Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)

Citation: Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)
Parent Document: Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 2024-06-11
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10131752/dept-of-public-health-v-estrada/ ↗

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or borough director of health or if a vacancy exists in
       the office of such director, the appointing authority of
       such city, town or borough may, with the approval
       of the [Commissioner of Public Health], designate in
       writing a suitable person to serve as acting director of
       health during the period of such absence or inability
       or vacancy . . . . The person so designated, when
       sworn, shall have all the powers and be subject to all
       the duties of such director. . . .’’
          To discharge its statutory responsibilities under the
       statute, ‘‘the customary process within the [depart-
       ment’s division of] the OLHA was to review a letter from
       a municipality or a district board of health appointing
       an individual to a permanent or acting director of health
       [position]. Once the OLHA received the appointment
       letter from a municipality or the district board of health,
       [Estrada] would review the appointed individual’s resume
       to ensure that it stated that the individual had a graduate
       degree from an accredited school.’’ ‘‘Once [Estrada]
       reviewed the appointment letter and resume, she would
       then draft a letter for Blaschinski’s review stating that
       the [department] approved the appointment. After
       Blaschinski reviewed the letter, she would send it [to]
       the commissioner of [the department] for [the commis-
       sioner’s] review.’’
          In May, 2015, Raul Pino, then director of health of
       the city of Hartford, submitted a letter requesting
       approval of Ruonan Wang as the city’s acting director
       of health. Both the letter and Wang’s resume stated that
       Wang held a master’s degree in public health from the
       University of Connecticut. Estrada reviewed the request,
       including Wang’s resume, and she drafted a letter
       approving the appointment for Blaschinski’s review.3
         3
            There is some disagreement about whether department policy required
       Estrada to independently verify the information contained in Wang’s resume.
       It is undisputed that Estrada’s job required her to draft the approval letter
       for the commissioner’s signature.
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