Connecticut Appellate Court Confirms Trip and Fall Liability Cases Can Be Lost on Failure to Respond to Requests to Admit

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In Marciano v. Olde Oak Village Condominium Assn., Inc., 174 Conn. App. 851 (2017), the Connecticut Appellate Court recently held that failure to respond to a request for admission in a premises liability case defeats any contrary assertions in the plaintiff’s complaint alleging duty and negligence.  The plaintiff tripped and fell on a rock the lawn within three feet of the rear boundary of her condominium unit.  Although condominium declarations stated that the unit owner was responsible for maintaining the area where she fell, the plaintiff claimed that the condominium association exercised control over the area in question and should have remedied the dangerous condition.  When the defendant condominium served requests for admission upon the plaintiff asserting that she was responsible for the area immediately adjacent to her condo unit, the plaintiff never responded or denied the requests for admission.  The Connecticut Appellate Court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant condominium because the plaintiff could not raise any issue for a fact-finding jury to decide.  Requests for admission can be a remarkably effective tool in premises liability cases to filter the issues of responsibility down to a few simple matters to be determined for or against a party.

If you have questions about how your premises liability or personal injury case might be impacted by requests for admission, please contact the litigation attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C.

Source: Maciano v. Olde Oak Village Condominium Assn., Inc., 174 Conn. App. 851 (2017).