Coker v. City of Lewiston
Download as PDF
Wordperfect 3
Back to Opinions page

MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT					Reporter of Decisions
Decision:	1998 ME 93
Docket:	And-97-375
Argued:	December 1, 1997
Decided:	April 30, 1998

Panel:	WATHEN, C.J., and ROBERTS, CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, LIPEZ, SAUFLEY, JJ.

MARVIN COKER

v.

CITY OF LEWISTON

SAUFLEY, J.

	[¶1]  This case requires us to decide whether a recipient of general
assistance who has performed "workfare" to maintain eligibility for that
assistance is entitled to offset the value of that workfare against the
recipient's obligation to reimburse the municipality for the general
assistance received.  Because we conclude that the recipient is entitled to
such an offset, we vacate the judgment of the Superior Court (Androscoggin
County, Atwood, J.) affirming the hearing officer's decision to the contrary. 
	[¶2]  The facts are undisputed.  The City of Lewiston provided 
Marvin
Coker with general assistance and required him to perform work through its
municipal work program intermittently between October 1993 and August
1995.{1}  In total, the City provided Coker with $1,651.85 in general
assistance and Coker performed 285 hours of workfare valued at $1,211.25
if compensable at the then-existing minimum wage of $4.25 per hour.  See
22 M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(A) (Supp. 1997). 
	[¶3]  During an intervening period of private employment, Coker
injured his back, applied for workers' compensation, and was awarded
$1,267.68.  At the City's request, pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. § 4318 (1992 &
Supp. 1997), 
Coker authorized a lien on his workers' compensation award to
reimburse the City for the general assistance it had provided him.  The City
then enforced the lien and, because that amount was less than the
$1,651.85 of general assistance provided to Coker, kept the entire
$1,267.68 award.
	[¶4]  Coker appealed to the City's fair hearing authority, citing 22
M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(A) and arguing that the value of his workfare operated
as an offset against the general assistance he received.  Accordingly, Coker
asserted that the City owed him $827.08.{2}  The hearing officer concluded
that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A.
§ 4322 (Supp. 1997).  On appeal to the Superior Court, the court
(Alexander, J.) ruled that the hearing officer did have jurisdiction and
remanded the matter for disposition on the merits.  The hearing officer
then concluded that 22 M.R.S.A. § 4318 permitted the City to keep all of
Coker's workers' compensation award without regard for the value of his
workfare.  Coker once again appealed to the Superior Court (Atwood, J.),
which affirmed the hearing officer's decision.
	[¶5]  The City challenges the court's determination that the hearing
officer had authority to address Coker's appeal.  Coker, in turn, challenges
the court's judgment affirming the hearing officer's conclusion that the City
may retain all of his workers' compensation award as a recovery of the
general assistance it provided to him.  Coker argues that the value of work
performed by a general assistance recipient pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A.
§ 4316­p;A(2)(A) must be offset against the general assistance received, thus
limiting the municipality's recovery pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. § 4318.  The
City, relying on Radvanovsky v. Maine Dept. of Manpower Affairs, 427 A.2d
961 (Me. 1981) and Closson v. Town of Southwest Harbor, 512 A.2d 1028
(Me. 1986), contends that the work performed has no value other than to
establish the recipient's continuing eligibility to receive general assistance.
	[¶6]  When the Superior Court reviews a municipal decision pursuant
to 5 M.R.S.A. §§ 11001-11007 (1989), we review the decision of the
municipality directly.  See H.E. Sargent, Inc. v. Town of Wells, 676 A.2d 920,
923 (Me. 1996); 5 M.R.S.A. § 11008 (1989).  The hearing officer here was
called upon to construe the Municipal General Assistance statutes,
specifically 22 M.R.S.A. §§ 4316-A and 4318.  The meaning and
construction of statutory language presents a question of law.  See
Community Telecomm. Corp. v. State Tax Assessor, 684 A.2d 424, 426 (Me.
1996).  We review such questions de novo.  See H.E. Sargent Inc., 676 A.2d
at 923.
	[¶7]  Maine's general assistance statutes must be construed liberally to
effect their remedial purposes and achieve their humanitarian aims.  See
Beaulieu v. City of Lewiston, 440 A.2d 334, 344 (Me. 1982).{3}  We look first to
the plain meaning of the statutory language as a means of effecting the
legislative intent.  See Daniels v. Tew Mac Aero Servs., Inc., 675 A.2d 984,
987 (Me. 1996).  Where the statutory language is ambiguous, we examine
other indicia of legislative intent, such as legislative history.  See Jordan v.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., 651 A.2d 358, 360 (Me. 1994).  The statutory scheme
from which the language arises must be interpreted to achieve a harmonious
outcome.  See id.  We will not construe statutory language to effect absurd,
illogical, or inconsistent results.  See Fullerton v. Knox County Comm'rs, 672
A.2d 592, 594 (Me. 1996).

I.  Authority of the Hearing Officer

	[¶8]  We first address the authority of the hearing officer to entertain
Coker's appeal.  The right to a fair hearing arises from 22 M.R.S.A. § 4322
(Supp. 1997), which provides that "[a]ny person aggrieved by a decision, act,
failure to act or delay in action concerning his application for general
assistance under this chapter shall have the right to an appeal [to the fair
hearing authority]."   The City urges a narrow construction of this language,
contending that an appeal is authorized only for decisions directly relating
to the original application for general assistance.
	[¶9]  Section 4322, however, as one of Maine's general assistance
statutes, is entitled to liberal construction.  See Beaulieu, 440 A.2d at 344. 
Its language anticipates a variety of different decisions from which an
applicant will be entitled to an appeal.  In recognition of this variety, section
4322 provides an appeal period of five working days when the applicant has
received "written notice of denial, reduction, or termination of assistance,"
but provides a longer appeal period, ten working days, from "any other act
or failure to act by the municipality with regard to an application for
assistance."  Moreover, guidelines established by the Department of Human
Services provide that "all decisions regarding General Assistance are subject
to the fair hearing process."  Me. Dep't. of Hum. Serv. Gen. Assistance
Guidelines § 8 (June 1995) [hereinafter Guidelines]; cf. Bar Harbor Banking
& Trust v. Superintendent of Bureau of Consumer Protection, 471 A.2d 292,
296 (Me. 1994) ("The construction of a statute by an agency charged with
enforcing it is entitled to great deference.").  We conclude that the City's
retention of Coker's workers' compensation award constituted an act by the
City regarding Coker's application for general assistance.  Accordingly, the
court did not err in ruling that the hearing officer had authority to entertain
Coker's appeal.

II.  Workfare

	[¶10]  We turn now to the hearing officer's conclusion that the value of
Coker's workfare cannot be set off against the general assistance he received
from the City.{4}  Section 4316-A(2) permits a municipality to require
unemployed persons to work for the municipality or a participating
nonprofit organization as a condition of receiving general assistance,{5} and
provides in pertinent part that:

[a] person may not, as a condition of general assistance
eligibility, be required to do any amount of work that exceeds
the value of the net general assistance that the person would
otherwise receive under municipal general assistance standards. 
Any person performing work under this subsection must be
provided with net general assistance, the value of which is
computed at a rate of at least the State's minimum wage.

22 M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(A) (Supp. 1997) (emphasis added).
	[¶11]  Although this section anticipates that a recipient of general
assistance will not be required to perform workfare beyond the amount of
"net general assistance" received, it does not explicitly provide that the
value of the recipient's workfare operates as a credit against the obligation
to reimburse the municipality for the general assistance received.{6}  Because
the plain language of section 4316-A(2)(A) does not unambiguously disclose
the Legislature's intent, we look to the legislative history of the statute for
guidance.  See Jordan, 651 A.2d at 360.  During the House debate of the
1977 legislative revisions to the general assistance statutes, which, inter
alia, authorized municipalities to adopt workfare programs in connection
with general assistance, Representative Wilfong characterized the purpose of
the workfare as follows:

	It will require that people who come to the city or town
asking for general assistance may have to work for all or a
portion of the assistance that they receive, that they will be paid
the minimum wage and that if you come for $100, for an
example, because you need $100 to pay an oil bill or whatever
and you are in good health, . . . that you may be asked to do some
work in that town to pay for a portion of that $100 or maybe the
whole of the $100.  I think this is a positive step toward our
solving our welfare problem.  I think that this is the step that
really gives some dignity to the people who are coming and
asking for general assistance.

2 Legis. Rec. 1551 (1977).  Representative Berube further elaborated on the
workfare requirement:

	Section 12 of L.D. 1868, the Majority Report, has a work
requirement.  Some people sincerely want to work for the
money that they are requesting.  It is temporary assistance,
generally that they request.  They certainly don't want a handout. 
Most people don't.  This would give them an opportunity to
work for the assistance they were receiving, work for a city or a
town project.

Id.  These statements evidence the Legislature's intention that the value of
workfare serve not only as a benchmark against which to determine the
amount of work that may be required of a recipient but also as an offset
against the recipient's reimbursement obligation.
	[¶12]  This legislative intent is borne out by a construction of section
4316-A(2)(A) that avoids illogical or inconsistent results.  The language of
section 4316-A(2)(A) prevents a municipality from requiring a recipient to
perform workfare in excess of the "net general assistance" provided.  It
does so by providing the municipality with a comparative measure of
workfare's value with respect to general assistance benefits.  If this
comparative measure is not recognized for the purpose of offsetting the
work's value against the general assistance received, the recipient may be
required to reimburse the municipality twice, once through his labors and
again in dollars, contrary to the intent expressed in the legislative record.  
	[¶13]  Moreover, the use of the term "net general assistance"
evidences a legislative recognition that the total general assistance provided
to a recipient may be reduced by the City's receipt of credits or offset
against the total amount for the purpose of determining the amount of
workfare that can be required of a recipient.  For instance, had Coker's
workers' compensation benefits been received while he was still receiving
general assistance, those benefits would have been directed to the City.  The
City's receipt of the workers' compensation benefits would have
contemporaneously reduced the amount of "net general assistance" received
by Coker, thereby reducing the total hours of workfare that the City could
have required him to perform.{7}  The fact that Coker was awarded workers'
compensation benefits after receiving general assistance and performing
workfare should have no effect on the amount that he owes the City for the
net general assistance he received.{8}
	[¶14]  The City also argues that this interpretation of section
4316-A(2)(A) conflicts with the workers' compensation lien authority found
at 22 M.R.S.A. § 4318 (1992 & Supp. 1997).  Section 4318 provides in
pertinent part that:

	Notwithstanding any other provision of law, municipalities
have a lien for the value of all general assistance payments made
to a recipient on any lump sum payment made to that recipient
under the former Workers' Compensation Act, the Maine
Workers' Compensation Act of 1992 or similar law of any other
state.

Id.  It is the City's position that, even if section 4316-A is read to allow an
offset, section 4318, by its introductory phrase, "[n]otwithstanding any
other provision of law," precludes the application of an offset to reduce the
amount of the lien.  The City misreads section 4318.  Section 4318 does not
speak to the amount due to the City.  Rather, it provides a method by which
the amount due, once determined, may be collected.  The intent of the
section is to allow access to workers' compensation benefits without regard
to other provisions of law limiting that access.{9}  Because section
4316-A(2)(A) recognizes the value of workfare as an offset against general
assistance received, section 4318 authorizes a lien for the remainder due
the City notwithstanding any provision that would prevent enforcement of
such a lien.    
	[¶15]  Finally, the City argues that our decisions in Radvanovsky v.
Maine Dept. of Manpower Affairs, 427 A.2d 961 (Me. 1981) and Closson v.
Town of Southwest Harbor, 512 A.2d 1028 (Me. 1986) compel a contrary
result.  The analyses of both Radvanovsky and Closson, however, required us
to determine the relationship between the general assistance program and
other employment-related programs, specifically unemployment
compensation{10} and workers' compensation.{11}  Here, we need look no
further than the provisions of the general assistance statutes themselves. 
Coker does not assert an employment relationship or seek a benefit incident
to employment.  Rather, he seeks relief based upon an interpretation of the
general assistance statutes alone.
	[¶16]  Workfare is a unique creation of statute.  The Legislature's
decision to assign it a value that will be offset against a recipient's
reimbursement obligation is not inconsistent with its intention not to create
an employment or contractual relationship between the recipient and the
municipality.  See Closson, 512 A.2d at 1030.  The unique nature of the
relationship between the recipient and the municipality is made clear in
section 4316-A.  For example, recipients may be required to perform their
workfare for a nonprofit organization rather than the municipality while
receiving assistance directly from the municipality, see 22 M.R.S.A.
§ 4316-A(2)(A a recipient performing workfare "may not replace regular
municipal employees or regular employees of a participating nonprofit
organization[,]" 22 M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(C); and benefits will be paid to
eligible applicants even when they are unable to perform workfare, see 22
M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(G).
	[¶17]  The Legislature intended workfare to benefit both the
recipient, by "really giv[ing] some dignity to the people who are coming and
asking for general assistance,"{12} and the community, by making available to
the community services that would not otherwise be available.  Although it
constitutes neither employment nor direct consideration for the benefits
provided, workfare has a value that must be taken into account in
determining both the amount of work that may be required of the recipient
and the amount of reimbursement to which the municipality may be
entitled.
	[¶18]  We hold, therefore, pursuant to section 4316-A(2)(A), that the
value of a general assistance recipient's workfare must be offset against the
recipient's obligation to reimburse the municipality for the net general
assistance received.
	The entry is:

Judgment of the Superior Court affirming the
decision of the hearing officer vacated. 
Remanded for further proceedings consistent
with this decision.
Attorney for plaintiff:

Patricia M. Ender, Esq., (orally)
Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Inc.
P O Box 2429
Augusta, ME 04338-2429

Robert S. Hark, Esq., (orally)
City Attorney
P O Box 7120
Lewiston, ME 04243-7172

FOOTNOTES******************************** {1} Although the statute never uses the phrase, both parties refer to the work performed pursuant to a municipal work program as "workfare." We have adopted the use of the term for purposes of this appeal. {2} That amount is calculated as follows: $1,651.85 (total dollars of general assistance) less $1,211.25 (value of workfare performed) equals $440.60 (remainder owed to the City); $1,267.68 (lump sum workers' compensation award) less $440.60 equals $827.08. {3} In Beaulieu, we concluded that Maine's general assistance statutes were to be construed liberally after considering, in particular, the third sentence of 22 M.R.S.A. § 4450(2) (1977), repealed by P.L. 1983, ch. 577, § 2 (effective Sept. 23, 1983). See Beaulieu, 440 A.2d at 344. The exact language of that sentence now exists as the third sentence of 22 M.R.S.A. § 4301(5) (1992), which was enacted to replace section 4450(2) as part of a recodification of the general assistance statutes. See P.L. 1983, ch. 577, § 1 (effective Sept. 23, 1983). The purposes of the general assistance program remain unchanged by the recodification. {4} The State's General Assistance Guidelines do not address this issue. See Guidelines § 10. {5} "A person may not be required to work under this subsection if that person is physically or mentally incapable of performing the work assigned." 22 M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(G) (Supp. 1997). {6} Compare 22 M.R.S.A. § 4316-A(2)(A) with N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 165:31(I) (Supp. 1997) ("The amount an assisted person may be required to reimburse the town or city for aid received shall be reduced by the credits received from participation in the municipal work program."). {7} We recognize that this hypothetical is unlikely to occur in the sequence presented. Had Coker been receiving workers' compensation benefits prior to his re-application for continuing general assistance, those benefits would have been considered as income by the City in calculating Coker's need for general assistance, see 22 M.R.S.A. § 4301(7) (Supp. 1997), thereby reducing the amount of general assistance for which he would have been eligible. {8} A simple calculation demonstrates the principle. Because the City provided Coker with $1,651.85 in general assistance and kept his entire $1,267.88 workers' compensation award, the "net general assistance" Coker received equals $440.60. Nonetheless, he was required to perform workfare valued at $1,211.25. {9} For example, see 39-A M.R.S.A. § 106 (Supp. 1997), which provides that: No agreement by an employee, unless approved by the board or by the Commissioner of Labor, to waive the employee's rights to compensation under this Act is valid. No claims for compensation under this Act are assignable or subject to attachment or liable in any way for debt, except for the enforcement of a current support obligation or support arrears pursuant to Title 19-A, chapter 65, subchapter II, article 3 or Title 19-A, chapter 65, subchapter III, or for reimbursement of general assistance pursuant to Title 22, section 4318. {10} Radvanovsky sought to combine the value of his workfare with the wages he received in other employment for the purpose of requalifying for unemployment benefits pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. § 1192(5) (Supp. 1997). See Radvanovsky, 427 A.2d at 962. {11} Closson, alleging that she was injured while performing workfare pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. § 4504(5)(A), sought the status of an "employee" for purposes of the workers' compensation statutes, 39 M.R.S.A. § 2(5)(A) (Supp. 1985), repealed and replaced by P.L. 1991, ch. 885, § A-7, A-8, codified at 39-A M.R.S.A. § 102(11) (Supp. 1997). See Closson, 512 A.2d at 1028. {12} 2 Legis. Rec. 1551 (1977) (statement of Representative Wilfong).