Opinion ID: 2093394
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the mandamus alternative

Text: We first consider the defendants' contention that a mandatory injunction should not have been issued because of the availability of an adequate remedy at law, to wit, a writ of mandamus. Both mandamus and mandatory injunction are extraordinary remedies. `The writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy to be applied only under exceptional conditions, and is not to be extended beyond its well-established limits.' Lahiff v. St. Joseph's Total Abstinence [and Benevolent] Soc, 76 Conn. 648, 651, 57 A. 692 [1904]. Milford Education Assn. v. Board of Education, 167 Conn. 513, 518, 356 A.2d 109 (1975). Relief by way of mandatory injunction is an extraordinary remedy granted in the sound discretion of the court and only under compelling circumstances. Simmons v. Budds, 165 Conn. 507, 515, 338 A.2d 479 (1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 940, 94 S. Ct. 1943, 40 L. Ed. 2d 291 (1974). Ordinarily, an injunction will not lie where there is an adequate remedy at law. Hartford v. American Arbitration Assn., 174 Conn. 472, 476, 391 A.2d 137 (1978). Ordinarily, mandamus will not lie where the aggrieved party has an adequate remedy either at law or in equity. Milford Education Assn. v. Board of Education, supra, 519; State ex rel. Howard v. Hartford Street Ry. Co., 76 Conn. 174, 184, 56 A. 506 (1903). Mandamus is not only generally viewed as a remedy at law; Stolberg v. Caldwell, 175 Conn. 586, 613, 402 A.2d 763 (1978); but usually it is also the appropriate remedy in situations where: (1) the duty to be performed is ministerial; (2) the party applying for the writ has a clear legal right to have the duty performed; and (3) there is no other sufficient remedy. Milford Education Assn. v. Board of Education, supra, 518. There are situations, however, where the use of one remedy rather than the other involves a matter of semantics. Bissey v. Marion, 104 Kan. 311, 178 P. 611 (1919); annot., 93 A.L.R. 1495, 1503 and cases cited therein; 42 Am. Jur. 2d, Injunctions § 43. If the [plaintiff] is entitled to relief, it is not of great importance whether we grant the relief by way of the legal writ of mandamus or the equitable remedy of injunction or by a combination of both. In re Alexander, 243 A.2d 901, 903 (D.C. App. 1968). The result would be the same were we to test the appropriateness of equitable relief on the basis of the adequacy of mandamus. The complaint, which is in four counts, alleges that the conservation and the planning and zoning commissions have refused to hold public hearings on the plaintiffs' application to install recharge basins in areas subject to their jurisdiction because of the plaintiffs' failure to obtain prior approval of their plan from the water authority. It also alleges that the water authority and the defendant Longo improperly interfered with the plaintiffs' right to public hearings before the two commissions. It is apparent from even a cursory perusal of the complaint that, if the plaintiffs could prove their allegations, mandamus could not afford them complete relief. So long as the water authority, with some reasonable basis, maintained that it had superior authority in matters involving potential depletion of water resources and that therefore no hearing should be held by the other bodies until the water authority had given its approval to the plaintiffs' application, any relief provided by mandamus would be inadequate. Any action taken by the commissions would leave the plaintiffs' application under a cloud. Resort to equity is appropriate both to avoid multiplicity of actions at law; Dimmock v. New London, 157 Conn. 9, 19, 245 A.2d 569 (1968); Hammerberg v. Leinert, 132 Conn. 596, 602, 46 A.2d 420 (1946); and to provide effective, convenient, direct, and complete relief. Aaron v. Conservation Commission, 178 Conn. 173, 179, 422 A.2d 290 (1979); State ex rel. Heimov v. Thomson, 131 Conn. 8, 13, 37 A.2d 689 (1944). Because the plaintiffs' rights could not be determined without addressing the concerns of the water authority, injunctive action was appropriate.