PREMISES LIABILITY: Court grants summary judgment in favor of defendant, finding no duty of care by a private defendant to the plaintiff for maintaining public sidewalks

In this action, the plaintiff was injured when she tripped and fell into a hole/depression on the sidewalk adjacent to 399 Mill Hill Avenue in Bridgeport. She filed suit, alleging two different theories of liability, first, that the defendants were liable as owners of the sidewalk at issue, and that the defendants were liable under the Bridgeport Municipal Code, which requires landowners to maintain abutting sidewalks. The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that the Municipal Code did not create a private cause of action against landowners for injuries sustained by an individual on the sidewalk, and that any such liability laid with the city rather than the private landowner. The trial court agrees, finding that the plaintiff did not present any evidence that the municipal code shifted liability to inspect or repair sidewalks to private abutting landowners. As the plaintiff did not allege a positive act by the defendant and that the code did not shift liability, there was no basis to impose liability. The Court grants the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Fronio v. Friends of LMB Programs, Fairfield Judicial District at Bridgeport, Docket No. CV-20-6094764, (March 22, 2021).