State v. New England Health Care Employees Union, 271 Conn. 127

Summary

The Supreme Court of Connecticut affirmed an order confirming an arbitration award that reinstated a state employee who had been found to have abused a client at a Department of Mental Retardation facility. The court held that reinstatement with a thirty-day suspension did not violate the clear public policy protecting department clients from mistreatment, and it rejected the state's procedural and motion-to-open claims.

Holdings

1. Reinstatement of Howell did not violate the public policy protecting persons in the Department of Mental Retardation's custody from mistreatment. A single instance of deliberate conduct causing an inadvertent or minor injury does not make termination per se necessary; an arbitrator may consider the employee's length of service, prior harmful conduct, and the circumstances and severity of the misconduct in determining whether lesser discipline is sufficient.
2. The trial court did not err by confirming the arbitration award before issuing a separate ruling on the application to vacate, where the court later expressly explained that confirmation was premised on rejection of the motion to vacate.
3. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the state's motion to open the judgment and for reargument.

Questions Presented

1. Whether reinstatement of an employee who deliberately shoved a department client and caused a minor injury violated the explicit, well-defined, and dominant public policy protecting persons in the department's custody from mistreatment.
2. Whether the trial court improperly confirmed the arbitration award before separately ruling on the state's application to vacate the award.
3. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying the state's motion to open the judgment and for reargument.

Disposition

affirmed