Supreme Court of Connecticut

George W. Northrup v. Henry J. Witkowski, Jr.

July 2, 2019332 Conn. 158

Summary

The court affirmed summary judgment for the municipality and officials, holding that maintaining and repairing the municipal storm-drainage system involved discretionary governmental functions protected by qualified immunity. It overruled the prior rule treating drainage construction and repair as categorically ministerial and held that the controlling question is whether a legal directive prescribed the specific manner of performance. Justice Ecker, dissenting, would have retained the prior rule and allowed the negligence claims to proceed.