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32 ¦ JANUARY 4, 2021 CONNECTICUT OPINIONS

CIVIL PROCEDURE the court denied the motion. The general rule is that
a motion to strike can only be used to attack less
Court Had No Jurisdiction When than the entirety of a complaint or a count if the
Plaintiff in Personal Injury Suit Died paragraph at issue attempts to state a separate cause
Before Lawsuit Commenced of action. Here, the court found that defendant’s
motion was improper. It held that defendants had
the alternative option of filing a second request to
CASE: Krzeminski v. Duby revise after the filing of the revised complaint to re-
COURT: Hartford J.D. at Hartford move a specific paragraph from all three counts, or
DOC. NO.: CV-19-6118460 to ask that the statutory claims be separated into
COURT OPINION BY: Noble distinct causes of action. The court found that the
DATE: December 14, 2020 • PAGES: 5 allegations in the paragraph at issue merely supple-
mented the negligence cause of action and were not
Plaintiff alleged he was injured when defendant independent causes of action.
Duby drove into plaintiff’s car. Defendant Nissan-
Infinity LT owned the car Duby was driving at the
time of the accident. Plaintiff filed a lawsuit and
defendants were properly served. Plaintiff died CONTRACTS • EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION
seven days before the action was commenced. De-
fendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing Court Grants Summary Judgment
that because plaintiff died before the date the suit on Breach of Fiduciary Duty where
was brought, the action was a nullity and the court
lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The court granted Defendant Is Minority Owner
the motion. Plaintiff had previously filed a motion
to substitute an executor in his place and the court CASE: Southbury Real Estate Group, LLC v. Lexton
denied it. The executor argued that that the court COURT: Hartford J.D., Complex Litigation Docket
would now have jurisdiction if the court granted the DOC. NO.: CV-19-6117757
motion and he were substituted as the party plain- COURT OPINION BY: Schuman
tiff. The court reasoned that the legislation provid- DATE: December 08, 2020 • PAGES: 11
ing for a party substitution reads that substitution is
allowed when an action has been commenced in the Defendants alleged certain employment contracts
name of the wrong person. The court found that between themselves and plaintiffs in both cases
legally, a deceased individual cannot be a person for contained improper restrictive non-compete provi-
the purposes of that statute. Therefore, the court sions, and brought suit against plaintiffs. Plaintiffs
found that because the present action was not com- sought summary judgment on violation of implied
menced by a legal person, it did not have jurisdiction covenant of good faith and fair dealing, tortious
and granted the motion to dismiss. interference, breach of contract, and unjust enrich-
ment claims. The defendants also moved for sum-
mary judgment, and the court found neither party
could prevail on summary judgment, given the
CIVIL PROCEDURE • TRUSTS AND ESTATES extensive factual findings required. However, the
court found no fiduciary duty breach by defendant
Court Denied Defendants’ Motion to Lexton, who was a minority owner in the LLC as-
sociated with the contracts, and granted summary
Strike, Finding It Procedurally Improper judgment to this defendant on this count. The court

CASE: Elliott v. Midstate Arc Inc. denied summary judgment as to all other motions.
COURT: New Haven J.D. at Meriden
DOC. NO.: CV-20-6020039
COURT OPINION BY: Sizemore CONTRACTUAL DISPUTES • FEE DISPUTES

DATE: December 14, 2020 • PAGES: 6 Court Finds Final Judgment of

Rosalyn Elliott suffered from intellectual and de-
velopmental disabilities and lived at a group home. Bankruptcy Served Res Judicata in Law
Defendant Edwards was the employee of defendant Firm Fee Dispute
Midstate and was driving Elliott in a minivan. Ed-
wards stopped the van and Elliott got out of the CASE: Zeisler & Zeisler, P.C. v. Ciganik
car. Elliott was hit by a car driven by third party COURT: Fairfield J.D. at Bridgeport
defendant James. Plaintiff, Elliott’s conservator, DOC. NO.: CV-20-609-4386
sued defendants in a three count complaint alleging COURT OPINION BY: Jacobs
negligence. Defendants filed a motion to strike and DATE: December 11, 2020 • PAGES: 6

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