Ready v. New Canaan

Citations

• 232 Conn. App. 487

Syllabus

The plaintiff homeowners appealed following the trial court's granting of the defendant town's motion for summary judgment in the plaintiffs' breach of contract action to recover for damage to their property that allegedly resulted from the defendant's failure to maintain its stormwater drainage system that runs through the plaintiffs' property. The plaintiffs contended that the court improperly determined that their claim was barred by the doctrine of governmental immunity pursuant to statute (§ 52-557n) and the common law because it sounded in tort rather than in contract. Held: The trial court improperly granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, as the court erroneously construed the plaintiffs' claim as alleging tortious conduct when, instead, it arose directly out of the defendant's alleged breach of a specific contractual provision in a right-of-way agreement it had entered into with the plaintiffs' predecessor in interest to maintain the stormwater drainage system that the defendant owned and operated. Argued January 7—officially released May 6, 2025