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Fowler v. Town of Seabrook12/21/2000
Rockingham
The defendant, the Town of Seabrook (town), appeals the decision by the Superior Court (Galway, J.) remanding the plaintiff's wage claim to the department of labor (DOL) and awarding the plaintiff attorney's fees. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
The parties do not dispute the following facts. The plaintiff, Gary Fowler, a town firefighter, was injured on the job . While he was on leave, the town paid him his accrued sick leave pay. The plaintiff applied for and eventually received workers' compensation benefits. When he returned to work, the town expected the plaintiff to turn over his workers' compensation proceeds. When he did not do so, the town deducted money from the plaintiff's weekly paycheck until it recovered the amount it had paid him while he was on leave.
The town asserts that it used the withheld money to "replenish" the plaintiff's sick leave account pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement between the town and the plaintiff's union. Specifically, the town relies upon the collective bargaining agreement's insurance provision, which provides, in pertinent part:
When an employee is absent from duty, as a result of a personal injury or illness arising out of and in the course of his employment, the following shall apply:
a. For the first two (2) months of Workmen's Compensation coverage, the injured employee may use his accumulated annual and/or sick leave on a pro rata basis, in order that the injured employee receive his full net pay after deduction for retirement contributions.
b. After the first two (2) months coverage, in accordance with paragraph "a" above, the injured employee shall be paid his full, net pay, less the amount of Workmen's Compensation . Payment under the provisions of this paragraph shall not be charged to the employee's annual/accrued sick leave, and shall match the employee's net pay after deduction for retirement contributions.
The plaintiff filed a wage claim with the DOL, alleging that the town violated RSA 275:48 (1999) when it withheld money from his weekly paychecks. The town asked the DOL to abstain from hearing the matter because its resolution required interpreting the collective bargaining agreement. The DOL agreed and directed the plaintiff to pursue his claim through the collective bargaining agreement's grievance process, noting that the public employee labor relations board (PELRB) would have jurisdiction thereafter. At the plaintiff's request, the DOL held a hearing on the issue and again declined to exercise jurisdiction over the plaintiff's claim, deferring to the PELRB's primary jurisdiction over collective bargaining agreement disputes.
The plaintiff, through his union, filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the PELRB. The PELRB declined to exercise jurisdiction over the claim because it alleged a violation of RSA 275:48, and not a breach of the collective bargaining agreement. The PELRB found that the parties should complete the proceedings they had begun at the DOL.
The DOL then held a hearing upon the plaintiff's initial wage claim. The DOL found that RSA 275:48 was "not relevant" to the plaintiff's wage claim and held that his wage claim was invalid because he received all wages due him.
The plaintiff appealed the DOL's decision to the superior court. The superior court ruled that the DOL erred when it held that RSA 275:48 was irrelevant to the plaintiff's claim. It remanded the claim to the DOL to apply RSA 275:48. It also awarded the plaintiff his reasonable attorney's fees.
On appeal, the town argues first that the court erred by providing the plaintiff with a judicial remed
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