Waterbury v. Brennan

Citations

• 228 Conn. App. 206

Syllabus

The defendant, in her individual capacity and as the executrix of the estate of the decedent, the former fire chief of the plaintiff city, appealed from the judgment of the trial court rendered in favor of the plaintiff. The defendant claimed that the trial court improperly granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and improperly denied her motion for summary judg- ment. Held: The trial court properly granted the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, concluding that there was no genuine issue of material fact that the decedent, under the terms of his employment contract, was entitled to receive pension benefits under the collective bargaining agreement between the plaintiff and the plaintiff's municipal administrators association, rather than the collective bargaining agreement between the plaintiff and the firefighters union. In light of the record and the plain and unambiguous language in the dece- dent's employment contract, this court concluded that the trial court prop- erly denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment as no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether the plaintiff's retirement board possessed authority under the city charter to unilaterally confer a pension benefit on the decedent pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement with the firefighters union. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's motion for reargument and reconsideration on the ground that the defendant did not properly preserve her claim that the plaintiff was not permitted to utilize the decedent's pension benefits to offset heart and hypertension benefits due to him, and the defendant did not demonstrate that the trial court committed plain error. Argued February 5—officially released September 24, 2024