tive agency of the executive branch, to exercise jurisdic-
tion over a discrimination complaint filed by an attorney
seeking reinstatement to the Connecticut bar. The com-
plainant, Josephine Smalls Miller,3 filed a complaint
with the commission, alleging that the plaintiff in this
administrative appeal, the State of Connecticut, Judicial
Branch (Judicial Branch), discriminated or retaliated
against her in connection with the attorney discipline
and licensing process that is administered by the Judi-
cial Branch. The Judicial Branch filed an interlocutory
administrative appeal in the trial court from the com-
mission’s denial of its motion to dismiss that complaint,
asserting, among other claims, absolute immunity from
suit. The trial court rendered judgment sustaining the
administrative appeal on the ground that the separation
of powers doctrine required the commission to dismiss the
complaint against the Judicial Branch. The commission
now appeals from that judgment and claims, among other
things, that the trial court (1) lacked jurisdiction over the
Judicial Branch’s interlocutory administrative appeal
under General Statutes §§ 4-183 (a) or (b) and 46a-94a
(a), and (2) incorrectly concluded that the separation of
powers doctrine barred the commission from exercising
jurisdiction in this case.
Guided by our recent decision in Stamford v. Commis-
sion on Human Rights & Opportunities, Office of Public
Hearings, 351 Conn. 298, 330 A.3d 102 (2025), we first
conclude that the trial court had jurisdiction over this
administrative appeal under § 4-183 (b) because, when
an administrative agency’s exercise of jurisdiction over
a coordinate branch of government violates the separa-
tion of powers doctrine, the exercise of jurisdiction is
void ab initio—conferring on the coordinate branch an
immunity from suit that would be lost in the absence of
Hearings collectively as the commission. We refer to the Office of Public
Hearings individually when necessary.
3
The complainant is also named as a defendant in this administrative
appeal. She filed an answer in the trial court and an appearance in the
Appellate Court prior to the transfer of the appeal to this court, but
she has not submitted any briefs.
State of Connecticut, Judicial Branch v. Commission on Human Rights &
Opportunities, Office of Public Hearings