Ward v. Greene

• Decision Date: 03 February 2004
• Docket Number: (SC 16883).
• Citation: 839 A.2d 1259,267 Conn. 539
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: PATRICE WARD v. KATHY GREENE ET AL.

267 Conn. 539

839 A.2d 1259

PATRICE WARD v. KATHY GREENE ET AL.

(SC 16883).

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued March 20, 2003.

Officially released February 3, 2004.

Sullivan, C. J., and Katz, Palmer, Vertefeuille and Zarella, Js.¹

Joseph A. Moniz, for the appellant (plaintiff).

Linda L. Morkan, with whom, on the brief, were Theodore J. Tucci and Deirdre A. Devaney, for the appellee (defendant Village for Families and Children, Inc.).

Opinion

ZARELLA, J.

The plaintiff, Patrice Ward, individually and in her capacity as administratrix of the estate of Raegan McBride, brought an action against several defendants including the Village for Families and Children, Inc.,² to recover for, inter alia, the wrongful death of McBride, as authorized by General Statutes § 52-555 (a).³ The plaintiff appeals from the judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of the defendant after it granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff's wrongful death cause of action. The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the defendant owed McBride a duty of care by virtue of General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) § 17a-101.⁴ We conclude that the trial court properly determined that the defendant did not owe a duty of care to McBride. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to this appeal. The defendant is a private, nonprofit organization that contracts with individuals to provide foster care and, prior to 1995, day care to children in need. The defendant contracted with Kathy Greene to provide day care and foster care. In August, 1995, the defendant ended its contract with Greene as a day care provider because it eliminated its day care program. The defendant did, however, continue its contract with Greene as a foster care provider.

Although the record does not indicate what, if any, interest the defendant had in Greene's day care operation prior to ending its day care contract with Greene in 1995, the record does indicate that after the defendant ended its contract with Greene as a day care provider, the defendant: (1) had no ownership interest in Greene's day care facility; (2) did not refer or direct children to Greene's day care operation; (3) did not pay Greene for the operation of her day care program; (4) did not supervise Greene in the operation of her day care program; and (5) did not investigate to determine Greene's qualifications to be licensed as a day care provider, or to determine whether her license should be renewed. The state department of public health (public health) was responsible for licensing Greene as a day care provider.

In 1996, the plaintiff sought the services of a day care provider for McBride. The plaintiff learned from a friend that Greene provided day care services out of her home. The plaintiff contacted the public health hotline to determine whether Greene was a qualified day care provider and to see whether any complaints had been made against Greene as a day care provider. The plaintiff was informed by public health that there was nothing in the state's file other than a report that one child had fallen off a bicycle while in Greene's care. In January, 1997, Greene began providing full-time day care services to McBride. While McBride was attending Greene's day care program, Greene remained a licensed foster care provider for the defendant. Thereafter, on February 24, 1997, McBride suffered a head injury while in Greene's care. McBride was taken to a hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead upon her arrival. Edward McDonough, deputy medical examiner for the state, ruled that McBride's death was a homicide. On September 22, 1999, Greene was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree.

Thereafter, the plaintiff brought an action against several defendants for damages arising out of McBride's death. The plaintiff claims that the defendant is liable under the wrongful death statute, § 52-555, for damages arising out of McBride's death. The defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that it was not liable under § 52-555 because it did not owe a duty of care to McBride. During the course of oral argument on the defendant's motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff's counsel was asked repeatedly to provide a basis for any duty of care owed to McBride by the defendant. The plaintiff's counsel stated that the duty arose by virtue of § 17a-101, the statute providing for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse. Acting on the premise that the plaintiff properly alleged a violation of § 17a-101, the trial court went on to determine whether the defendant owed McBride a duty of care under that statute.⁵

The trial court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff's wrongful death claim on the basis of its determination that the defendant did not owe a duty of care to McBride under § 17a-101. The trial court reasoned that the class of persons that § 17a-101 was intended to protect is limited to identifiable victims, which the court defined as children who have reported abuse or neglect or about whom reports of abuse or neglect have been made to mandated reporters. Thus, the trial court determined that, since there was no relationship between the defendant and McBride and the defendant had no knowledge that Greene was abusing McBride, McBride was not within the class of persons that § 17a-101 was intended to protect. The plaintiff appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice Book § 65-1.

Prior to addressing the plaintiff's claim, we address our standard of review. "The standard of review of a trial court's decision granting summary judgment is well established. Practice Book § 17-49 provides that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.... The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and that the party is, therefore, entitled to judgment as a matter of law.... Our review of the trial court's decision to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment is plenary." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Gould v. Mellick & Sexton, 263 Conn. 140, 146, 819 A.2d 216 (2003).

The plaintiff claims on appeal that the trial court improperly failed to recognize that a public policy exists in this state creating a private cause of action for an aggrieved individual where a mandated reporter fails to report instances of suspected child abuse to designated officials or agencies. At oral argument before this court, the plaintiff clarified that her cause of action properly is characterized as a wrongful death cause of action under § 52-555, not a private cause of action under § 17a-101.⁶ The plaintiff further clarified that § 17a-101 merely establishes the duty of care owed to McBride by the defendant. The plaintiff contends that the public policy statement set forth in § 17a-101 (a), "to protect children whose health and welfare may be adversely affected through injury and neglect," together with the mandatory reporting provisions set forth in § 17a-101 (b), creates a duty of care that extends to children situated similarly to McBride.⁷

As a preliminary matter, we address the defendant's claim that this court should decline to review the plaintiff's claim on the ground that it was inadequately briefed. We recognize that "we are not required to review issues that have been improperly presented to this court through an inadequate brief.... Analysis, rather than mere abstract assertion, is required in order to avoid abandoning an issue by failure to brief the issue properly." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Gangemi v. Zoning Board of Appeals, 255 Conn. 143, 179, 763 A.2d 1011 (2001). Nevertheless, while the plaintiff has failed to analyze in depth the issues presented, she has directed our attention to the plain language of § 17a-101 as a source for the claimed duty. In the exercise of our discretion, therefore, we review the plaintiff's claim.

We now review the law regarding a wrongful death cause of action. "The elements of a cause of action... for a wrongful death are clear from the explicit language of the statute, which as a statute in derogation of the common law is limited to matters clearly within its scope.... The plaintiff must prove not only a violation of a standard of care as a wrongful act, but also a causal relationship between the injury and the resulting death. A causal relation between the defendant's wrongful conduct and the plaintiff's injuries is a fundamental element without which a plaintiff has no case.... If the chain of causation of the damage, when traced from the beginning to the end, includes an act or omission which, even if wrongful or negligent, is or becomes of no consequence in the results or so trivial as to be a mere incident of the operating cause, it is not such a factor as will impose liability for those results." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Grody v. Tulin, 170 Conn. 443, 448-49, 365 A.2d 1076 (1976).

A wrongful death cause of action, therefore, requires that the party seeking relief allege an underlying theory of legal fault and that such fault is the proximate cause of the injury. Id. In the present case, the plaintiff alleged the following material allegations in support of her wrongful death cause of action. The plaintiff alleged that: (1) Greene had a contractual agreement with the defendant to provide foster care services; (2) the defendant had received numerous reports that Greene physically...