580 A.2d 549 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1990
The defendant commissioner of transportation (commissioner) has moved to dismiss the plaintiff's action against him on the ground of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Practice Book § 143(1). The action stems from a fall the plaintiff allegedly sustained on a public sidewalk in the city of Meriden. The action against the commissioner is based on the so-called defective highway statute, General Statutes §
The commissioner's attack on the action is two-pronged: he alleges, first, that the statutory notice is insufficient as a matter of law, and, second, that the action was not commenced within the two year period mandated under the statute.
The plaintiff's position is that the statutory requirement of notice has been met, and that, although she was late by one day in the service of process, she is absolved of any resulting consequences under General Statutes §
"It is well established that the state is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued by appropriate legislation waiving sovereign immunity in certain prescribed cases." Duguay v. Hopkins,
Section
An examination of the plaintiff's written notice reveals the claimed cause of her injuries to be a defective and improper condition of the sidewalk, located "adjacent to the front of the premises known as 243 West Main Street, Meriden, Connecticut."
A description of the cause of injuries as a defective and improper condition on a sidewalk in front of a street address, which may well encompass a broad area, clearly lacks the specificity to permit a respondent's intelligent inquiry. In short, the court finds that the notice fails to pass the threshold test of validity in that it is patently vague as to both the cause and the place of the injury. Zotta v. Burns,
The giving of the required statutory notice is a condition precedent to the plaintiff's action against the state; Ozmun v. Burns,
Section
The plaintiff's argument that the two year limitation period may be extended through compliance with the provisions of §
"From a very early date in this state the time when the action is regarded as having been brought is the date of service of the writ upon the defendant." ConsolidatedMotor Lines, Inc. v. M M TransportationCo.,
For the reasons stated above, the commissioner's motion to dismiss is granted on both grounds.