RAYMOND FRANKLIN CLAIMANT-APPELLANT
v.
UTC/PRATT & WHITNEY EMPLOYER
and
ACE USA LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE INSURERS RESPONDENTS-APPELLEES
and
SECOND INJURY FUND RESPONDENT-APPELLEE
No. 6330 CRB-5-19-5
Connecticut Workers Compensation
Compensation Review Board Workers Compensation Commission
March 19, 2020
This
Petition for Review from the May 2, 2019 Finding and Decision
by Charles F. Senich, the Commissioner acting for the Fifth
District, was heard October 25, 2019 before a Compensation
Review Board panel consisting of Commissioners Daniel E.
Dilzer, William J. Watson III and Maureen E. Driscoll.
The
claimant appeared at oral argument before the board as a
self-represented party. At the trial level, the claimant was
represented by Erskine McIntosh, Esq.
Respondents UTC/Pratt & Whitney were represented by Eric
Sussman, Esq., Day Pitney, L.L.P.
Respondents UTC/Pratt & Whitney and ACE USA were
represented by Michael J. McAuliffe, Esq., Pomeranz, Drayton
& Stabnick, L.L.C.
Respondents UTC/Pratt & Whitney and Liberty Mutual
Insurance were represented by Christopher J. Powderly, Esq.,
Law Offices of Meehan, Turret & Rosenbaum
Respondent Second Injury Fund was represented by Donna
Summers, Esq., Assistant Attorney General, Office of the
Attorney General
OPINION
DANIEL
E. DILZER, COMMISSIONER.
The
claimant has appealed from a Finding and Decision (finding)
issued on May 2, 2019 by Commissioner Charles Senich
(commissioner) wherein the commissioner denied the
claimant’s request to open two full and final
stipulations he had reached with his employer. The
commissioner determined the stipulations were properly
approved and denied the claimant’s motion to
open.[1] The claimant appealed this decision
arguing that the finding was arbitrary, unreasonable or
inconsistent with the law.
After
considering the claimant’s argument on appeal, we
determine that the question as to whether to open the
stipulations was essentially a factual question. Further, the
commissioner’s determination was consistent with the
evidence he credited. Accordingly, we affirm the finding.
The
commissioner reached the following factual findings at the
conclusion of a formal hearing that had commenced with then
commissioner (now Commission Chairman) Stephen M. Morelli
presiding. He found that the claimant had reached two full
and final stipulations with the respondents; the first dated
July 11, 1984, and the second dated September 1996. At the
session of the formal hearing held on June 11, 2014,
Commissioner Morelli advised the...
