United Public Service Employees Union, Cops Local 062 v. Hamden

Citations

• 209 Conn. App. 116

Syllabus

The plaintiff union sought to enjoin the defendants from proceeding with a disciplinary hearing against E, a police officer represented by the plaintiff and employed by the defendant town, until the completion of a pending criminal prosecution against E. Following a hearing, the trial court rendered judgment granting the plaintiff's application for a tempo- rary injunction. The named defendant appealed to this court, claiming that the court used an incorrect legal standard in granting the plaintiff's application. Held that the trial court improperly reviewed the plaintiff's application for a temporary injunction pursuant to the standard for adjudicating a motion for a stay of civil proceedings; moreover, unlike the decisions erroneously relied on by the court, Lee v. Harlow, Adams & Friedman, P.C. (116 Conn. App. 289) and Tyler v. Shenkman-Tyler (115 Conn. App. 521), which involved motions to stay proceedings before the court, this case involved the court attempting to enjoin a separate proceeding conducted by another government entity, thus, the court erred in applying a balancing of the equities test; furthermore, pursuant to Nosik v. Singe (40 F.3d 592), the proper standard to apply in a case involving a request to enjoin ongoing administrative disciplinary proceedings is the standard for adjudicating a temporary injunction, and, as the court made no findings as to whether the plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief, the case was remanded for the court to apply the correct standard and to make the requisite findings. Argued April 5—officially released December 7, 2021