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CONWAY v. WILTON9/12/1995
The plaintiff, Amy Jeanne Conway, brought an action against the town of Wilton (town), David Dixon and the Connecticut Association of Secondary Schools (association), for personal injuries sustained while participating in a state high school tennis tournament on premises owned by the town and sponsored by the association. The trial court granted the defendants' motions for summary judgment, ruling that they were
immune from liability pursuant to the Connecticut Recreational Land Use Act, General Statutes § 52-557f et seq.
On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the trial court improperly granted the motions for summary judgment because (1) the act as applied to the plaintiff violates
article first, § 10, of the Connecticut constitution, (2) the association owed a duty to the plaintiff that is independent of the act, and (3) Dixon and the town failed to make the premises "available to the public," and, therefore, are not entitled to statutory immunity. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
"The standard for appellate review of a trial court's decision to grant a summary judgment motion is well established. Practice Book § 384 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. Connecticut Bank & Trust Co. v. Carriage Lane Associates, 219 Conn. 772, 780-81, 595 A.2d 334 (1991); Lees v. Middlesex Ins. Co., 219 Conn. 644, 650, 594 A.2d 952 (1991). Although the party seeking summary
judgment has the burden of showing the nonexistence of any material fact; D.H.R. Construction Co. v. Donnelly, 180 Conn. 430, 434, 429 A.2d 908 (1980); a party opposing summary judgment must substantiate its adverse claim by showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact, together with the evidence disclosing the existence of such an issue. Practice Book §§ 380, 381; Burns v. Hartford Hospital, [192 Conn. 451, 455, 472 A.2d 1257 (1984)]. In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Town Bank & Trust Co. v. Benson, 176 Conn. 304, 309, 407 A.2d 971 (1978). Strada v. Connecticut Newspapers, Inc., 193 Conn. 313, 317, 477 A.2d 1005 (1984). The test is whether a party would be entitled to a directed verdict on the same facts. Batick v. Seymour, 186 Conn. 632, 647, 443 A.2d 471 (1982)." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) New Milford Savings Bank v. Roina, 38 Conn. App. 240, 243-44, 659 A.2d 1226 (1995).
The facts, as viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, are as follows. On June 9, 1986, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (conference) held a championship tennis tournament for high school girls at the Wilton High School tennis courts>. No fee was charged for the use of the tennis courts>. During the tennis tournament, the plaintiff, a competitor in the tournament, fell because of an alleged defect in the courts> and sustained serious injuries to her knee and ankle. In her personal injury action, the plaintiff alleged that the proximate cause of her injuries was the negligence of Dixon and his staff in maintaining the tennis courts> and the negligence of the association in selecting the allegedly faulty court for the tournament.
I
We first address the plaintiff's claim that the recreational use statute violates the "open courts>" provision of article first, § 10, of the Connecticut constitution. She asserts that, " f viewed as a limitation on the right to r
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