§ 31-51bb — Right of employee to pursue cause of action.

No employee shall be denied the right to pursue, in a court of competent jurisdiction, a cause of action arising under the state or federal Constitution or under a state statute solely because the employee is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this section shall be construed to give an employee the right to pursue a cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for breach of any provision of a collective bargaining agreement or other claims dependent upon the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement.

Legislative History

(P.A. 88-275, S. 1.) Permits employee, despite prior voluntary submission of a related claim to final arbitration under collective bargaining agreement, to pursue statutory cause of action in Superior Court. 226 C. 475. Cited. 229 C. 801; 236 C. 421. Section does not create independent right to jury determination of damages when it is unclear that any litigant has such a right. 278 C. 692. Although collective bargaining agreement was relevant to degree of economic losses suffered by plaintiff, her indemnification claim was authorized by statute, Sec. 53-39a, and she was not required to exhaust administrative remedies prior to bringing action. 300 C. 708. The phrase “in a court of competent jurisdiction” was not intended to specify the forum in which an employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement may vindicate the right to raise a statutory claim in an agency, but was intended to make clear that the procedures provided for in a collective bargaining agreement would not be the exclusive vehicle by which employees covered by that agreement may vindicate their statutory and constitutional rights; Compensation Review Board correctly determined that section permitted plaintiff to file a claim with the Workers' Compensation Commission pursuant to Sec. 31-290a, despite the fact that the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration had issued an adverse decision on a similar claim in the arbitration proceeding brought pursuant to plaintiff's collective bargaining agreement. 329 C. 366.