It is well established that Connecticut law provides the remedy of apportioning “comparative” fault among co-tortfeasors, as well as the plaintiff, in personal injury or property damage actions. Under a provision of the 1986 Tort Reform Act, where co-defendants alleged are each to have caused the plaintiff’s injuries, a jury is authorized to assign a “proportionate share” of fault to each co-defendant (as well as to the plaintiff). However, by its express terms, the Connecticut tort apportionment statute, Connecticut General Statutes §52-572h(e), is limited to “negligence action[s] to recover damages resulting from personal injury, wrongful death or damage to property …”
Does this mean that a defendant named in a tort action to recover losses based on theories other than “personal injury, wrongful death” or property “damage” is precluded from asking the jury to be instructed to allocate fault among all co-defendants? Did the equitable apportionment remedy available under Connecticut common law survive the 1986 enactment of the Tort Reform Act? Is the remedy of nonstatutory apportionment available against a co-tortfeasor whose misconduct is alleged to have been intentional rather than merely negligent?
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