Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)

Citation: Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)
Parent Document: Dept. of Public Health v. Estrada, 349 Conn. 223 (2024)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 2024-06-11
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10131752/dept-of-public-health-v-estrada/ ↗

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McDONALD, J. In this whistleblower retaliation
       action, the named defendant, Juanita Estrada, who was
       employed by the plaintiff, the Department of Public
       Health (department), claims that she made a protected
       whistleblower disclosure; see General Statutes (Rev. to
       2017) § 4-61dd;1 when she notified her supervisor that
       (1) the acting director of health for the city of Hartford
       did not have a master’s degree as he had represented
       on his resume, and (2) she had not confirmed his cre-
       dentials at the time of his appointment. A human rights
       referee (referee) with the Office of Public Hearings
       of the defendant Commission on Human Rights and
       Opportunities (commission) concluded that Estrada’s
       disclosure constituted a protected whistleblower dis-
       closure. On appeal, the trial court concluded, among
       other things, that Estrada’s disclosure to her supervisor
       did not constitute a whistleblower disclosure pursuant
       to § 4-61dd and that the commission lacked subject
       matter jurisdiction to adjudicate Estrada’s complaint
       because she had brought the same adverse personnel
       actions at issue through the grievance procedures in
       her collective bargaining agreement. The commission
       appealed to the Appellate Court, which held that the
       trial court had incorrectly determined that the commis-
       sion lacked subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate
       Estrada’s whistleblower retaliation complaint. See
         1
           Hereinafter, all references to § 4-61dd are to the 2017 revision of the
       statute.
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