Watts v. Chittenden
Citation | 301 Conn. 575,22 A.3d 1214 |
Decision Date | 19 July 2011 |
Docket Number | No. 18474.,18474. |
Court | Supreme Court of Connecticut |
Parties | John D. WATTSv.Heather CHITTENDEN. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
James F. Sullivan, Hartford, with whom, on the brief, was Elizabeth S. Tanaka, for the appellant (plaintiff).Michael S. Hillis, New Haven, for the appellee (defendant).NORCOTT, PALMER, ZARELLA, McLACHLAN, EVELEIGH and VERTEFEUILLE, Js.EVELEIGH, J.
The plaintiff, John D. Watts, appeals, following our grant of his petition for certification, from the judgment of the Appellate Court, which reversed the judgment of the trial court awarding the plaintiff damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress on the part of the defendant, Heather Chittenden. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the Appellate Court improperly reversed the judgment of the trial court by concluding that the existence of an original duty must be established before applying the continuing course of conduct doctrine to toll the statute of limitations in a nonnegligence cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. We agree with the plaintiff and, accordingly, reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.
The Appellate Court opinion recites the following facts, as found by the trial court, and procedural history pertinent to the plaintiff's appeal. “The plaintiff and the defendant are former husband and wife. They were married in July, 1993; however, the defendant filed a dissolution of marriage action in the Superior Court in March, 1999. During the course of the marriage, the parties had two daughters, born in 1995 and 1996. Following the dissolution, the defendant was granted joint custody and visitation rights. Several days before the dissolution action was filed, the defendant transferred her children to a new pediatrician. Specifically, the children saw Janet Murphy, a nurse practitioner, whom the defendant, also a nurse practitioner, had met while a student in a class taught by Murphy on the subject of sexual molestation of children.
“Shortly thereafter, on January 19, 2000, the department received a report from Livia Orsis–Abdo, a physician in Southport, who stated that she had been told by the parties' youngest daughter that the plaintiff had abused her sexually. As a result, the investigation against the plaintiff was reopened once again. The police eventually concluded that there was no evidence to support the allegations against the plaintiff but that there was substantial evidence that the defendant had sexually abused her two daughters while telling them that it ‘was what daddy [did].’
Watts v. Chittenden, 115 Conn.App. 404, 406–408, 972 A.2d 770 (2009). In doing so, the trial court rejected the defendant's special defense that the plaintiff's cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations. Specifically, the trial court determined that the plaintiff's claim was based on a continuing course of conduct by the defendant and that this continuing course of conduct tolled the statute of limitations.1 The defendant then appealed from the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court.
On appeal to the Appellate Court, the defendant claimed, inter alia, that the trial court improperly concluded that the plaintiff's claim was not time barred because: (1) the plaintiff did not submit any evidence of actionable conduct within the period of time prescribed to bring a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (2) the continuing course of conduct doctrine does not serve to toll the applicable statute of limitations in this intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. Id., at 409, 972 A.2d 770. The Appellate Court agreed with the defendant, concluding that application of the continuing course of conduct doctrine “is premised necessarily on the existence of a duty in effect at the time of the original wrong.” Id., at 410, 972 A.2d 770. The Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the trial court concluding that the plaintiff had failed to prove the existence of a cognizable duty and that, “[i]n the absence of a breach of a cognizable duty ... the [trial] court improperly applied the continuing course of conduct doctrine to toll the statute of limitations.” Id., at 413, 972 A.2d 770.
Thereafter, the plaintiff sought certification to appeal from the judgment of the Appellate Court. We granted the plaintiff's petition for certification to appeal, limited to the following issues:
2 Watts v. Chittenden, 293 Conn. 932, 932–33, 981 A.2d 1077 (2009).
On appeal to this court, the plaintiff asserts that the Appellate Court improperly concluded that the existence of an original duty must be established before applying the continuing course of conduct doctrine to toll the statute of limitations in a nonnegligence cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that because duty is not an element of a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, it is...
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