Section 31-51q

Citation: Section 31-51q
Parent Document: Cotto v. United Technologies Corp., 251 Conn. 1 (1999)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 1999-10-12
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7898264/cotto-v-united-technologies-corp/ ↗

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The Appellate Court, although reaching the same result in a divided opinion, took a different view of the scope of the statute. The majority of that court concluded “that § 31-51q applies to some activities and speech that occur at the workplace . . . .” Cotto v. United Technologies Corp., supra, 48 Conn App. 628. Analogizing the scope of the statute to the protection afforded governmental employees under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,2 the majority reasoned that the determination of whether such protection was afforded required the drawing of a line, on a case-by-case basis, “between nonconstitutional speech involving employment conditions and practices and constitutional speech involving public issues.” Id., 629. Applying that standard, the majority then concluded that the “issue of whether the [defendant] should have ‘expected’ the plaintiff to display a flag may be the subject of a grievance involving a condition of employment, but it is not a matter of public interest.” Id., 631. Therefore, according to the Appellate Court majority, the plaintiff had not stated a valid cause of action under § 31-51q. Id., 632.

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