Rivera v. Double A Transportation, Inc.

727 A.2d 204, 248 Conn. 21, 1999 Conn. LEXIS 56
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMarch 16, 1999
DocketSC 15972
StatusPublished
Cited by260 cases

This text of 727 A.2d 204 (Rivera v. Double A Transportation, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera v. Double A Transportation, Inc., 727 A.2d 204, 248 Conn. 21, 1999 Conn. LEXIS 56 (Colo. 1999).

Opinions

Opinion

KATZ, J.

The principal issues in this appeal are whether, in the absence of an allegation of physical injury: (1) General Statutes § 52-5841 applies to a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress; and (2) the trial court properly determined that the plaintiffs claim for false imprisonment is controlled by § 52-584. The trial court concluded that the two year statute of limitations provided by § 52-584 barred both the claims of the plaintiff. We affirm the judgment.

The record discloses the following undisputed facts. On October 14, 1994, the plaintiff, Alyssa Rivera,2 who was four years of age and developmentally delayed, was a passenger on a school bus owned and operated by the named defendant, Double A Transportation, Inc. (Double A). Double A transported the plaintiff to the Israel Putnam School, a facility operated by and under the direction of the defendant city of Meriden and the defendant board of education of the city of Meriden,3 [23]*23where she was enrolled in a special preschool program. The plaintiff remained on the bus after the other children had disembarked at the school. Neither the bus driver nor the school personnel searched the bus for remaining passengers. The driver then returned the bus to Double A’s parking lot in Wallingford, where he left it, once again neglecting to verify that the vehicle was empty of passengers. The plaintiff, who was unable to leave, remained on the bus for approximately three hours until Double A’s personnel discovered her.

On August 26, and August 27, 1997, on the basis of those events, the plaintiff brought a four count complaint alleging one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress and one count of false imprisonment against both Double A and the municipal defendants. As a result of the defendants’ conduct, the plaintiff allegedly suffered great emotional distress, posttrau-matic stress disorder, and aggravation of her developmental delays. The defendants moved for summary judgment, claiming that because the plaintiff had not commenced the action within the two year limitation period provided in § 52-584, the action was time barred. The plaintiff argued in response that because she had not sustained “bodily injuries,” the three year limitation period of General Statutes § 52-5774 should control. The trial court granted the defendants’ motions as they related to the two counts alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress, but denied the motions as they pertained to the two counts alleging false imprisonment. Following the defendants’ motion for reconsideration and reargument, the trial court granted the motions for summary judgment as to the false imprisonment counts, thereby rendering judgment on the entire complaint for the defendants.

[24]*24The plaintiff appealed the judgment of the trial court to the Appellate Court, and pursuant to Practice Book § 65-1, and General Statutes § 51-199 (c), this court transferred the appeal to itself.

I

The first issue requires an interpretation of the term “injury to the person” in § 52-584 and a concomitant determination of whether, in the absence of a claim for “physical injury,” the trial court properly applied § 52-584 in granting the defendants’ motions for summary judgment as to the two counts alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress.

“The standards governing our review of a trial court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment are well established. Practice Book § 384 [now § 17-49] provides that summary 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 that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. . . . Miller v. United Technologies Corp., 233 Conn. 732, 744-45, 660 A.2d 810 (1995). In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. . . . Id., 745. The party seeking summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue [of] material facts which, under applicable principles of substantive law, entitle him to a judgment as a matter of law; D.H.R. Construction Co. v. Donnelly, 180 Conn. 430, 434, 429 A.2d 908 (1980); and the party opposing such a motion must provide an evidentiary foundation to demonstrate the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Practice Book § 381 [now § 17-46]. . . . Suarez v. Dick-mont Plastics Corp., 229 Conn. 99, 105, 639 A.2d 507 (1994).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Hertz [25]*25Corp. v. Federal Ins. Co., 245 Conn. 374, 380-81, 374 A.2d 820 (1998).

In the present case, no affidavit or other proof was offered by the defendants in support of their motions. In deciding whether the trial court properly concluded that § 52-584 controls this case, we are confined solely to the complaint and to the statute under consideration. Because it is undisputed that the claims of negligent infliction of emotional distress allege only emotional injuries, our scope of inquiry in deciding whether physical injury is required in order for § 52-584 to apply is further limited.

Our analysis of this issue is guided by well established principles of statutory construction. “Statutory construction is a question of law and therefore our review is plenary.” Davis v. Norwich, 232 Conn. 311, 317, 654 A.2d 1221 (1995). “[0]ur fundamental objective is to ascertain and give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. ... In seeking to discern that intent, we look to the words of the statute itself, to the legislative history and circumstances surrounding its enactment, to the legislative policy it was designed to implement, and to its relationship to existing legislation and common law principles governing the same general subject matter. . . . State v. Burns, 236 Conn. 18, 22-23, 670 A.2d 851 (1996); State v. Spears, 234 Conn. 78, 86-87, 662 A.2d 80 (1995).” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Connecticut National Bank v. Giacomi, 242 Conn. 17, 32, 699 A.2d 101 (1997).

We examine first the words of the statute itself. “No action to recover damages for injury to the person, or to real or personal property, caused by negligence, or by reckless or wanton misconduct . . . shall be brought but within two years from the date when the injury is first sustained or discovered . . . .” General Statutes § 52-584. The word “injury” is not defined in [26]*26chapter 926 of the General Statutes, entitled “Statute of Limitations.” Section 52-584 uses the phrase “injury to a person” without limitation, and there is nothing in the statute to suggest the proposed limitation.

The legislative history is unfortunately somewhat deficient as it relates to what the legislature intended “injury to the person” to include. At the time of passage, the legislature was focused on the need for a time limit and the dangers inherent in allowing parties to bring stale claims. Conn. Joint Standing Committee Hearings, General Law, Pt. 1, 1957 Sess., p. 152. There are but two brief references to the inclusive nature of the term “injury”: “Of course this statute is not limited to automobile accident cases. It is concerned with any negligence action . . .

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Bluebook (online)
727 A.2d 204, 248 Conn. 21, 1999 Conn. LEXIS 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-double-a-transportation-inc-conn-1999.