CASE NO. 948 CRD-5-89-11Workers’ Compensation Commission
APRIL 8, 1991
The claimant was represented by Louis P. Kocsis, Esq.
The respondent was represented at trial by Louise A. Brown, Esq., Assistant Corporation Counsel and on appeal by Thomas H. Cotter, Esq., Cotter, Cotter Sohon, P.C.
This Petition for Review from the November 14, 1989 Finding and Dismissal of the Commissioner for the Fifth District was heard October 26, 1990 before a Compensation Review Division panel consisting of the Commission Chairman, John Arcudi, and Commissioners Robin Waller and James Metro.
OPINION
JOHN ARCUDI, CHAIRMAN.
This matter is similar to Boulay v. Waterbury, 941 CRD-5-89-11, g.v., decided today. It also involves a school teacher employed by the City of Waterbury. Under the payment options permitted by the pertinent contractual arrangements, this claimant had elected to receive her full annual salary payable in twenty-two bi-weekly payments during the ten school months, September through June of each year. Thus, while teaching, she received no money from the city during July and August. She suffered a compensable back injury April 11, 1986. Her claim to receive Sec. 31-307 total disability payments during July and August, 1986 was denied by the Fifth District Commissioner, and she has appealed.
Although the Boulay case is relevant to this matter, the facts in that case differ from the present ones. There, the claimant teacher sustained her compensable injury at the beginning of the school year in September, 1986. Here, the claimant’s injury was near the end of the 1985-1986 school year. In Boulay, the claimant received her full salary during each of the two disability years following the September, 1986 injury.
Although that specific fact was not stated in the commissioner’s finding, it must be inferred from the payment option chosen by the claimant that she had received 16/22 of her full annual salary by the date of injury, April 11, 1986. Thus, she only received 6/22 of her annual salary between April 11 and June 30, 1986 (i.e. the 4/15, 4/30, 5/15, 5/31, 6/15 and 6/30 installments)
The Voluntary Agreement approved August 8, 1986, in this matter showed claimant had earned $15,075.00 in the twenty-six weeks preceding her injury establishing an average weekly wage of $579.81 and a weekly compensation rate of $386.54. Beginning April 12, claimant was entitled to receive that weekly amount during the period of total disability.
If we assume from the Voluntary Agreement that claimant’s annual salary was $30,150.00 (i.e. twice $15,075.00), and if she received 6/22 of that amount between April 12 and June 30, she would have been paid $8,222.73 by the city. There are twenty weeks between April 12, 1986 and September 1, 1986. Therefore claimant should have received $7,730.80 for the periods of disability ending August 31, 1986. In that case unless there were income tax withholdings or other deductions from the $8,222.73 sum we calculated, the commissioner’s dismissal of the claim for further payments in July and August should be confirmed.
However, we are not able from the facts found to be certain that the total payments we assumed were in fact made. Therefore we remand to the district for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
Commissioners Robin Waller and James Metro concur.