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32 ¦ DECEMBER 7, 2020 CONNECTICUT OPINIONS

of law as to which party was responsible for the gued that it did not owe a legal duty to plain-
area in which plaintiff fell. tiff and that plaintiff did not list any statute
that imposes such a duty. The court noted that
one statute imposes a mandatory duty to re-
Court Found Defendant is Entitled to port known abuse, but here, there was nothing
Governmental Immunity in Slip and Fall to suggest that any teacher or principal had
Case any knowledge of plaintiff ’s alleged abuse. The
court also agreed with defendants that regard-
CASE: McCrohan v. Town of Fairfield less of whether the alleged abuse occurred on
COURT: Stamford/Norwalk J.D. at Stamford or off school property, the negligence claims
DOC. NO.: CV-19-6042633 were barred by governmental immunity. There-
COURT OPINION BY: Povodator fore, the court granted defendants’ motion for
DATE: November 17, 2020 • PAGES: 8 summary judgment.

Plaintiff fell and sustained injuries on a stairway
at the Fairfield train station. Plaintiff alleged
defendant was negligent in its maintenance of Court Granted Defendant’s Motion
the station and the stairs. Defendant moved for Summary Judgment on Basis of
for summary judgment, claiming governmental Governmental Immunity for Plaintiff’s
immunity. The court granted the motion. The
court held that plaintiff’s complaint did not sat- Failure to Identify a Source for Claimed
isfy the requirement that a “plaintiff ordinarily Ministerial Duty
must point to some statute, city charter provi-
sion, ordinance, regulation, rule, policy, or other CASE: Trifero v. City of Norwalk
directive” that creates the ministerial duty alleg- COURT: Stamford/Norwalk J.D. at Stamford
edly breached. Just asserting that it is obviously DOC. NO.: CV-19-6041869
not a matter or discretion, which plaintiff did, is COURT OPINION BY: Povodator
insufficient. The court also held that a general- DATE: November 16, 2020 • PAGES: 11
ized duty of maintenance is not ministerial; the
allegations in plaintiff ’s complaint fit within the Plaintiff fell and was injured near the Perry Av-
scope of duties involving inspection and main- enue bridge in Norwalk. She filed a two-count
tenance. It stated that the approach of “what- complaint against defendant. Defendant filed a
ever was done, wasn’t enough” approach did motion to strike invoking governmental immu-
not suffice. Therefore, defendant was entitled to nity, and the court granted the motion as to the
governmental immunity. first count of negligence. The court noted that
plaintiff eliminated the only allegations in her
amended complaint that purported to invoke any
specific source for the existence of a ministerial
Court Granted Defendants’ Motion duty; she eliminated the only identified statute
for Summary Judgment on Grounds of that plaintiff claimed to compel a municipal em-
Governmental Immunity and Lack of ployee to act in a prescribed manner without ex-
Owed Duty ercising judgment or discretion. She deleted any
duty allegedly created by the City of Norwalk
Roadway Standards. In doing so, plaintiff failed
CASE: Doe v. City of New Haven to identify any source for any claimed ministerial
COURT: New Haven J.D. at New Haven duty. Therefore, the court found that the doctrine
DOC. NO.: CV-18-5043312 of governmental immunity did apply and grant-
COURT OPINION BY: Wahla ed defendant’s motion.
DATE: November 13, 2020 • PAGES: 33
Plaintiff brought this lawsuit through his
mother, alleging injuries sustained during the Court Granted Landlord Defendant’s
inappropriate sexual relationship perpetrated
by a high school teacher. Plaintiff claimed that Motion for Summary Judgment in Dog
the sexual abuse was a result of defendant’s Bite Case
negligence for failing to monitor or super-
vise its employees and failing to enforce the CASE: Joseph v. Silva
COURT: Tolland J.D. at Rockville
sexual harassment policy. Defendant moved DOC. NO.: JOSEPH_SILVA_111620
for summary judgment on all counts and the COURT OPINION BY: Sicilian
court granted the motion. Defendant first ar- DATE: November 16, 2020 • PAGES: 4

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