapter 568 claims arising from a heart attack as injuries "which may be definitely located as [to] the time [when] and the place where the accident occurred." Id., quoting Sec. 31-275(8). Under Sec. 31-294a heart attack claim must therefore be filed within one year. But Deck also held that claims for coronary heart disease and hypertension were arguably occupational disease claims. As such they had a three year limitation for filing under Sec. 31-294.
While the trial Commissioner may have incorrectly stated in paragraph #25 that the claim was untimely "because it was not given within one year of claimant's knowledge that he had pericarditis.", his conclusion was still correct as claimant's filing did not comply with the three year statute applicable to occupational disease either.
We therefore dismiss claimant's appeal and affirm the commissioner's dismissal of the claim.
Commissioners A. Thomas White, Jr. and George Waldron concur.