Gilman v. Shames

Citations

• 212 Conn. App. 147

Syllabus

The defendant state of Connecticut appealed from the judgment of the trial court denying its motion to dismiss the plaintiff's action on the ground of sovereign immunity. Pursuant to the applicable statute (§ 4-147), the plaintiff filed a notice of claim with the Office of the Claims Commis- sioner, seeking permission to sue the defendants, the state and S, a physician employed by the University of Connecticut Health Center, for damages for emotional distress and loss of consortium resulting from the death of his domestic partner, which he claimed was caused by the medical malpractice of S and the hospital that provided her care, which was a part of the University of Connecticut Health Center. The commis- sioner authorized the plaintiff to sue for damages of up to $500,000 for alleged medical malpractice. The plaintiff commenced an action against the defendants for bystander emotional distress. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the trial court granted, concluding, inter alia, that the plaintiff's claim was barred by sovereign immunity. This court affirmed the trial court's decision, concluding that the plaintiff's derivative claim was not viable because it was not accompanied by a wrongful death action brought by the decedent's estate. The plaintiff commenced the present action against the defendants, alleging wrongful death in his capacity as administrator of the decedent's estate and bystander emotional distress in his individual capacity. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that the commissioner had not granted the plaintiff permission to bring a claim on behalf of the decedent's estate and that the wrongful death action was barred by the applicable statute of limitations (§ 52-555). The plaintiff withdrew its claims against S and, thereafter, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss, determining that the plaintiff's notice was sufficient and that the commissioner's waiver of sovereign immuni