Gould v. City of Hartford

This slip and fall case raises an important question involving the ability of a municipal ordinance of general application to impose a duty upon the state. The state commissioner of transportation, J. William Burns (commissioner), contends that he had no duty to keep a sidewalk abutting state property free of ice and snow in spite of a municipal ordinance that on its face imposes such a duty upon all abutting landowners and that he is consequently protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. For the reasons set forth below, his motion to dismiss must be granted.

The complaint consists of…