Grasso v. Connecticut Hospice, Inc.

54 A.3d 221, 138 Conn. App. 759, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 480
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedOctober 23, 2012
DocketAC 33489
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 54 A.3d 221 (Grasso v. Connecticut Hospice, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grasso v. Connecticut Hospice, Inc., 54 A.3d 221, 138 Conn. App. 759, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 480 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion

ALVORD, J.

The plaintiff, Susane O. Grasso, appeals from the summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor of the defendants, Connecticut Hospice, Inc. (Hospice), and Rosemary J. Hurzeler, Rorrny J. Knight, David R. Goldfarb, Sandra J. Klimas, Susan Flarmigan, Nancy Baranowski and Michael Sweeney (individual defendants).1 On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly concluded that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to her claims (1) in contract, that Hospice breached the employee handbook and the settlement agreement, and (2) in tort, that the individual defendants were liable for both negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our disposition of the plaintiffs appeal. The plaintiff was an employee of Hospice from 1998 until April, 2010. In 2009, she filed two complaints against Hospice with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (administration) relating to defective chairs in the workplace. The administration ordered Hospice to repair any defective chairs. The [762]*762plaintiff claims that, in retaliation for filing the complaints, her work environment became hostile, she was subjected to relentless pressure to quit her job and her work duties changed. The plaintiff filed a complaint with the administration’s whistle-blower protection program, claiming retaliation and discrimination. In October, 2009, the administration determined that there existed reasonable cause that a violation of the whistle-blower statute had occurred.

On January 27,2010, Hospice and the plaintiff entered into a settlement agreement (agreement) with regard to the whistle-blower claim. The agreement stated that the plaintiff would work part-time in Hospice’s Branford and Shelton offices, that she would bring what she needed to complete her daily tasks with her to these locations and that she released Hospice from future claims resulting from events preceding the execution of the agreement. Approximately one week after the plaintiff signed the agreement, she sent notice to Hospice that it had breached the agreement. Hospice was unresponsive, so the plaintiff notified the administration of the alleged breach. The administration informed the plaintiff that it was unable to enforce the agreement and advised her to seek a venue for enforcement of the agreement if she thought that Hospice had breached it.

On July 16, 2010, the plaintiff filed a six count complaint in Superior Court alleging (1) violation of the state whistle-blower statute, General Statutes § 31-51m, (2) violation of the first amendment to the United States constitution and article first, §§ 3, 4 and 14, of the Connecticut constitution, (3) breach of the settlement agreement, (4) breach of Hospice’s employee handbook, (5) negligent infliction of emotional distress and (6) intentional infliction of emotional distress.2 The [763]*763defendants filed counterclaims alleging that the release of claims provision of the agreement (release provision) released the defendants from liability with respect to the claims alleged in all six counts of the plaintiffs complaint. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the six counts of the plaintiffs complaint and on their counterclaims seeking declaratory relief.

The parties argued the summary judgment motion on March 28, 2011. In a memorandum of decision filed April 28, 2011, the court, Burke, J., determined that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to any of the six claims and rendered summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the six counts of the complaint. With respect to the counterclaims, the court concluded that the release provision barred the plaintiffs claims in the first, second and fourth counts of the complaint, and therefore rendered summary judgment in favor of the defendants with regard to those counts. This appeal followed.

On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improperly rendered summary judgment in favor of the defendants because a genuine issue of material fact existed with respect to the language of the agreement and the circumstances surrounding the termination of her employment and her treatment in the workplace. She argues that Hospice and the individual defendants violated the clause of the settlement agreement that stated that the agreement would “not provide [the plaintiff] any greater or lesser rights or privileges than other employee[s] of Hospice.” She also argues that the release provision does not bar her breach of contract claim with regard to the employee handbook. Finally, the plaintiff argues that the individual defendants’ specific acts in the month following the signing of the settlement agreement caused her severe emotional distress, amounting to a constructive termination of employment.

[764]*764We first set forth the applicable legal principles. “The law governing summary judgment and the accompanying standard of review are well settled. Practice Book § [17-49] requires that judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. A material fact is a fact that will make a difference in the result of the case. . . . The facts at issue are those alleged in the pleadings.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Rockwell v. Quintner, 96 Conn. App. 221, 227, 899 A.2d 738, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 917, 908 A.2d 538 (2006). “Thus, because the court’s decision on a motion for summary judgment is a legal determination, our review on appeal is plenary . . . .” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Heussner v. Day, Berry & Howard, LLP, 94 Conn. App. 569, 572-73, 893 A.2d 486, cert. denied, 278 Conn. 912, 899 A.2d 38 (2006).

I

The first set of claims asserted by the plaintiff on appeal concerns acts by Hospice that she alleges constituted a breach of the employee handbook and the agreement. “A contract must be construed to effectuate the intent of the parties, which is determined from the language used interpreted in the light of the situation of the parties and the circumstances connected with the transaction. . . . [T]he intent of the parties is to be ascertained by a fair and reasonable construction of the written words and . . . the language used must be accorded its common, natural, and ordinary meaning and usage where it can be sensibly applied to the subject matter of the [writing]. . . .

“Where the language of the [writing] is clear and unambiguous, the [writing] is to be given effect according to its terms. A court will not torture words [765]*765to import ambiguity where the ordinary meaning leaves no room for ambiguity .... Similarly, any ambiguity in a [written instrument] must emanate from the language used in the [writing] rather than from one party’s subjective perception of the terms. ... If a contract is unambiguous within its four comers, the determination of what the parties intended by their contractual commitments is a question of law.” (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Murtha v. Hartford, 303 Conn.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
54 A.3d 221, 138 Conn. App. 759, 2012 Conn. App. LEXIS 480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grasso-v-connecticut-hospice-inc-connappct-2012.