Page 36 - CLT032221

36 ¦ MARCH 22, 2021 CONNECTICUT OPINIONS

LAND USE AND PLANNING School in the town of Madison was an endow-
ment that resulted in a constructive trust meant
Zoning Violation Matter Reversed on to benefit the students. The plaintiffs argued
Appeal Due to Conflicting Orders that the Archdiocese should have returned the
money once the Catholic School left the town
of Madison. The Archdiocese moved to dismiss,
CASE: Town of S. Windsor v. Lanata arguing that in Connecticut, only the Attorney
COURT: Connecticut Appellate Court
DOC. NO.: AC 42973 General had standing to bring a claim made to
COURT OPINION BY: Alvord enforce a charitable gift made for a stated pur-
DATE: March 09, 2021 • PAGES: 20 pose. The lower court granted the dismissal, and
A woman, who was ordered by the town to re- despite an argument by the plaintiffs that they
move accumulated debris and who was fined had standing pursuant to a special interest, the
for failing to do so, successfully argued on ap- appellate court affirmed.
peal that the lower court should not have im-
posed a fine because she was under orders by
both her insurance company and the police not SUPERIOR COURT
to disturb the property. The defendant, Kristin
Lanata, operated a business where she cleaned
personal property out of foreclosed homes and CONTRACTS
stored salvage on her property. Following mul-
tiple zoning violations that Lanata attempted Third-Party Defendant’s Motion for
to remedy, a fire broke out on the property in Summary Judgment Granted
2016, resulting in a complete loss of the house,
as well as more debris. A fire marshal report CASE: Warren-Downing v. City of New Haven
made an accusation, later disproved, that the COURT: New Haven J.D.
fire was arson. In 2017, the town filed addition- DOC. NO.: CV-18-6083942
al zoning violations against Lanata for failure COURT OPINION BY: Abrams
to remove the debris, and ultimately won at DATE: March 01, 2021 • PAGES: 18
trial. Following an appeal, whereby Lanata as- The plaintiff, guardian of minor plaintiff,
serted that she was instructed by the state po- brought suit against defendant for negligence
lice and insurance company not to touch any after her son slipped on a wet floor caused by
of the personal property, the court remanded the leaking roof of his middle school. Minor
the matter to determine when the instructions plaintiff suffered injuries to his face and mouth.
to remove the property were lifted. Defendant sought indemnification from third-
party defendant. Third-party defendant moved
TRUSTS AND ESTATES for summary judgment. First, it claimed that
it had no responsibility to perform custodial
or maintenance duties related to the premis-
Attorney General Has Sole Power to es, and so the fall did not constitute a breach
Enforce Testamentary Gift of the agreement. Second, it asserted that the
agreement’s indemnity provision was ambigu-
CASE: Derblom v. Archdiocese of Hartford ous because it made no mention of duties as-
COURT: Connecticut Appellate Court sociated with the building’s exterior. Third,
DOC. NO.: AC 42630 it argued that third-party plaintiffs must first
COURT OPINION BY: Prescott incur loss before seeking indemnity. The court
DATE: March 09, 2021 • PAGES: 15
A group of private citizens, who attempted to found that the language of the indemnifica-
bring an action to enforce a charitable gift made tion clause was unambiguous and clearly lim-
for a stated purpose, lacked standing and thus ited third-party defendant’s obligation. While
could not move forward with their lawsuit. The third-party defendant agreed to deliver an edu-
plaintiff, Maria Derblom, executrix of the estate cational program, none of its duties included
of Fred Rettich, along with a group of students, student safety or custodial service. The court
brought suit against the Archdiocese of Hart- maintained that education means imparting
ford and argued that Rettich’s charitable dona- knowledge, and it should happen in a safe envi-
tion to a Catholic School, both prior to and after ronment, but noted that the plain language of
his death, for the purpose of keeping a Catholic the agreement said nothing about maintaining

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