Meyers v. Middlefield

Citations

• 202 Conn. App. 264

Syllabus

The plaintiff, a building official for the defendant town of Middlefield, appealed from the judgment of the trial court dismissing his administra- tive appeal from the decision of the defendant's Board of Selectmen to terminate his employment. The plaintiff was responsible for processing applications for certificates of occupancy and administering and enforc- ing the state building code. The board alleged, inter alia, that during the plaintiff's employment as the town building official, his performance and conduct regarding several long-standing projects was unreasonable and that he failed to follow instructions and directives. The board alleged that the plaintiff obstructed the issuance of a certificate of occupancy to P Co., a company that owned a commercial ski property. Thereafter, the board unanimously voted to terminate the plaintiff's employment and the plaintiff filed a complaint in the Superior Court, pursuant to statute (§ 29-260 (c)), appealing his discharge, which the court dis- missed. Held: 1. The trial court did not err in determining that there was substantial evidence in the record to support the board's decision to terminate the plaintiff's employment as the town's building official: the evidence demonstrated that the plaintiff sought to carry out his vow of never granting P Co. a certificate of occupancy by constantly interjecting new or resolved compliance issues whenever P. Co. was on the verge of being issued a certificate of occupancy; moreover, there was substantial evidence of the plaintiff's insubordination when he abandoned his duties by leaving an inspection against instruction, repeatedly acted outside the scope of his role by raising matters outside his jurisdiction to obstruct the issuance of the certificate of occupancy to P Co., and misplaced paperwork submitted to him by P Co. on more than one occasion. 2. The plaintiff could not prevail on his claim that the trial court improperly upheld the board's decision to terminate his employ