Court Opinion

ID: 3153347
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-11-10 14:02:25.425098+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:47:20.461747
License: Public Domain

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   DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION v. WHITE OAK CORP.—DISSENT

   ROBINSON, J., dissenting. I respectfully disagree
with the majority’s decision to reverse the judgment of
the Appellate Court and direct that court to affirm the
judgment of the trial court granting the application of
the defendant, the White Oak Corporation, to confirm
the arbitration award rendered in this highway con-
struction dispute between the defendant and the plain-
tiff, the Department of Transportation. In my view, the
Appellate Court properly determined that the arbitra-
tion panel lacked jurisdiction to render the award at
issue because that award was predicated on claims that
were barred by sovereign immunity, insofar as those
claims were not properly before the panel pursuant to
General Statutes § 4-61. See footnote 2 of the majority
opinion. Ordinarily, I would write a comprehensive dis-
senting opinion with a thorough discussion of the appli-
cable law and a detailed review of the record. The
Appellate Court has, however, issued a comprehensive
and well reasoned opinion, authored by Judge Gruen-
del, which provides a full explication of the complex
record and governing legal principles in this case. See
generally Dept. of Transportation v. White Oak Corp.,
141 Conn. App. 738, 62 A.3d 599 (2013). In the interest
of aiding in the discharge of this court’s institutional
obligation to provide timely decisions to litigants and
the public, I adopt Judge Gruendel’s excellent opinion
as a complete statement of my reasoning for respect-
fully dissenting from the judgment of this court. See,
e.g., Recall Total Information Management, Inc. v. Fed-
eral Ins. Co., 317 Conn. 46, 51, 115 A.3d 458 (2015) (per
curiam) (adopting Appellate Court’s ‘‘well reasoned
opinion’’ as ‘‘the proper statement of the issue and the
applicable law concerning that issue’’ because ‘‘it would
serve no purpose for us to repeat the discussion con-
tained therein’’).
  Because I would affirm the judgment of the Appellate
Court, I respectfully dissent.