Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)

Citation: Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)
Parent Document: Gordon v. Bridgeport Housing Authority, 208 Conn. 161 (1988)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 1988-07-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7893244/gordon-v-bridgeport-housing-authority/ ↗

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The plaintiff attempts to distinguish Shore by asserting that it was an appeal from a summary judgment *171based upon submitted evidence, and therefore the trial court sat as a factfinder in deciding a mixed question of law and fact. The plaintiffs distinctions are not persuasive and we conclude that the analysis in Shore controls this case. In Shore, we noted: “ ‘Negligence is a breach of duty.’ Urban v. Hartford Gas Co., 139 Conn. 301, 304, 93 A.2d 292 (1952). It is important to distinguish between the existence of a duty and the violation of that duty. The plaintiff argues that summary judgment is inappropriate in this area because there existed a genuine dispute as to the material facts relating to the extent of [a police officer’s] duty to the plaintiff’s decedent. The law does not recognize a ‘duty in the air.’ See Pollock, Torts (13th Ed.) 468; Winfield, ‘Duty in Tortious Negligence,’ 34 Colum. L. Rev. 41, 42 n.8 (1934). To sustain a cause of action, the court must determine whether the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiffs decedent; Coburn v. Lenox Homes, Inc., 186 Conn. 370, 375, 441 A.2d 620 (1982); and the applicable standard of care. Fidelity & Casualty Co. v. Constitution National Bank, 167 Conn. 478, 482, 356 A.2d 117 (1975). The existence of a duty is a question of law. Nolan v. The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co., 53 Conn. 461, 471, 4 A. 106 (1885); Winfield, supra, 43. Only if such a duty is found to exist does the trier of fact then determine whether the defendant violated that duty in the particular situation at hand. See Green, ‘The Duty Problem in Negligence Cases,’ 28 Colum. L. Rev. 1014, 1029-30 (1928).” Shore v. Stonington, supra, 151-52.

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