COVID Statute of Limitations for Negligence Claims

The plaintiff brought action on March 24, 2023, against his general contractor who was hired to perform home-improvements. The plaintiff asserted a claim for negligence arising from allegations that as a result of the defendant’s failure to restore electrical power to the garage door, the plaintiff’s hand was crushed, and multiple fingers were nearly severed, while attempting to open the door manually. The lower court granted the defendant’s motion to strike the claim on the grounds that the statute of limitations had run and granted the defendant’s motion for judgment. The plaintiff appealed.

COVID-19 Executive Order and Statute of Limitations for Negligence Claims

The Connecticut Appellate Court set forth the question to be determined, namely, how to calculate the statute of limitations set forth in Connecticut General Statutes § 52-584 in connection with the plaintiff’s negligence claim arising from an accident that occurred on May 24, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The operability of the statute was suspended as a result of Governor Ned Lamont’s Executive Order N0. 7G, effective March 19, 2020. The suspension was subsequently lifted on March 1, 2021. The plaintiff claims that the lower court incorrectly concluded that the two-year limitations period began to run March 1, 2021, and expired March 1, 2023. Instead, the plaintiff argues that he was entitled to a suspension of 347 or 248 days, representing the total number of days that the suspension was in effect. In other words, the plaintiff contends that the proper calculation of his limitations period is effectively two years plus 347 or 348 days. After reviewing the language of Governor Lamont’s executive orders, the Appellate Court disagrees with the plaintiffs rational.

Appellate Court Clarifies Calculation of Limitations Period

Based on the clear language set forth in the executive orders, the Appellate Court concludes that the lower court properly determined that the limitations period set forth in § 52-584 began to run on March 1, 2021, and expired on March 1, 2023. Therefore, because the plaintiff’s alleged injuries occurred on May 24, 2020, while the executive order was in effect, the two-year statute of limitations period applicable to the plaintiff’s claim began to run on the day the suspension was lifted, March 1, 2020. The plaintiff then had two years to commence the action. However, the plaintiff did not do so until March 24, 2023. As a result, the Connecticut Appellate Court affirms the lower court’s conclusion that the plaintiff’s negligence claim against the defendant is time barred. Marks v. GLT Dev. Corp., 230 Conn. App. 871 (2025)