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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

§ 46a-58

Citation
§ 46a-58
Parent Document
Connecticut Judicial Branch v. Gilbert, 343 Conn. 90 (2022)
Jurisdiction
Connecticut (state)
Effective Date
2022-04-26

Other Sections in This Document (128)

Full Text

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Moreover, it is clear from the record that the referee
          did not consider the complainant’s conduct to be egre-
          gious or in bad faith. The complainant made various
          efforts to find a compromise that would satisfy the
          branch’s requests while preserving her medical privacy.
          See footnote 28 of this opinion. When those efforts
          failed, she was given a choice by the referee that allowed
          her to refuse production of the medical records without
          violating the court order. For these reasons, we cannot
          affirm the judgment of the trial court simply vacating
          altogether the award of emotional distress damages, a
          result that effectively substituted a severe sanction for
          the more moderate ruling made by the referee with
          oversight responsibility in the proceedings.
                                               C
             We do agree with the branch, however, that the ref-
          eree improperly admitted testimony that went beyond
          mere garden-variety emotional distress, in seeming vio-
          lation of her own rulings. We cannot conclude on this
          record that such error was harmless.
             The precise contours of what counts as garden-vari-
          ety emotional distress have not been litigated in the
          present case. See footnote 25 of this opinion. Even if
          we were to construe the concept expansively, however,
          testimony regarding a complainant’s use of medications
          or counseling and other medical treatment crosses the
          line into treatment related emotional distress and, thus,
          places her medical history at issue. See, e.g., Ruhlmann
          v. Dept. of Social Services, 194 F.R.D. 445, 449–50
          (N.D.N.Y. 2000). As we discussed, in at least four
          instances, the referee allowed the complainant or her
          husband to testify, over the objections of the branch, as
          to her use of various over-the-counter and prescription
          grounds. See id., 1350 (Tamm, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).
          We are not aware of any appellate court to have followed UAW or adopted
          its reasoning.
April 26, 2022             CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                      Page 79