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 also asks this court to abrogate the public duty doctrine. The doctrine, described above, was announced in Leger v. Kelley, supra, and reaffirmed in Shore v. Stonington, supra. We recognize that the public duty doctrine has been abrogated by a number of jurisdictions. See, e.g., Adams v. State, 555 P.2d 235, 241-42 (Alaska 1976); Ryan v. State, 134 Ariz. 308, 310, 656 P.2d 597 (1982); Leake v. Cain, 720 P.2d 152, 158 (Colo. 1986); Brennan v. Eugene, 285 Or. 401, 409, 591 P.2d 719 (1979); Petersen v. State, 100 Wash. 2d 421, 432-33, 671 P.2d 230 (1983). As the defendants point out, however, a number of these jurisdictions had previously abolished governmental immunity and their courts held that a public/private duty distinction was *183merely a recreation of governmental immunity. See, e.g., Adams v. State, supra; Brennan v. Eugene, supra. In other jurisdictions, other doctrines remain in effect that limit liability for government officials. See, e.g., Leake v. Cain, supra (qualified immunity in effect); Petersen v. State, supra (traditional distinction between discretionary and ministerial acts remains); see also 18 E. McQuillin, supra, § 53.04b (“[t]he states which have rejected the public duty rule have done so at least in part, on the basis that the rule is in reality nothing more than a continuation of the abolished governmental immunity doctrine”). In contrast, Connecticut has not abolished governmental immunity. See General Statutes § 52-557n.

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