Court Opinion

ID: 9638357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 15:42:02.766798+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:05.978386
License: Public Domain

ZARELLA, J.,
concurring. I agree with and join the well reasoned opinion of the majority in this matter. I write only to express my concern that, since the passage of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), General Statutes § 42-110a et seq., we increasingly have ignored the directive in the statute that “[i]t is the intent *239of the legislature that in construing subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner [of consumer protection] and the courts of this state shall be guided by interpretations given by the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts to Section 5 (a) (1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45 (a) (1)), as from time to time amended.” General Statutes § 42-110b (b). I point out that commentators, at least as early as 1988, have noted this court’s lack of attention to major policy statements and decisions issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). For example, Professor John Morgan noted in a 1988 article in the Connecticut Bar Journal that, “[a]s to unfair and deceptive acts and practices, FTC doctrine has been altered significantly in the [1980s]. Major policy statements have been issued and have later become binding precedent for the FTC by incorporation in FTC decisions. In spite of this adoption by the FTC, courts interpreting CUTPA have so far given only brief attention to the statements with no substantial discussion of their import. Courts continue to cite older authority where the current FTC policy is rather more elaborate or even where it differs markedly.” J. Morgan, “The Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act: Determining the Standards of Conduct,” 62 Conn. B.J. 74, 94 (1988). Other changes to FTC policy and decisions have occurred since this article was written but have received limited, if any, attention in our opinions. Nevertheless, it is also my view that the case presently before us would not be the appropriate case to take on such a review of our precedent, and, therefore, any such review must be left to a future case.