Aldin Associates Ltd. Partnership v. State

Citations

• 230 Conn. App. 223

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court denying its request for a writ of mandamus to compel the defendants, the state of Connecticut and the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, to make payment on the plaintiff's claims under the act (§ 22a-449a et seq.) establish- ing an underground storage tank petroleum cleanup fund. The plaintiff claimed, inter alia, that the court improperly failed to shift the burden of proof to the defendants. Held: The trial court did not exceed the scope of this court's remand in the plaintiff's prior appeal, Aldin Associates Ltd. Partnership v. State (209 Conn. App. 741), when it held the plaintiff to its burden of establishing its entitlement to a writ of mandamus. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the plaintiff's request for a writ of mandamus directing the defendants to pay the plaintiff's approved claims under the act, the plaintiff having failed to demonstrate the existence of a clear legal right to be paid what it claims is due and owing from the commissioner under the act. This court declined the plaintiff's request to impose onto the act a burden shifting requirement for the defendants to establish the existence of any pending claims in the program after the plaintiff has made an initial showing that there were sufficient funds in the program to pay its claims, as the plaintiff failed to make such an initial showing regarding sufficient funds, the plaintiff did not point to any authority or legislative history of the statutory scheme that would support the imposition of a burden shifting requirement onto the act, and sanctioning such burden shifting would clearly expand the writ of mandamus beyond its well established limits. (One judge concurring in part and dissenting in part) Argued October 17, 2024—officially released January 21, 2025