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Case:  Cotto v. Board of Education (SC 18339) December 2009

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  New Haven

Synopsis:  Governmental immunity applied to shield the New Haven Board of Education from liability for personal injury suffered by a youth director who fell on a wet bathroom floor.  The general rule is that municipal employees are not liable for an accident caused by negligence.  One exception to this rule is if the employee’s actions are likely to subject an identifiable person to imminent harm.  School children attending public schools during school hours fall within this exception.  The youth director’s slip and fall, however, did not fit within this exception in that the risk of specific harm to him was not sufficiently immediate because any person using the bathroom could have slipped at any time.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR294/294CR150.pdf

Case Citation:  294 Conn. 265 (Conn. 2009)

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Case:  Wilcox v. Webster Ins. (SC 18317) November 2009

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  Hartford

Synopsis:  Because the persons making personal injury or wrongful death claims as a result of a multi-car accident on Avon Mountain claimed that the company’s owner and member were responsible for the company’s conduct, both the owner and member had legal standing to claim that they were an insured under the company’s liability insurance policy.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR294/294CR6.pdf

Case Citation:  294 Conn. 206, 982 A.2d 1053  (2009)

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Case:  Dias v. Grady (SC 18265) July 2009

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  Rockville

Synopsis:  To file a medical malpractice case, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-190a requires a good faith belief that grounds exist for the case.  The plaintiff must provide a written opinion from a similar health care provider that the defendant had breached the standard of care.  However, it is not necessary that the written opinion state that the breach caused the plaintiff’s injuries.  The plaintiff’s good faith belief regarding causation may be based on consultation with nonsimilar health care providers or on other reasonable grounds.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR292/292cr91.pdf

Case Citation:  292 Conn. 350, 972 A.2d 715 (2009)

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Case:  Vermont Mutual Ins. Co. v. Walukiewicz (SC 18061) March 2009

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  Norwich

Synopsis:  A homeowner’s insurance policy that excludes coverage for intentionally caused injuries must still cover injuries caused in self-defense.  Although a person defending himself or herself may intend to cause an injury, acts of self-defense are a response to unexpected, unforeseen and unintended events and therefore are “accidents.”

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR290/290CR38.pdf

Case Citation:  290 Conn. 582 (2009)

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Case:  Costanzo v. Gray (AC 29228) February 2009

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Danbury

Synopsis:  Patient sued orthopedic surgeon who was to perform a left side L4-L5 microdiscectomy but instead performed the surgery from the right side.  Surgeon admitted he had mistakenly written on the chart that the patient had complained of right side symptoms.  At trial, the doctor’s expert witness testified that the doctor had in fact performed a left microdiscectomy but had used a right side approach known as a contralateral approach.  The jury found that the doctor had not committed malpractice.  The verdict was upheld on appeal.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP112/112AP147.pdf

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Case:  Benedetto v. Zaku (AC 28995) February 2009

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Stamford - Norwalk

Synopsis:  Jury awarded driver hurt in car crash money for future back surgery but not for pain and suffering.  Trial court added money for pain and suffering.  The appellate court agreed with the trial court, stating that the jury’s verdict awarding the plaintiff almost $9,000 in past medical bills and $50,000 toward the cost of future surgery without any compensation for noneconomic damages (pain and suffering) was improper as a matter of law.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP112/112AP141.pdf

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Case:  Peatie v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (AC 28387) January 2009

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Middletown

Synopsis:  The plaintiff filed a lawsuit after an accident at a store where a metal unit hit her head, neck and shoulder.  Her doctor’s testimony about a second shoulder surgery was properly excluded because she had reinjured the shoulder lifting a twelve-pack of soda.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP112/112AP101.pdf

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Case:  Tocco v. Wesleyan University (AC 28928) January 2009

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Middletown

Synopsis:  The plaintiff suffered a personal injury at Wesleyan’s ice rink.  Wesleyan served an apportionment complaint on the Hamden Figure Skating Association.  The association did not appear in the lawsuit.  The plaintiff then made a claim against the association for the accident by mailing an amended complaint to the association.  The appellate court ruled that the case against the association was properly dismissed because Practice Book § 10-12 (c) requires that claims against a party who has not appeared must be served on the party. 

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Case:  Kelly v. Univ. of Conn. Health Center (SC 17884) January 2009

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  Middletown

Synopsis:  The statute of limitations period for negligence cases begins to run when the injury is first discovered or should have been discovered.  The harm complained of need not have reached its fullest manifestation in order for the limitation period to begin to run.  This is especially so with regard to discovering the presence of a foreign object in one’s body after undergoing surgery. Such a presence indicates such obvious medical malpractice as to be clear even to a lay person.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR290/290CR25.pdf

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Case:  (AC 28962) October 2008

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Middletown

Synopsis:  As homeowner’s insurance policy excluded covering injuries caused by criminal acts, the insurance company was not required to cover the damages the homeowner caused his neighbor by spying on her.  The homeowner, who was charged with trespass, disorderly conduct, voyeurism and stalking, pled guilty to disorderly conduct and admitted during a deposition that his actions were crimes.

Case Link:   http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP110/110AP517.pdf

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Case:  Read v. Town of Plymouth (AC 28523) October 2008

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  New Britain

Synopsis:  Resident of Plymouth who was hurt after a trip and fall accident at the town’s waste transfer station could sue the town and municipal employees for negligence and nuisance but could not sue under the defective public highway statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 13a-149, because the transfer station was not open to the general public but only to town residents.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP110/110ap501.pdf

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Case:  Rivers v. New Britain (SC 17863) July 2008

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court:  New Britain

Synopsis:  City was responsible for fall on an ice-covered sidewalk, despite statute allowing city to transfer responsibility to adjoining property owner, because the adjoining property owner was the State, which was protected from the claim by governmental immunity.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR288/288CR116.pdf

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Case:  Stiffler v. Continental Ins. Co. (SC 17761) July 2008

Court:  Connecticut Supreme Court

Trial Court: Stamford - Norwalk

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR288/288CR121.pdf

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Case:  Hernandex v. Dawson (AC 28842) August 2008

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  New Haven

Synopsis:  A teenager was riding a bicycle in an area where children and young teens congregate and play.  After being hit in the head by a ”fuzz” football, he turned around, his face struck the jagged top edge of an unpainted metal fence post adjoining the sidewalk, and he lacerated his face, leaving a permanent scar.  The area was dark and the fence post had been in that condition for about a year.  The jury’s conclusion that the plaintiff was not comparatively negligent for his bicycle accident was upheld on appeal.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP109/109AP432.pdf

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Case:  Clinch v. Generali-U.S. Branch (AC 28784) September 2008

Court:  Connecticut Appellate Court

Trial Court:  Hartford

Synopsis:  The plaintiff obtained a judgment against a restaurant after he was assaulted by intoxicated patrons.  The restaurant’s insurance company refused to defend the claim because the policy excluded coverage for assault and battery.  The court upheld the coverage exclusion, even though the complaint did not use the words “assault and battery,” because the acts complained of clearly referred to an assault and battery.

Case Link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP110/110AP461.pdf