Section 4-61dd

Citation: Section 4-61dd
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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important information . . . in order to protect the pub-
         lic tax dollar and the proper running of our govern-
         ment.’’ 45 H.R. Proc., Pt. 9, 2002 Sess., p. 2857, remarks
         of Representative James A. O’Rourke III; see Conn. Joint
         Standing Committee Hearings, Government Adminis-
         tration and Elections, Pt. 1, 2002 Sess., p. 119, remarks
         of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (bill is ‘‘designed
         to promote law enforcement against waste and corrup-
         tion in government by providing protection for people
         who risk their careers and livelihoods to come for-
         ward’’). The legislature’s goal was to create an alterna-
         tive forum for whistleblower retaliation claims; accord-
         ingly, it is only a whistleblower retaliation claim that
         triggers the alternative remedy scheme under § 4-61dd.
            We conclude that the alternative remedies enumer-
         ated in § 4-61dd (e) (2) (A) and (3) operate indepen-
         dently, in that the filing of a grievance under § 4-61dd
         (e) (3) on a ground other than whistleblower retaliation
         is not a ground for precluding an employee from bring-
         ing a whistleblower retaliation complaint before the
         commission pursuant to § 4-61dd (e) (2) (A).
            Our holding in Dept. of Transportation v. White Oak
         Corp., supra, 287 Conn. 1, is not to the contrary. We
         held in White Oak Corp. that the waiver of sovereign
         immunity set forth in General Statutes § 4-61, which
         waives the state’s sovereign immunity with respect to
         certain claims arising under public works contracts,
         requires all existing disputed claims arising under a
         public works contract to be litigated or arbitrated in a
         single action. Id., 2–4, 6. This court reasoned that, ‘‘[i]n
         light of the ambiguous language of the statute, and
         the dearth of any extratextual evidence indicating an
         affirmative legislative intent to enact a blanket waiver
         of sovereign immunity permitting a contractor to file
         multiple actions against the state, we are constrained
         to conclude that § 4-61 waives the state’s sovereign
         immunity only with respect to a single action or arbi-
Page 24                   CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                       June 11, 2024

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