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TEDESCO v. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION11/22/1994
The plaintiff, Ruth Tedesco, appeals from the judgment of the trial court granting the defendant department of transportation's motion to dismiss a personal injury suit brought pursuant to General Statutes § 13a-144. The plaintiff claims that the trial court improperly found as a matter of law that the plaintiff did not provide the defendant with sufficient notice as required by General Statutes § 13a-144.
The following facts are relevant to this appeal. On April 13, 1990, the plaintiff allegedly suffered injuries as a result of a fall due to a hole in the sidewalk on a bridge in downtown Torrington. On May 7, 1990, she provided notice of this incident to the defendant as required by General Statutes § 13a-144. In her letter of notice, the plaintiff stated that she had fallen because of a hole in the "sidewalk on Route 202, on April 13, 1990, at approximately 11:30 a.m. in the Town of Torrington at the bridge known as `the Center Bridge' while walking north on the eastern side of said bridge, in the area adjacent to the Downtown Torrington Shopping Center." Attached to the notice, and made part thereof, was a copy of a police report relating to the incident. The police report included a statement by the plaintiff which indicated that she "left Dunkin' Donuts and started to walk north on the Center Bridge when tripped on a hole in the sidewalk located on the bridge." The notice also reported that both the plaintiff's
attorney and the Torrington police had taken photographs of the accident scene and that these photographs would be available to the defendant upon request.
The plaintiff subsequently brought a civil action against the defendant in connection with this incident. The defendant moved to dismiss the suit on the ground that the notice was defective and the trial court granted the motion. In granting the defendant's motion to dismiss, the court found that the description provided by the notice letter of May 7, 1990, patently failed to provide the general description of the injury , its cause, and the place and time as required by § 13a-144. This appeal followed.
The plaintiff urges this court to reverse the trial court's dismissal of the complaint. She correctly notes that the sufficiency of notice "is to be tested with reference to the purpose for which it is required"; Morico v. Cox, 134 Conn. 218, 223, 56 A.2d 522 (1947); and argues that the notice given in this case satisfies the purpose of providing "such warning as would prompt [the defendant] to make such inquiries as he might deem necessary or prudent for the preservation of his interests, and such information as would furnish him a reasonable guide in the conduct of such inquiries, and in obtaining such information as he might deem helpful for his protection." Greene v. Ives, 25 Conn. Sup. 356, 358-59, 204 A.2d 412 (1964), quoting Cassidy v. Southbury, 86 Conn. 45, 49, 84 A. 291 (1912); see also Warkentin v. Burns, 223 Conn. 14, 20, 610 A.2d 1287 (1992); Morico v. Cox, supra, 223. We agree with the plaintiff's analysis.
In Lussier v. Dept. of Transportation, 228 Conn. 343, 636 A.2d 808 (1994), our Supreme Court reiterated the legal standard against which notice of a claim pursuant to § 13a-144 is to be measured. "The notice need not
be expressed with the fullness and exactness of a pleading. . . . he notice must provide sufficient information as to the injury and the cause thereof and the time and place of its occurrence to permit the commissioner to gather information about the case intelligently." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 356-57. " easonable definiteness is all that can be expected or should be required." (Internal quotation mar
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