Haynes v. City of Middletown

• Decision Date: 04 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. 19175.,19175.
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: Tracey HAYNES et al. v. CITY OF MIDDLETOWN.

314 Conn. 303

101 A.3d 249

Tracey HAYNES et al.

v.CITY OF MIDDLETOWN.

No. 19175.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued May 19, 2014.

Decided Nov. 4, 2014.

Hugh D. Hughes, with whom, on the brief, were William F. Gallagher, New Haven, and Mark A. Balaban, Middletown, for the appellants (plaintiffs).

Matthew Dallas Gordon, with whom were Nicholas N. Ouellette and, on the brief, Ruth A. Kurien, West Hartford, for the appellee (defendant).

ROGERS, C.J., and PALMER, ZARELLA, EVELEIGH, McDONALD and ESPINOSA, Js.

Opinion

ROGERS, C.J.

The primary issue that we must resolve in this certified appeal is whether the Appellate Court properly affirmed the judgment of the trial court setting aside the jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs on the ground that the plaintiffs failed to prove the imminent harm to identifiable persons exception to the defense of governmental immunity. The named plaintiff, Tracey Haynes, individually and as the parent and next friend of Jasmon Vereen, her then minor son,¹ brought this action alleging that Vereen had been injured when he was pushed into the jagged edge of a broken locker at Middletown High School (school). The defendant, the city of Middletown, raised the special defense that it was immune from liability pursuant to General Statutes § 52–557n (a)(2)(B).² The case was tried to a jury. After the plaintiffs rested their case, the defendant filed a motion for a directed verdict on the ground of governmental immunity. The plaintiffs opposed the motion on the ground that the exception to governmental immunity for acts or omissions that subject identifiable persons to imminent harm applied. The trial court deferred action on the defendant's motion until after the jury returned its verdict, but the court did not instruct the jury on the defendant's special defense of governmental immunity or the plaintiffs' claim that the exception applied. The jury ultimately returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. The defendant then filed a motion to set aside the verdict and to render judgment for the defendant on the ground of governmental immunity, which the trial court granted. The plaintiffs appealed to the Appellate Court, which affirmed the judgment of the trial court on the alternative ground that the plaintiffs had not pleaded the imminent harm to identifiable persons exception in its reply to the defendant's special defense. Haynes v. Middletown, 122 Conn.App. 72, 82, 997 A.2d 636 (2010). The plaintiffs then appealed to this court, which reversed the judgment of the Appellate Court and remanded the case to that court with direction to allow the parties to brief the issue on which the Appellate Court had resolved the appeal. Haynes v. Middletown, 306 Conn. 471, 475, 50 A.3d 880 (2012). On remand, the Appellate Court ordered the parties to submit supplemental briefs on that issue, but ultimately concluded that the trial court properly had concluded that there was insufficient evidence of imminent harm to Vereen on the basis of the arguments that the parties had originally presented on appeal. Haynes v. Middletown, 142 Conn.App. 720, 726–27, 66 A.3d 899 (2013). This court then granted the plaintiffs' petition for certification to appeal on the following issue: “Did the Appellate Court properly determine that the trial court judgment setting aside the jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs should be affirmed on the ground that the plaintiffs had not satisfied the identifiable person, imminent harm exception to governmental immunity?” Haynes v. Middletown, 309 Conn. 919, 919–20, 70 A.3d 1067 (2013). We conclude that, on the basis of the plaintiffs' evidence, a properly instructed jury reasonably could conclude that the defendant's conduct had subjected an identifiable person to imminent harm. We further conclude that, because the jury was not instructed that it was required to make this finding, the case must be remanded to the trial court for a new trial. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The opinion of the Appellate Court sets forth the following facts and procedural history. “On March 15, 2005, following their physical education class, Vereen and other students were changing their clothes in the boys' locker room. Although the school had informed students in writing that horseplay in the locker room was not permitted, Vereen and other students were engaged in horseplay at the time.³ Another student, Andre Francis, pushed Vereen into a locker with an exposed jagged and rusted edge. Vereen suffered a cut on his arm that left a scar. According to Vereen and Francis, the locker had been in a broken condition since the beginning of the school year.

“As a result of Vereen's injury, the plaintiffs commenced an action against the defendant seeking monetary damages. The plaintiffs alleged that Vereen was a student at the school who was in the locker room with other students on March 15, 2005, for a physical education class. They also alleged that there was a broken locker with an exposed jagged edge in the locker room and that the locker had been in that condition long enough for the exposed metal to have become rusty. Moreover, Vereen was injured when he was pushed into the broken locker during school hours. The complaint also alleged that the defendant and its agents, servants or employees were negligent, and that the action was being brought pursuant to ... § 52–557n. The defendant denied the plaintiffs' allegations of negligence and asserted the special defenses of governmental immunity and comparative negligence. The plaintiffs replied to the defendant's special defenses with a general denial.

“The case was tried to a jury in November, 2008. At the conclusion of the plaintiffs' case, the defendant filed a written motion for a directed verdict ‘on the ground that the plaintiffs had presented no evidence to show that the alleged actions of the defendant were governed by any policies or procedures, as alleged in their complaint. The defendant argued that the lack of any such evidence demonstrated that the alleged negligent actions were discretionary and not ministerial, and that the doctrine of discretionary governmental immunity therefore would bar the plaintiffs' recovery.’ Counsel for the plaintiffs acknowledged that the alleged negligent acts were discretionary in nature but that the identifiable person, imminent harm exception to governmental immunity applied because the condition of the locker presented an imminent harm to an identifiable class of victims, i.e., students in the locker room.⁴ The court reserved judgment on the defendant's motion for a directed verdict, and the defendant presented its case.

“None of the parties filed a request to charge with respect to governmental immunity or any exception thereto, and the [trial] court did not instruct the jury on those legal principles. On November 25, 2008, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Vereen, although it found him to have been 33 percent responsible for his injury. On December 2, 2008, the defendant filed a motion to set aside the verdict and to render judgment in its favor. After the parties had briefed the issue and presented the court with oral arguments, the court issued a memorandum of decision on March 31, 2009; see Practice Book § 16–38 ; in which the court granted the defendant's motion to set aside the verdict and rendered judgment in its favor.⁵

“The plaintiffs appealed to [the Appellate Court] claiming that ‘the [trial] court improperly set aside the verdict on the ground of governmental immunity because (1) the defendant waived that defense by failing to request a charge on municipal immunity and (2) there was sufficient evidence of imminent harm for the plaintiffs' claim to fall within the identifiable person, imminent harm exception to the immunity generally afforded municipalities for the negligent performance of discretionary acts.’ Haynes v. Middletown, supra, 122 Conn.App. at 73, 997 A.2d 636.” (Footnotes altered.) Haynes v. Middletown, supra, 142 Conn.App. at 723–25, 66 A.3d 899. The Appellate Court ultimately concluded that “the defendant did not waive its special defense of governmental immunity by failing to request a jury instruction and that the [trial] court properly determined that the plaintiffs had not produced sufficient evidence of imminent harm to prevail on the exception to governmental immunity for discretionary acts.” Id. at 726–27, 66 A.3d 899.

This certified appeal followed. The plaintiffs contend that the Appellate Court improperly determined that, as a matter of law, they had failed to prove that the defendant's conduct subjected an identifiable person to imminent harm. The plaintiffs further contend that, if this court concludes that the Appellate Court's determination was incorrect, this court must reinstate the jury verdict because the defendant waived its right to a jury determination on the issue when it failed to ask the trial court for a jury instruction on its governmental immunity defense. The defendant disputes the plaintiffs' first claim and contends that the second claim is not reviewable because it was not encompassed by the certified question. It further claims that, if the second claim is reviewable, it is meritless because it was the plaintiffs' obligation to ask the trial court for a jury instruction on the imminent harm to identifiable persons exception. We conclude that the Appellate Court improperly determined that, on the basis of the evidence that the plaintiffs presented at trial, no reasonable juror could find that the defendant's conduct had subjected an identifiable person to imminent harm. We further conclude that the issue of whether this court may reinstate the jury verdict or, instead, must remand the case to the trial court for a new trial is reviewable, and that the case must be remanded to the trial court for a new trial so that the fact finder may make the determination as to whether the defendant's conduct subjected identifiable persons...