The mission of the Connecticut Judicial Branch is to serve the interests of justice and the public by resolving matters brought before it in a fair, timely, efficient and open manner.

Tort Law Appellate Court Opinion

by Booth, George

 

AC45249 - Ahern v. Board of Education (Negligence; summary judgment; final judgments; governmental immunity pursuant to statute (§ 52-557n); indemnification pursuant to statute (§ 10-235); "The plaintiff, Nicole Ahern, a former student of Coginchaug Regional High School (high school) and a former member of the high school's cheerleading squad, brought this action against the defendants, the Board of Education of Regional School District Number 13 (board); Kathryn Y. Veronesi, the superintendent of Regional School District Number 13; Paula Murphy, the high school's head cheerleading coach; and Marissa Barletta, the high school's assistant cheerleading coach. The plaintiff alleged that, due to the negligence of the defendants and the board, she was injured while attempting a stunt during the high school's cheerleading practice. The plaintiff appeals from the partial summary judgment the trial court rendered in favor of the defendants and the board on the ground that governmental immunity barred certain counts of the action.

The plaintiff claims on appeal that the court improperly rendered summary judgment because there are genuine issues of material fact as to whether she was subject to imminent and apparent harm and was an identifiable individual pursuant to the identifiable person-imminent harm exception to governmental immunity. After oral argument, this court ordered the parties to file supplemental briefs addressing whether this appeal should be dismissed, in part, for the lack of a final judgment as to the board because the trial court did not dispose of all of the counts brought against it.

We conclude that (1) the summary judgment rendered with respect to some, but not all, counts of the complaint brought against the board is not an appealable final judgment as to the board, and (2) the court properly rendered summary judgment in favor of Veronesi, Murphy, and Barletta on the ground that they are entitled to governmental immunity because there is no genuine issue of material fact that the plaintiff was not subject to imminent and apparent harm. Accordingly, we dismiss the plaintiff's appeal as it pertains to the board and affirm the court's judgment in favor of Veronesi, Murphy, and Barletta.")