Opinion ID: 2000084
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Termination of Employment Issues

Text: The State had terminated the employment of all four individual defendants by the time the Superior Court entered the decision which is the subject of this appeal. Therefore, the issue that had been decided by the Superior Court in Young and reserved by the Superior Court in the earlier Kopec decision was again presented, i.e., whether the termination of the defendants' employment terminates their right to receive supplemental compensation. The State argued alternatively in the Superior Court that Young had been wrongly decided or had been overruled by the 1981 amendment. See State v. Lillard, Del. Supr., 521 A.2d 1110, 1114 (1986). The Superior Court decided that the 1981 amendment did not overrule Young and concluded that it was bound by the Young precedent. See id. Unfortunately, since the appeal to this Court in Young was dismissed, this precise issue did not come before this Court for six years. We now find that the earlier Superior Court decision in Young was an incorrect interpretation of the statute. We hold that the right to receive supplemental pay pursuant to 29 Del.C. § 5933, as amended originally in 1975 and as amended subsequently, has always been limited to persons who continue to be an employee of the State. A statute must be interpreted so as to give effect to the intent of the legislature. Keys v. State, Del.Supr., 337 A.2d 18, 22 (1975). Neither the original statute nor any of its amendments contemplated that benefits would be paid to former employees. Not only would a ruling requiring payment to non-employees violate the plain language of the statute, it would violate the cardinal rule that statutes are not to be construed so as to reach an absurd or unworkable result. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Clark, Del.Supr., 88 A.2d 436, 438 (1952). The legislature's original desire was to preserve the employees' accrued sick leave by providing supplemental benefits to those employees who received workmen's compensation until such time as they were able to return to work. The argument that the legislature intended to insure full pay for former employees as long as workmen's compensation payments were received is not supported by the record. Legislative history and preliminary statements, such as the preamble, can often aid in statutory construction. See 2A N. Singer, Sutherland Statutory Construction § 47.04 (4th ed. 1984). The General Assembly amended Section 5933 in 1975 for the purpose of relieving the perceived inequity of requiring employees to use up their sick leave in order to obtain their full pay level after suffering a compensable injury. State v. Lillard, 521 A.2d at 1114. See 60 Del.Laws, ch. 247, preamble. The Preamble to the 1975 version of Section 5933 explained that it is not equitable or fair for a Merit System employee to be forced to use sick leave as provided under Merit Rule 6.0300 [sic] for a job related accident or illness ... not occurring from... employee negligence. 60 Del.Laws, ch. 247, preamble. Statutory language, where possible, should be accorded its plain meaning. 2A N. Singer, supra, § 46.01. Section 1 of the 1975 Act made specific reference to an employee's absence from work. The final section of the 1975 Act indicated that it was applicable to any Merit System employee who has returned to work since January 1, 1975.... 60 Del.Laws, ch. 247, § 2 (emphasis added). Each enactment of Section 5933 has accorded or limited supplemental benefits to employees. An employee means one who is currently employed, not one who was formerly employed. The 1975 legislation, when read in its entirety, clearly afforded a supplemental benefit only to employees who were absent from work and only until such time as they returned to work. We find that the supplemental benefits were always designed to terminate simultaneously with the cessation of employment. In anticipation of our possible conclusion that the right to supplemental benefits ceases with the termination of employment, the individual parties question whether a state employee who cannot perform his or her duties because of a disability resulting from an injury that is not the direct result of their own misconduct can be discharged. [1] The Superior Court held that employees who cannot perform their duties because of such a disability can be terminated. State v. Lillard, 521 A.2d at 1115-16. We agree with the analysis of the Superior Court and, we affirm that holding. In view of our conclusion that the State can properly stop payment of supplemental compensation to individuals once their employment is terminated, we need not reach the issue of whether an award of supplemental compensation must include interest from the date the payments were due. The individual parties here were all paid until the termination of their employment with the State. For the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED in part and REVERSED in part.