Court Opinion

ID: 9644577
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:59:56.260066+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:15.542009
License: Public Domain

LIPEZ, Justice,
with whom WATHEN, C.J., joins, dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. This case illustrates once again that hard cases make bad law. The dictionary defines the word pending as “awaiting action, confirmation, or decision.” Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary 868 (1984); see also Webster’s New World Dictionary 1079 (1952) (“to await judgment or decision”); Black’s Law Dictionary 785 (6th ed. 1991) (“Begun, but not yet completed; during; before the conclusion of; prior to the completion of’). Resort to any dictionary establishes, at a minimum, an ambiguity.
There is also a significant difference in meaning between the phrase “pending appeal” as used in 39 M.R.S.A. § 104-A(1) and the phrase “appeal pending” which does not appear in the statute. In terms of plain meaning, the former phrase would most often mean prior to the filing of an appeal, and the latter phrase would refer to the time period after an appeal was filed. Therefore, the language used in § 104r-A(l) actually lends more support to the view that the statutory provision relating to the recovery of payments includes the period prior to the filing of an appeal.
The language of a companion section adds to the uncertainty about the meaning of the phrase “pending appeal” in § 104-A(1). In 39 M.R.S.A. § 99 this language appears:
During the pendency of an appeal, [clerical] mistakes may be so corrected before the appeal is docketed in the division or Supreme Court and thereafter while the appeal is pending may be so corrected with leave of the division or Supreme Judicial Court.
Here the Legislature is using the phrase “pendency of an appeal” to include the period “before the appeal is docketed,” and the phrase “while the appeal is pending” to describe the period after an appeal has been docketed. Although the phrase “pending appeal” is susceptible to the interpretation adopted by the court, the inherent ambiguity of the phrase and the contrary meaning suggested by section 99 all point to an inescapable ambiguity in that phrase as it is used in Section 104r-A(l).
Given this ambiguity and the absence of any meaningful legislative histoiy, I would construe the statute in light of its purpose. Appellants argue correctly that the motion for findings of fact should be viewed as an integral part of the appellate process. Such findings are requested in order to enhance appellate review of an agency or trial court decision. Given the circumstances that led to the adoption of the provision of section 104-A(l) at issue here, I conclude that the section reflects a clear legislative intent that, as between the employee and the employer, the employee should bear the burden of restoring benefits that are erroneously paid during the pendency of an appeal, including the period during the pendency of a motion for findings of fact.
It is also clear that the Legislature sought to provide some protection to employees who are required to restore overpayments made pending appeal. Section 104-A grants the Commission the authority to deny recovery of overpayments if it would result in hardship or injustice to the employee. Any hardship produced by the inordinate delay involved in this case should be addressed by the Commission pursuant to its authority under section 104-A. In short, there is no *1249reason for this Court to ignore a definitional ambiguity by resorting to an undocumented common usage.