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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 220
AN ACT CONCERNING CLARIFYING THE APPEALS PROCESS
UNDER THE PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE STATUTES.
SUMMARY
By law, anyone aggrieved by the Paid Family Medical Leave
Authority’s denial of program benefits or by the imposition of penalties
for certain program-related fraud may appeal to the labor
commissioner. The commissioner or her designee (collectively referred
to as the Department of Labor (DOL) below) must decide the appeal,
and a party aggrieved by DOL’s decision may then appeal, within 31
days, to the Superior Court for the Hartford Judicial District or the
judicial district where they live.
This bill specifies certain procedural steps and other criteria that must
be followed in these appeals to the court. Among other things, the bill:
1. requires the appealing party to also file the appeal with DOL,
2. specifies what must be included in the record and requires DOL
to certify it,
3. sets a process for the appealing party to request corrections for
findings in the record,
4. generally limits what the court considers in the appeal to certain
factors (e.g., whether DOL incorrectly applied the law to the facts
it found), and
5. specifies what actions the court may take in deciding the appeal.
Lastly, the bill requires DOL to adopt regulations on procedural rules
for the disposition of the appeals. 2024SB-00220-R000304-BA.DOCX
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EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
APPEALS PROCESS
Filing the Appeal
The bill specifies that DOL’s initial decision becomes final on the 31st
calendar day after DOL sends a written copy of it to each party. For
timely appeals before then, the appealing party must file the original
appeal with DOL and state the grounds for seeking the review. Within
14 calendar days after that, DOL must mail the original appeal to the
Superior Court clerk and send a copy to each party listed in the appealed
decision by mail or electronically through the department’s Leave
Complaint and Appeal Portal. The clerk must docket the appeal as
returned to the next return day after receiving it.
For these appeals, the bill requires DOL to certify the record to the
court. The record must include (1) the notice of appeal to DOL, (2) the
file record, (3) DOL’s findings of fact and decision, and (4) any
documents submitted to DOL before the appeal was filed. If the court
requests it, DOL must also prepare and verify a transcript of the DOL
hearing (if one was held).
The bill requires the appealing party to claim the appeal for the
court’s short calendar unless the court orders it to be placed on the trial
list. For these proceedings, exceptions to DOL’s rulings do not have to
have been made or entered, and no bond may be required for entering
an appeal to the Superior Court. If one of the parties is not represented
by counsel and the appealing party does not claim the case for the short
calendar or trial within a reasonable time after the return day, the court
may dismiss the appeal on its own motion, or the party ready to proceed
may move for nonsuit or default.
Court Guidelines
Under the bill, the court must hear the appeal upon the certified copy
of the record DOL filed. The court cannot retry the facts or hear any
evidence other than DOL’s certified record. The court’s review must be
limited to determining whether (1) DOL’s findings should be corrected
or (2) there is any evidence in the record to support in law the 2024SB-00220-R000304-BA.DOCX
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conclusions reached. The court cannot substitute its judgment for DOL’s
about the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. It may only
determine whether DOL’s decision incorrectly applied the law to the
facts found or if the decision is clearly erroneous and could not have
reasonably or logically followed from the evidence in DOL’s certified
record. The court may only correct DOL’s findings if (1) DOL refused to
find a material fact that was an admitted or undisputed fact, (2) the
finding of a fact is in language of doubtful meaning so that its real
significance may be unclear, or (3) DOL found a material fact without
evidence.
Motions to Correct Findings
The bill allows an appealing party to request that a DOL finding be
corrected on appeal by filing a motion for the correction with DOL
within 14 calendar days after the record has been filed in the Superior
Court, unless DOL extends the deadline for cause. The motion must
include portions of the evidence the appealing party deems relevant and
material to the corrections requested. DOL must file the motion and its
decision with the court within a reasonable time upon receiving it. If the
court denies the motion in whole or in part, and the denial is appealed,
DOL must, within a reasonable time, file copies of evidence filed by the
appealing party, and any additional evidence that may have been
brought before DOL.
Court Decisions
Unless the court orders otherwise after a motion and hearing, the
court’s final decision must be the decision for all parties to the original
proceeding before DOL. When an appeal is taken to the Superior Court,
the court clerk must (1) notify DOL in writing about any action the court
takes on it and the disposition of the appeal whether by judgment,
remand, withdrawal, or otherwise, and (2) give DOL a copy of the
decision when the appeal is decided.
The bill allows the court to remand the case to DOL for (1)
proceedings de novo (from the beginning), (2) further proceedings on
the record, or (3) any limited purposes the court may set. The court may
keep jurisdiction by ordering that the proceedings conducted under the 2024SB-00220-R000304-BA.DOCX
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court’s order be returned to the court, or it may order final disposition.
A party aggrieved by a final disposition made in compliance with a
Superior Court order may ask the court to review the case’s disposition
by filing an appropriate motion.
Any party aggrieved by the Superior Court’s decision may appeal it
to the Appellate Court in the same way the law allows for
administrative appeals.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Labor and Public Employees Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 12 Nay 0 (03/19/2024)