Roux v. Coffey

Syllabus

The plaintiffs appealed from the judgment of the trial court granting the defendant's motion to strike all counts of the complaint against it. They claimed, inter alia, that the court improperly granted the motion to strike as to the counts alleging negligence and public nuisance on the ground that the controlling authority of Demond v. Project Service, LLC (331 Conn. 816) precluded their claims. Held: The trial court properly granted the defendant's motion to strike the plain- tiffs' negligence claim, as the Supreme Court's reliance in Demond on public policy against imposing liability on a defendant for the harm caused off- premises by a drunk driver was equally applicable to the negligence claim in the present case. The trial court properly granted the defendant's motion to strike the plain- tiffs' public nuisance claim, as the Supreme Court's explanation in Demond, namely, that established legal principles deem the sole proximate cause of a crash to be an intoxicated driver's choice to consume alcohol immoderately and then drive on public roads, precluded the plaintiffs' public nuisance claim. Argued November 13, 2024—officially released January 14, 2025