Carrico v. Mill Rock Leasing, LLC

Citations

• 199 Conn. App. 252

Syllabus

The plaintiff sought to recover damages for the alleged negligence of the defendant J Co., an independent contractor hired by a possessor of land to render snow and ice removal/remediation services for premises on which the plaintiff slipped on an accumulation of ice and fell to the ground, sustaining injuries. The trial court granted the motion for sum- mary judgment filed by J Co., interpreting the counts against it as sound- ing in premises liability, and finding that because the plaintiff did not allege that J Co. possessed and controlled the premises, J Co. did not owe a duty to the plaintiff. On the plaintiff's appeal to this court, held that the trial court improperly rendered summary judgment as to those counts of the complaint against J Co. by mischaracterizing the plaintiff's claims as sounding in premises liability; the counts against J Co. alleged ordinary negligence in that the plaintiff did not allege that J Co. owed her a duty because it owned or controlled the premises, but that the duty J Co. owed to her arose from the snow services agreement it had with the third-party land possessor, and, pursuant to § 324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, because the plaintiff alleged that J Co. undertook to render snow and ice removal/remediation services on the premises, which activity J Co. should have recognized as necessary for the protection of persons such as the plaintiff, J Co. may have been liable to the plaintiff for the injuries she allegedly sustained that resulted from any failure by J Co. to exercise reasonable care in removing/ remediating snow and/or ice from the premises. Argued March 10—officially released July 21, 2020