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Tort Law Appellate Court Opinion

by Roy, Christopher

 

AC42567 - Doe v. Flanigan ("This appeal arises out of an incident in which a third party, Charles Fullenwiley, assaulted the plaintiff, John Doe, by placing a sex toy against his buttocks after the named defendant, Stephen Flanigan, at the time a police officer employed by the defendant city of Waterbury, allegedly pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him. The plaintiff appeals from the summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of the defendant on the fourth count of the plaintiff's second amended complaint, which alleged that, pursuant to General Statutes ยง 52-557n, the defendant was liable to the plaintiff for the injuries he sustained arising out of Flanigan's negligent conduct. The fourth count of the plaintiff's complaint incorporated the allegations of the third count, which alleged that Flanigan acted negligently when he (1) pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him, (2) failed to protect the plaintiff from Fullenwiley's assault, and (3) failed to report Fullenwiley's assault. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court erred in concluding that there were no genuine issues of material fact as to whether (1) Flanigan engaged in wilful, rather than negligent, misconduct when he pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him, and (2) the identifiable victim subject to imminent harm exception to governmental immunity did not apply to the plaintiff's allegation that Flanigan failed to protect the plaintiff from being sexually assaulted by Fullenwiley. Additionally, the defendant argues that we can affirm the judgment of the trial court on the alternative ground that Flanigan was not acting within the scope of his employment, and, therefore, the defendant could not be liable.

As to the first issue raised by the plaintiff, we conclude that there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether Flanigan's conduct was wilful or negligent. We also reject the defendant's claimed alternative ground for affirmance because there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether Flanigan, in fact, was acting within the scope of his employment when he pushed the plaintiff to the ground and handcuffed him. As to the second issue raised by the plaintiff, we conclude that the court improperly rendered summary judgment on a ground not argued before it. Consequently, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.")