Desmond v. Yale-New Haven Hosp., Inc.
Decision Date | 03 May 2022 |
Docket Number | AC 44180, (AC 44181), (AC 44182) |
Citation | 212 Conn.App. 274,275 A.3d 735 |
Parties | Sandhya DESMOND v. YALE-NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL, INC., et al. |
Court | Connecticut Court of Appeals |
Eric M. Desmond, Shelton, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Phyllis M. Pari, New Haven, for the appellee (named defendant).
Bright, C.J., and Alvord and Norcott, Js.
In these consolidated actions, the plaintiff, Sandhya Desmond, a former employee of the defendant Yale-New Haven Hospital, Inc.,1 appeals from the judgments of the trial court rendered following the granting of the defendant's motions to strike her complaints. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court incorrectly construed her claims as alleging bad faith processing of a workers’ compensation claim rather than as claims made pursuant to General Statutes § 31-290a and, therefore, erred in determining that her claims were barred by the exclusivity provision of the Workers’ Compensation Act (act), General Statutes § 31-275 et seq. We disagree and, therefore, affirm the judgments of the trial court.
We begin with the relevant portions of the lengthy procedural history of these actions, which is set forth in part in this court's decision in Desmond v. Yale-New Haven Hospital, Inc. , 138 Conn. App. 93, 50 A.3d 910, cert. denied, 307 Conn. 942, 58 A.3d 258 (2012) ( Desmond I ). "[T]he plaintiff was an employee of the [defendant]. On December 30, 2004, she was injured in the course of her employment. According to the plaintiff, she suffered a spill-related fall while at work and subsequently was diagnosed with bilateral, acute posttraumatic carpal tunnel
injuries. Her physicians have advised her that, absent medical treatment, she permanently will be unable to use her hands.
2
(Footnote added.) Id., at 95–96, 50 A.3d 910.
Following the defendant's filing of a motion to dismiss, the court, relying on our Supreme Court's decision in DeOliveira v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. , 273 Conn. 487, 870 A.2d 1066 (2005) ( ), dismissed the action on the ground "that the plaintiff's claims did not allege conduct that was sufficiently egregious to remove the claims from the exclusive jurisdiction of the commission."3 Desmond I , supra, 138 Conn. App. at 96, 50 A.3d 910. The plaintiff thereafter appealed to this court. Id.
On appeal in Desmond I , this court held that, despite the labels the plaintiff placed on her claims, Id., at 102, 50 A.3d 910. Accordingly, this court in Desmond I affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing the plaintiff's action. See id., at 105, 50 A.3d 910.
Following our decision in Desmond I , the plaintiff, in August, 2013, brought a new action (2013 action) against the defendant. This court, in Desmond v. Yale-New Haven Hospital, Inc. , 181 Conn. App. 201, 185 A.3d 665, cert. denied, 330 Conn. 902, 191 A.3d 1001 (2018) ( Desmond II ), set forth additional procedural history related to the 2013 action. "On October 3, 2013, the plaintiff filed her [first] amended complaint ... wherein she again set forth ten counts against the [defendant], claiming statutory theft, common-law fraud, violation of CUTPA, breach of contract and statutory negligence. The [defendant] moved to strike all of the plaintiff's claims on the ground, inter alia, that they are barred by the exclusivity provision of the act, and thus that the trial court had no jurisdiction over them. The plaintiff filed an objection, arguing, inter alia, that her claims were not barred by the exclusivity of the act. ...
(Footnote omitted.) Id., at 205–207, 185 A.3d 665. The plaintiff objected to the defendant's request to revise. Id., at 207, 185 A.3d 665.
Id., at 209, 185 A.3d 665. The plaintiff then appealed. Id.
In Desmond II , this court declined to review the plaintiff's appellate claim that the trial court erred in determining that her claims were barred by the exclusivity of the act, concluding that the claim was inadequately briefed. See id., at 213, 185 A.3d 665. This court did determine, however, that the trial court "considered the wrong complaint when it denied the plaintiff's request for leave to amend" her substitute complaint in order to add a claim for retaliatory discrimination under § 31-290a, and, therefore, this court reversed the judgment in part and remanded the case for further proceedings on her request to amend the complaint and the defendant's objection thereto. Id., at 215, 185 A.3d 665.
In the meantime, in 2015, and later, in 2016, the plaintiff filed two additional actions (2015 and 2016 actions) against the defendant arising from the same conduct, both captioned as seeking relief pursuant to § 31-290a.
On remand from Desmond II , on October 19, 2018, the court, Young, J. , issued a memorandum of decision in which it granted the plaintiff's request for leave to amend her complaint in the 2013 action to add retaliation and discrimination claims under § 31-290a. In the same memorandum of decision, the...
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Desmond v. Yale-New Haven Hosp., Inc.
...M. Pari, New Haven, in opposition.The plaintiff's petition for certification to appeal from the Appellate Court, 212 Conn. App. 274, 275 A.3d 735, is denied. ECKER, J., did not participate in the consideration of or decision on this ...