Police Response to Heart Attack Not Reckless or Negligent

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Defendants, a city, its police department, and two police chiefs, filed a motion for summary judgment with regard to the two-count complaint filed against them by plaintiffs, two co-executrixes. Plaintiffs asserted that defendants failed to offer timely and effective assistance to their decedent, failed to train police department employees, and failed to have certain life-saving equipment available at the police station.

Plaintiffs' decedent was a police officer, who suffered a heart attack while on duty at the police station. In opposition to defendants' motion for summary judgment, plaintiffs submitted a video showing the station on the date of the incident and that none of the officers who discovered the decedent attempted to render any assistance to him. The court held that plaintiffs did not have a cause of action as to negligence against defendants, because the decedent was eligible for compensation through workers' compensation, by the way of the Heart and Hypertension Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 7-433c. Under that statutory scheme, the remedy was exclusive and barred plaintiffs' claims of negligence. The court further held that even if plaintiffs' claims were not barred, defendants' acts were discretionary in nature, not ministerial, and governmental immunity protected defendants from liability unless the acts fell within the identifiable victim exception. The court concluded that there were no issue of material facts supporting the inevitable conclusions the plaintiffs' decedent was not an identifiable victim and that the actions of the defendants did not constitute recklessness. The court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment.

At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.

Source: Delano v. City of Stamford, 2009 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1973, 2009 WL 2506325 (Conn. Super. Ct. July 14, 2009)