Professional Electrical Contractors of Connecticut, Inc. v. Stamford Hospital

Syllabus

The plaintiff, a second tier subcontractor, sought to recover damages from the defendants H Co., a hospital, S Co., a general contractor, and E Co., a subcontractor, for, inter alia, quantum meruit or unjust enrichment, and to collect on a bond issued by the defendant F Co. posted pursuant to statute (§ 49-37), in connection with a dispute arising from a project relating to the expansion and renovation of H Co. Following the trial court's granting of motions for summary judgment filed by F Co. and S Co., the plaintiff appealed to this court. Held: 1. The trial court erred in granting S Co.'s motion for summary judgment on the count of the complaint in which the plaintiff alleged that H Co., S Co. and E Co. were liable in quantum meruit or unjust enrichment; the plaintiff alleged that it performed services at the request of H Co., S Co. and E Co., and that H Co., S Co. and E Co. accepted and benefited from the plaintiff's work, and S Co. presented no evidence establishing that it paid E Co. or someone else for the plaintiff's specific services, and, thus, there existed a genuine issue of material fact with respect to the plaintiff's claim for quantum meruit or unjust enrichment. 2. The trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment filed by S Co. and F Co. on the count of the complaint in which the plaintiff sought to collect on the surety bond issued by F Co.: under Connecticut's mechanic's lien statutes (§§ 49-33 and 49-36), recovery was not barred to the second tier subcontractor plaintiff solely because the first tier subcontractor had been paid in full by S Co.; moreover, S Co. and F Co. could not prevail on their alternative ground for affirmance that the lienable fund had been exhausted by the costs of the project and that the plaintiff did not have a contract with H Co., S Co. or F Co.; there was a lienable fund still available in the amount still owed by H Co. to S Co. at the time the plaintiff gave statutory notice (§§ 49-34 and 49-35) of its