2006 Ct. Sup. 17952, 42 CLR 91
No. CV-06-4006679-SConnecticut Superior Court Judicial District of Ansonia-Milford at Derby
October 3, 2006
MEMORANDUM RE MOTION TO STRIKE
GERARD F. ESPOSITO, JUDGE.
The plaintiffs have brought an action against Linda Stock, a zoning enforcement officer for the city of Milford, as well as the Zoning Board of Appeals of the city of Milford (hereinafter Z.B.A.). The action arises as a result of an enforcement action taken by Linda Stock and the Z.B.A.’s decision to affirm the enforcement action of Ms. Stock. The third count of the complaint alleges that the actions of both Linda Stock and the Z.B.A. violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. § 12101 et. seq.) (hereinafter A.D.A.). In their prayer for relief, the plaintiffs seek, among other things, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys fees from the defendant, pursuant to the A.D.A.
The defendants have filed a motion to strike this third count. The defendants’ argument is that the plaintiffs may not join the A.D.A. cause of action with the zoning appeal of the first and second counts. The plaintiffs counter that the A.D.A. claim was raised in the Z.B.A. appeal and so the allegations contained in the third count do not constitute a separate cause of action.
The claim by the plaintiffs, that their rights under the A.D.A. were violated, and the relief sought for this alleged violation, is a distinctive cause of action from an administrative appeal. This court agrees with the Judge Booth’s reasoning in Mordecai v. Town of Hamden, Superior Court, J.D. of New Haven, Docket No. CV-01-452396-S (September 7, 2001, Booth, J.) wherein he held that, “an administrative appeal and a civil action do not fall within any of the 7 subcategories of Practice Book § 10-21 which may be joined.” Mordecai v. Town of Hamden at page 2. CT Page 17953