Justia New Hampshire Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Petitioner Wayne Kassotis appealed a Superior Court decision dismissing his complaint, arising from the nonrenewal of his employment contract to remain as the Town of Fitzwilliam's Chief of Police. Petitioner filed a complaint against the Town seeking, among other things, reinstatement as Chief of Police, damages, costs, and attorney’s fees, for the Town’s alleged failure to comply with RSA 105:2-a, which provided procedural protections to appointed chiefs of police who are "dismiss[ed]." The Town moved to dismiss, arguing that, "[b]ecause the Petitioner was not dismissed, RSA 105:2-a does not apply, and he fails to state a claim for relief." The trial court granted the Town’s motion on the basis that "the provisions of RSA 105:2-a are inapplicable to the [Town’s] decision not to renew the employment contract." Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Kassotis v. Town of Fitzwilliam" on Justia Law

Petitioner David Eskeland began work at the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game in 1990 and, accordingly, became a mandatory member of the New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS). On October 1, 2010, he retired from the Department of Fish and Game with twenty years and three months of creditable service, at which point he began receiving his service retirement pension. After he retired, a friend told the petitioner that he should have retired on a disability retirement allowance rather than on a service retirement allowance. As a result of this conversation, and three months after he retired, petitioner filed an application for accidental disability retirement based upon work-related injuries he sustained in 2002 and 2004. In December, 2011, the board accepted the hearings examiner's recommendation to deny the petitioner's application for accidental disability retirement. The recommendation was based upon a medical certification that the petitioner was not permanently incapacitated by a work-related injury because he had worked full-time, without accommodation, for six years following his most recently accepted workers' compensation injury. Petitioner moved for reconsideration, and the board referred the request to the hearings examiner. In reviewing the request for reconsideration, the hearings examiner became aware of a potential jurisdictional issue and notified petitioner that, because he "was a beneficiary when he applied for disability retirement, his membership appears to have terminated and the Board of Trustees appears to lack jurisdiction to award him a disability retirement." After a three-day hearing, the hearings examiner recommended that the board find that it did not have jurisdiction to grant accidental disability retirement benefits. The board accepted the recommendation. Finding no reversible error with the Board's decision, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Petition of David Eskeland" on Justia Law

Petitioner Michael Carrier petitioned the Supreme Court to review a New Hampshire Retirement System Board (NHRS) of Trustees ruling that as fire chief for Hampstead, he was required to be a member of NHRS. Petitioner worked in Londonderry as a full-time firefighter and later as the town’s fire chief. While working in Londonderry, petitioner was enrolled in the NHRS. He retired from his Londonderry position in July 2007, and began receiving retirement benefits. In January 2009, petitioner became the full-time fire chief for Hampstead. However, he did not re-enroll in the NHRS. Instead, he received both his NHRS retirement benefits and his Hampstead fire chief salary. In February 2010, the NHRS notified the petitioner that his Hampstead employment was subject to NHRS mandatory enrollment. Petitioner retired from his Hampstead position in May 2010. Petitioner appealed the February 2010 decision with the board. The board determined that, because petitioner collected his benefits while still employed full-time by Hampstead, he was overpaid pension benefits and medical subsidy benefits. The board ordered petitioner restored to service and required that those amounts be recouped from his future benefit payments. Although petitioner moved for reconsideration, his motion was denied. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Petition of Michael Carrier" on Justia Law

Plaintiff Lawrence Leeds appealed a superior court order that granted summary judgment to defendant BAE Systems (BAE) in his wrongful discharge action. Leeds worked at-will for BAE as a quality control inspector from 2001 until his discharge in April 2009. In 2009, BAE discharged Leeds for violating the company’s standards of conduct as a result of two separate incidents at the company’s Hudson facility. Leeds was involved in an altercation with another employee. He defended his actions as "self-defense," and argued on appeal that the trial court should have allowed a jury to determine whether public policy would have encouraged his conduct. After examining all material facts in the light most favorable to him, the Supreme Court concluded that the trial court did not err in ruling that Leeds could not show that public policy grounds justified his actions. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment.View "Leeds v. BAE Systems" on Justia Law

The New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (DES) Appellate Board (board) appealed a decision that respondent Norman Coulombe was an employee of petitioner, Niadni, Inc. (d/b/a Indian Head Resort Motel) who was entitled to unemployment compensation benefits. Coulombe appeared as a musical entertainer at the resort in both solo and group performances beginning in approximately 1980. He also performed at other venues but testified that he performed at the resort nearly three hundred times in the last two years that he worked there. The resort and Coulombe negotiated a pay rate for Coulombe’s services, and he was paid weekly for his performances. He provided his own instruments and selected the songs he would play in his performances, though the resort asked him to perform new material prior to the end of his relationship with the resort. He reported that his last booking with the resort was in the summer of 2012, after which the relationship terminated. He subsequently filed for unemployment benefits with DES. Finding none of the Resort's arguments persuasive to reverse the Appellate Board's decision, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Appeal of Niadni, Inc. d/b/a Indian Head Resort Motel" on Justia Law

The Town of North Hampton appealed the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board's (PELRB) finding that the Town engaged in unfair labor practices in dealing with respondent North Hampton Professional Fire Fighters, Local 3211, IAFF (Union). The CBA contained wage scales for firefighters and lieutenants, respectively, each consisting of five steps. It provided that "[m]ovement through [the] steps is dependent on achieving certain professional certifications." During bargaining over the CBA, the Union submitted a wage proposal that provided for, among other things, a "[s]tipend for paramedic level EMT [that] will be 5% over actual step (base pay) whether hired as or a current employee has received the certification." The Town rejected the proposal and the parties put the paramedic program issue on hold. The Town remained interested in a paramedic program, however, and the Union informed the Town in June 2011 that it was willing to resume negotiations over the program. The Town responded that a vacancy on the selectboard was delaying the process. Nevertheless, in August 2011, the Town adopted a paramedic program that was not produced through bargaining with the Union. The program established a wage schedule and conditions of employment similar to those previously proposed by the Union and rejected by the Town. On appeal, the Town argued that the PELRB erred in: (1) finding that the Town was required to bargain over its paramedic program when the adoption of that program was within the Town’s "managerial prerogative"; (2) finding that the Town had previously created a paramedic program; (3) finding that the Town was required to bargain over the wages, hours, and working conditions of a position before the parties agreed to, and the PELRB ordered, the inclusion of that position in a bargaining unit; and (4) finding, on insufficient evidence, that the Town violated its duty to bargain and/or was motivated by anti-union animus. The Supreme Court concluded the Town failed to demonstrate that the PELRB made an erroneous ruling of law or to demonstrate, by a clear preponderance of the evidence, that its order was unjust or unreasonable. Accordingly, the Court declined to set aside the PELRB’s decision. View "Appeal of Town of North Hampton " on Justia Law

Respondent Town of Brookline appealed a decision of the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), based upon stipulated facts and exhibits, which found that the Town engaged in an unfair labor practice by refusing to bargain with the petitioner, AFSCME, Council 93 (Union). On appeal, the Town argued that the PELRB erred by ruling that the Town had a duty to bargain with the Union even though the bargaining unit in question, originally certified in 2001, currently contains fewer than ten employees. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Appeal of Town of Brookline" on Justia Law

Petitioner Thomas Phillips appealed a New Hampshire Compensation Appeals Board (CAB) decision denying him recovery under the Workers’ Compensation Law. The CAB ruled that petitioner was not entitled to benefits because he had failed to timely notify his employers, Norman and Diane Crocker, of his claim. Furthermore, the CAB ruled that petitioner was not entitled to benefits because, unbeknownst to the Crockers, he was intoxicated at the time of his injury. In 2006, petitioner and his wife lived in a trailer that they rented from the Crockers. As part of the lease agreement, the petitioner performed yard work and minor home repairs for the Crockers in exchange for a rent reduction. Mr. Crocker asked petitioner to remove a tree branch that was growing near the Crockers’ house. The next day, petitioner fell from a ladder while cutting the branch with a chainsaw. As a result of the fall, petitioner was rendered a quadriplegic. Petitioner filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, identifying the Crockers as his employer. The Crockers were insured under a homeowner’s insurance policy issued by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (State Farm) that included workers’ compensation coverage for domestic employees. State Farm denied petitioner workers’ compensation benefits. The New Hampshire Department of Labor (DOL) Hearing Officer determined that petitioner was entitled to benefits. State Farm appealed to the CAB. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed in part, reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings: (1) the CAB misapplied the governing New Hampshire case law to the petitioner’s claim; (2) petitioner’s claim was not time barred; and (3) a factual question remained whether petitioner's injury was caused in whole or in part by his intoxication. View "Appeal of Thomas Phillips" on Justia Law

Claimant William Stewart appealed a decision of the appeal tribunal, as affirmed by the appellate board of the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security (DES) that denied his application for unemployment benefits. Stewart worked as the code enforcement director for the City of Laconia from March 14 to June 29, 2011. Following his termination, Stewart applied for unemployment benefits. A DES certifying officer denied the application. The officer determined that Stewart did not have annual earnings of at least $1,400 in two of four quarters of his alternate base period. Stewart appealed the decision to the tribunal. He argued that he had earnings of at least $1,400 in both the third and fourth quarters of his alternate base period. Following a hearing, the tribunal affirmed the decision denying Stewart’s claim. Stewart argued on appeal to the Supreme Court that the tribunal erred in concluding that he had insufficient quarterly earnings under RSA 282-A:25 to establish a claim for benefits. Upon review, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded, finding that DES’s reliance on its decision in "Appeal of Tennis" was misplaced. View "Appeal of William Stewart" on Justia Law

Petitioner Eric Johnson appealed a New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) decision finding insufficient evidence to support his claim that Respondent New Hampshire Troopers Association (Union) breached its duty of fair representation. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed that there was insufficient evidence to support Petitioner's claim, and affirmed the PELRB's decision. View "Appeal of Eric Johnson " on Justia Law