Town of Waterford, Cohanzie Fire Department

Pursuant to statute (§ 7-433c (a)), ''a uniformed member of a paid municipal fire department,'' who successfully passed a physical examination that failed to reveal any evidence of hypertension or heart disease before beginning such employment and then subsequently suffered any condi- tion or impairment of health caused by hypertension or heart disease resulting in his disability, is entitled to ''receive from his municipal employer compensation and medical care in the same amount and the same manner as that provided under [the Workers' Compensation Act] . . . from the municipal or state retirement system under which he is covered . . . . [These] benefits . . . shall be in lieu of any other bene- fits which such . . . fireman . . . may be entitled to receive from his municipal employer under the provisions of [the Workers' Compensation Act] or the municipal or state retirement system under which he is covered . . . .'' Pursuant further to statute (§ 7-433c (b)), ''those persons who began employ- ment on or after July 1, 1996, shall not be eligible for [heart and hyperten- sion] benefits'' under § 7-433c (a). Pursuant further to statute (§ 7-425 (5)), ''except as otherwise provided,'' the word ''member,'' as used in part II of chapter 113 (title 7) of the General Statutes, ''means any regular employee . . . receiving pay from a participating municipality . . . who has been included by such munici- pality in the pension plan as provided in section 7-427, but shall not include any person who customarily works less than twenty hours a week . . . .'' The named defendant, the town of Waterford, Cohanzie Fire Department, appealed from the decision of the Compensation Review Board, which upheld the workers' compensation commissioner's decision that the plaintiff's claim for heart and hypertension benefits was compensable under § 7-433c (a). The town originally hired the plaintiff as a part-time firefighter in 1992, prior to which he passed a physical examination that reveal