Tremont Public Advisors, LLC v. Materials Innovation & Recycling Authority

Citations

• 216 Conn. App. 775

Syllabus

The plaintiff public affairs firm sought to recover damages from the defend- ant quasi-public agency for violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) (§ 42-110a et seq.). The defendant, an entity responsible for providing waste and recycling services to various munici- palities pursuant to statute (§ 22a-257), requested proposals for the provi- sion of municipal government liaison services. The plaintiff submitted a proposal that complied with the request, but the defendant awarded the liaison services contract to a law firm, whose proposal was non- compliant. The plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that the award of the contract to the law firm without a legitimate public bidding process violated CUTPA. The defendant filed a motion to strike the plaintiff's complaint, arguing that it was exempt from CUTPA pursuant to the provision (§ 42-110c (a) (1)) that exempts from liability ''[t]ransactions or actions otherwise permitted under law as administered by any regulatory board or officer acting under statutory authority of the state or of the United States . . . .'' The trial court granted the defendant's motion to strike and rendered judgment in favor of the defendant. On the plaintiff's appeal to this court, held that the trial court did not err in granting the motion to strike; the bidding process the defendant engaged in before entering into the contract was expressly authorized and regulated by statute and its conduct throughout that process was subject to pervasive state regulation, which exempts the defendant from CUTPA liability pursuant to the governmental exemption, § 42-110c (a) (1). Argued September 15—officially released November 29, 2022