Council 4, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. State Ethics Commission
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
Date FiledMay 8, 2012
DocketSC18896
JudgeRogers; Norcott; Palmer; Zarella; McLachlan; Eveleigh and
Harper
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
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COUNCIL 4, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE,
COUNTY AND MUNCIPAL EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO
v. STATE ETHICS COMMISSION ET AL.
(SC 18896)
Rogers, C. J., and Norcott, Palmer, Zarella, McLachlan, Eveleigh and
Harper, Js.
Argued March 21—officially released May 8, 2012
J. William Gagne, Jr., with whom was Kimberly A.
Cuneo, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Cynthia Isales, assistant general counsel, with whom
was Barbara E. Housen, general counsel, for the appel-
lees (defendants).
Opinion
PER CURIAM. The defendant citizen’s ethics advi-
sory board (board), a division of the office of state
ethics,1 issued an advisory opinion in 2009 concluding
that hearing reporters for the workers’ compensation
commission (commission) are not permitted under
General Statutes § 1-84 (c)2 to prepare transcripts for
private sale during the hours that they work for the
state. The plaintiff, Council 4, American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO,
appealed to the trial court on behalf of the hearing
reporters. The trial court dismissed the appeal. The
plaintiff then filed this appeal.3 The plaintiff claims, inter
alia, that: (1) the trial court improperly concluded that
the board properly treated the hearing reporters differ-
ently than Superior Court reporters, whom the board
previously had determined are allowed to prepare tran-
scripts for private sale on state time; (2) the trial court’s
decision is in conflict with General Statutes § 51-63 (e);4
and (3) the trial court’s decision is in conflict with
a stipulated agreement between the plaintiff and the
commission that allowed the hearing reporters to pro-
duce transcripts for private parties while they were
working on state time.
After examining the record and the briefs and consid-
ering the arguments of the parties, we are persuaded
that the judgment rendered by the trial court should be
affirmed. The issues raised by the plaintiff were
resolved properly in the thoughtful and comprehensive
memorandum of decision filed by the trial court. Coun-
cil 4, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. State Ethics Commission,
52 Conn. Sup. 304, A.3d (2010). Because that
memorandum of decision fully addresses the arguments
raised in the present appeal, we adopt the trial court’s
well reasoned decision as a statement of the facts and
the applicable law on those issues. It would serve no
useful purpose for us to repeat that discussion here.
See, e.g., Socha v. Bordeau, 289 Conn. 358, 362, 956 A.2d
1174 (2008); Lord Family of Windsor, LLC v. Inland
Wetlands & Watercourses Commission, 288 Conn. 669,
673, 954 A.2d 133 (2008).
The judgment is affirmed.
1
The office of state ethics is the successor agency to the state ethics
commission. See General Statutes § 1-80. Both entities were named as defen-
dants in the petition in this administrative appeal, in addition to Carol Carson,
the executive director of the board, and Robert N. Worgaftik, chairperson of
the board, at the time of the 2009 proceedings.
2
General Statutes § 1-84 (c) provides: ‘‘No public official or state employee
shall wilfully and knowingly disclose, for financial gain, to any other person,
confidential information acquired by him in the course of and by reason of
the official duties or employment and no public official or state employee
shall use his public office or position or any confidential information received
through his holding such public office or position to obtain financial gain
for himself, his spouse, child, child’s spouse, parent, brother or sister or a
business with which he is associated.’’
3
The plaintiff appealed to the Appellate Court and we transferred the
appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice
Book § 65-1.
4
General Statutes § 51-63 (e) provides: ‘‘Official and assistant stenogra-
phers in the offices of the workers’ compensation commissioners shall be
entitled, in addition to the compensation otherwise provided for, to the
same fees for preparing transcripts as are provided for reporters in the
Superior Court.’’