Blog

PREMISES LIABILITY – Superior Court holds lessee fails to prove that building owner had contractual duty to defend store from premises liability action

3/22/2018 | Kathryn M. Cunningham
kmcunningham@jacksonokeefe.com

The defendant grocery store rented space from the building owner per lease terms that obligated the owner to defend and indemnify the defendant from premises liability actions arising from the use of common areas, including the exterior front store entrance.  The plaintiff allegedly suffered injuries from a fal ...

PERSONAL INJURY –Appellate Court holds plaintiff failed to show existence of unmarked crosswalk at location where he was struck by defendant’s vehicle

3/22/2018 | Philip R. Dunn, Jr.
prdunn@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff, during the course of employment as a delivery driver, was struck and seriously injured while crossing the street at night, during a heavy rainstorm.  The defendant was a state employee driving a state-owned vehicle and did not see the plaintiff.  The plaintiff sued the state, alleging that t ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Superior Court holds car owner who loaned vehicle to driver while driver’s own car was being repaired not vicariously liable for driver’s negligence

3/22/2018 | Peter K. O'Keefe
pkokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

The defendant driver was operating a vehicle loaned to him by the defendant auto body shop that was painting his vehicle when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident.  The plaintiff sued the driver for negligence and the auto body shop on a theory of vicarious liability.  The shop moved for summary jud ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Supreme Court affirms summary judgment in absence of evidence demonstrating substantial certainty of injury to employee

3/22/2018 | Matthew J. O'Keefe
mjokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff employee was injured when the excavator he was operating slipped and swung back and forward.  The employee brought action against his employer, alleging that it intended to create a working condition that was substantially certain to injure him or other employees by “rigging” the excav ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Superior Court holds subcontractor owed no duty indemnify project owner

3/22/2018 | Joseph M. Busher Jr.
jmbusher@jacksonokeefe.com

Defendant hired a general contractor to install curb bumpers in the parking lot of its store.  The contractor then hired a subcontractor to perform the work.  Plaintiff tripped and fell over a curb bumper installed by a subcontractor and sued defendant, alleging that the curb bumper was defective.  De ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Superior Court holds owner’s negligent infliction of emotional distress claim against homeowner association was justified where association inexplicably delayed processing of insurance claim for repair to flood damage to condominium unit

3/22/2018 | Kathryn M. Cunningham
kmcunningham@jacksonokeefe.com

An interior water pipe in the plaintiff’s condominium unit broke, causing extensive damage to the unit and allegedly rendering it uninhabitable for over a year.  Per the homeowner association (HOA) bylaws, the HOA was responsible for the repair to the pipe and unit damage.  Plaintiff sued and include ...

MUNICIPAL LAW – Superior Court holds complaint seeking to compel Town to indemnify municipal police officers for future costs that officers may or may not incur was not ripe for adjudication

3/22/2018 | Philip R. Dunn, Jr.
prdunn@jacksonokeefe.com

A third party sued a Southington police officer for negligence while off-duty, alleging that the officer failed to prevent his girlfriend from drinking and driving.  The bargaining unit of which the officer was a member sued the Town, its insurer, and its insurance agent seeking an order to compel the Town to d ...

MUNICIPAL LAW – Appellate Court holds employee’s indemnification action against municipal employer was timely

3/22/2018 | Peter K. O'Keefe
pkokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

A third party lawsuit was brought against a municipal employee for alleged misconduct during the course of the employee’s employment as former tax assessor for the City of New Haven.  The city refused the employee’s request for provision of legal representation and the employee provided his own defe ...

MUNICIPAL LAW – Supreme Court holds plaintiff not an identifiable person subject to imminent harm

3/22/2018 | Matthew J. O'Keefe
mjokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff sued for negligent supervision when he was accidentally cut in a school auditorium when bending down to pick up a pair of safety scissors that another student had been carrying while running around the auditorium. The plaintiff alleged that the defendants had failed to remove the dangerous object that ...

MUNICIPAL LAW – Superior Court holds school board and employees immune from liability for student’s injuries suffered when she fell from play structure during recess

3/22/2018 | Joseph M. Busher Jr.
jmbusher@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff sued the town board of education and others for injuries sustained when she fell from a tunnel that she was climbing on at her elementary school’s playground during recess.  She alleged that the injuries were caused by the negligent supervision of school employees.  The defendants moved ...

MOTOR VEHICLE TORTS – Superior Court holds that wrongful death action alleging motor vehicle accident was cause of premature birth and death of twin fetuses cannot proceed without supporting expert testimony as to causation

3/22/2018 | Kathryn M. Cunningham
kmcunningham@jacksonokeefe.com

At the time of the motor vehicle accident at issue, the plaintiff was pregnant with twins.  Four weeks post-accident, the plaintiff gave birth prematurely at 23 weeks and the twins did not survive.  The plaintiff and her husband sued, alleging that the defendant’s negligence caused the plaintiff&rsqu ...

INSURANCE LAW – Superior Court holds injured motorist adequately pleaded that his underinsured motorist coverage insurer acted in bad faith by knowingly and wrongfully delaying settlement of his claim

3/22/2018 | Philip R. Dunn, Jr.
prdunn@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff was involved in a motor vehicle accident in which the at fault driver’s insurance coverage did not fully reimburse the plaintiff for his losses.  The plaintiff demanded coverage up to the full policy limits from his own insurer and allegedly, the defendant insurer conducted an improper inves ...

INSURANCE LAW – An insured’s written request for a lesser amount of uninsured motorist coverage complied with statutory requirement was a question for the court, not the jury

3/21/2018 | Peter K. O'Keefe
pkokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

Plaintiff, who was injured in a motor vehicle accident, sued the other driver and two insurers, including the insurer of a corporate owner of a fleet of cars for uninsured/underinsured coverage. The plaintiff alleged that insurer’s policy provided $1 million in uninsured motorist coverage and the insurer moved ...

INSURANCE COVERAGE – Appellate Court holds that insureds’ policy was validly canceled for nonpayment; trial court erred in finding otherwise

3/21/2018 | Matthew J. O'Keefe
mjokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

The defendants failed to make their June monthly installment payment of $62.64 by tenth of the month, in accordance with their insurance policy requirements.  The plaintiff insurer sent a notice stating that the policy would be canceled for nonpayment unless a payment of $124.48 was made before July 4.  Th ...

PREMISES LIABILITY – Superior Court holds triable issues of fact exist as to town’s liability for failing to remove snow from sidewalk outside school gym:

1/10/2018 | Joseph M. Busher Jr.
jmbusher@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff was walking on a snowy sidewalk outside a high school on her way to attend a basketball game at the school’s gymnasium when she fell.  She sued the town and others for her injuries.  The court denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment except as to the plaintiff’s claim ...

PREMISES LIABILITY – Superior Court holds that property owners/managers had no duty to prevent accumulation of snow/ice from outside stairs of condominium development during ongoing storm:

1/10/2018 | Philip R. Dunn, Jr.
prdunn@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff owned a condominium in a development owned and operated by one of the defendants and from which a second defendant had contracted to remove snow and ice.  The plaintiff slipped and fell on ice on an outside staircase during an ongoing storm and filed a negligence action against the defendants clai ...

PREMISES LIABILITY – Appellate Court finds that property owner had no duty maintain sidewalk free of wildly growing grass:

1/10/2018 | Peter K. O'Keefe
pkokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff slipped and fell on a sidewalk that was cracked and broken with grass growing through the cracks which hid the condition.  The sidewalk was adjacent to the defendant’s property.  The plaintiff sued alleging that the defendant was negligent in not maintaining the sidewalk free of the gra ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Superior Court holds that a Connecticut statute governing the sale of all-terrain vehicles does not create a private right of action:

1/10/2018 | Matthew J. O'Keefe
mjokeefe@jacksonokeefe.com

A 14-year-old plaintiff was riding an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) with a friend of the same age when the friend lost control of the ATV and crashed, causing the plaintiff to suffer serious injuries.  The plaintiff sued the defendant ATV dealer, claiming that that the defendant violated Conn. Gen. Stat §14-39 ...

PERSONAL INJURY – Superior Court holds auto accident victim not entitled to damages for future surgery not proven necessary:

1/10/2018 | Joseph M. Busher Jr.
jmbusher@jacksonokeefe.com

The plaintiff was injured following an accident in which she came to a complete stop in the left hand lane of a highway because of heavy traffic and was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by defendant, who had failed to stop in time. The plaintiff was treated in the emergency room on the day of the accident for ...