Berglass v. Dworkin

Citations

• 234 Conn. App. 834

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the trial court's judgment dismissing his action, which sought, inter alia, an injunction requiring the defendants to cease construction on an inground pool at their property, which adjoined property owned by the plaintiff. The plaintiff claimed, inter alia, that the court improp- erly dismissed his action without providing notice and an opportunity to be heard following a hearing on his motion for a temporary injunction, to which the defendants had filed an objection. Held: The trial court improperly dismissed, sua sponte, the entirety of the plaintiff's complaint as moot, an issue that was not raised in the defendants' objection to the plaintiff's motion for a temporary injunction, as, although the court could have raised the issue of mootness sua sponte regarding the plaintiff's action rather than considering only the motion for a temporary injunction, the court expressly informed the parties that it would decide only whether the plaintiff's motion for a temporary injunction was moot and that the merits of the complaint would be determined at a later date, and, therefore, the plaintiff had no warning or notice that his entire action, rather than his motion for a temporary injunction, was subject to dismissal by the court, which deprived the plaintiff of due process. The trial court's factual findings regarding the merits of the plaintiff's com- plaint were clearly erroneous, as the court did not hold a hearing and no evidence was presented to support such findings. Argued June 2—officially released September 2, 2025