Sec. 42-110g. Action for damages. Class actions. Costs and fees. Equitable relief. Jury trial.
Sec. 42-110g. Action for damages. Class actions. Costs and fees. Equitable relief. Jury trial. (a) Any person who suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property,
real or personal, as a result of the use or employment of a method, act or practice prohibited by section 42-110b, may bring an action in the judicial district in which the plaintiff
or defendant resides or has his principal place of business or is doing business, to recover
actual damages. Proof of public interest or public injury shall not be required in any
action brought under this section. The court may, in its discretion, award punitive damages and may provide such equitable relief as it deems necessary or proper.
(b) Persons entitled to bring an action under subsection (a) of this section may,
pursuant to rules established by the judges of the Superior Court, bring a class action
on behalf of themselves and other persons similarly situated who are residents of this
state or injured in this state to recover damages.
(c) Upon commencement of any action brought under subsection (a) of this section,
the plaintiff shall mail a copy of the complaint to the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Consumer Protection and, upon entry of any judgment or decree in the action,
shall mail a copy of such judgment or decree to the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.
(d) In any action brought by a person under this section, the court may award, to
the plaintiff, in addition to the relief provided in this section, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees based on the work reasonably performed by an attorney and not on the amount
of recovery. In a class action in which there is no monetary recovery, but other relief is
granted on behalf of a class, the court may award, to the plaintiff, in addition to other
relief provided in this section, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. In any action brought
under this section, the court may, in its discretion, order, in addition to damages or in
lieu of damages, injunctive or other equitable relief.
(e) Any final order issued by the Department of Consumer Protection and any permanent injunction, final judgment or final order of the court made under section 42-110d, 42-110m, 42-110o or 42-110p shall be prima facie evidence in an action brought
under this section that the respondent or defendant used or employed a method, act or
practice prohibited by section 42-110b, provided this section shall not apply to consent
orders or judgments entered before any testimony has been taken.
(f) An action under this section may not be brought more than three years after the
occurrence of a violation of this chapter.
(g) In any action brought by a person under this section there shall be a right to a
jury trial except with respect to the award of punitive damages under subsection (a) of
this section or the award of costs, reasonable attorneys' fees and injunctive or other
equitable relief under subsection (d) of this section.
(P.A. 73-615, S. 7, 16; P.A. 74-183, S. 174, 291; P.A. 75-618, S. 5, 11; P.A. 76-303, S. 3, 4; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127;
78-346, S. 2; P.A. 79-210, S. 1; P.A. 84-468, S. 2, 10; P.A. 95-123, S. 1, 3; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(c), (d);
P.A. 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 74-183 deleted reference to bringing action in circuit court in Subsec. (a); P.A. 75-618 rephrased Subsec.
(a), rephrased Subsec. (d) re class actions, replacing proviso which had stated that in class action where there is monetary
recovery on behalf of class attorney fees are to be awarded out of the recovery, required that action be brought within three,
rather than two, years in Subsec. (f) and deleted Subsec. (g) re notice to supplier as requirement for bringing action; P.A.
76-303 specified that costs and attorney fees may be awarded the plaintiff where previously award could be made "to
either party"; P.A. 78-280 replaced "county" with "judicial district" in Subsec. (a); P.A. 78-346 specified applicability of
provisions to person who "rents or leases property"; P.A. 79-210 rephrased provision re applicability in Subsec. (a) and
substituted "plaintiff or defendant" for "seller or lessor", required that plaintiff rather than clerk of court mail copy of
complaint in Subsec. (c), added "in lieu of damages" in Subsec. (d) and added reference to Secs. 42-110m, 42-110o and
42-110p and "defendant" in Subsec. (e); P.A. 84-468 provided that no proof of public interest or injury is required in an
action brought under this section and that such action be brought pursuant to rules established by the judges of the superior
court rather than pursuant to Sec. 42-110h; P.A. 95-123 amended Subsec. (c) to require the plaintiff to mail a copy of the
complaint and any judgment or decree to the Commissioner of Consumer Protection and added Subsec. (g) re a right to a
jury trial, effective October 1, 1995, and applicable to all actions pending on said date except actions that were assigned
for trial prior to said date; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Commissioner and Department of Consumer
Protection with Commissioner and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and
Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004.
Cited. 186 C. 507. Cited. 190 C. 528. Plaintiffs have burden of proving actual damages. 191 C. 484. Cited. 192 C. 558.
Cited. 200 C. 172. Cited. 203 C. 475. Cited. 204 C. 17. Cited. 221 C. 674. Cited. 223 C. 80. Cited. 224 C. 231. Cited. 225
C. 705. Cited. 228 C. 574. Cited. 229 C. 842. Cited. 230 C. 148; Id., 486. Cited. 232 C. 480; Id., 527. Cited. 235 C. 1.
Cited. 241 C. 278; Id., 630. Section permits recovery of actual damages, attorney's fees and punitive damages for violations
of CUTPA. 245 C. 1. Pursuant to Connecticut Practice Book, unresolved issue of attorney's fees does not prevent a judgment
on the merits from being final and immediately appealable. Id., 495. Professional malpractice does not give rise to a cause
of action under CUTPA. 247 C. 48. Section can be reasonably reconciled with provisions of Sec. 52-212a. 249 C. 94.
Plaintiff who purchased computer with preinstalled software from a retailer cannot recover from software manufacturer
because plaintiff's claimed injuries are too indirect and remote from the manufacturer's allegedly anticompetitive conduct.
260 C. 59. The predominance requirement was satisfied and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting motion
for class certification. 287 C. 208.
Cited. 4 CA 137. Cited. 13 CA 230. Cited. 15 CA 150. Cited. 17 CA 421. Cited. 23 CA 227; Id., 585. Cited. 24 CA
124; judgment reversed, see 221 C. 674. Cited. 31 CA 634. Trial court lacked power to award prejudgment interest on
punitive damages. 32 CA 133. Cited. 39 CA 32. Cited. 42 CA 124; Id., 712. A party must establish that the conduct
constitutes an unfair or deceptive trade practice and must present evidence providing court with basis for a reasonable
estimate of the damages suffered. Once a violation of CUTPA has been established, evidence that defendant has acted
with reckless indifference to plaintiff's rights or has committed an intentional and wanton violation of those rights is a
necessary prerequisite to award of punitive damages. Such an award is discretionary and the exercise of such discretion
will not ordinarily be interfered with on appeal unless the abuse is manifest or injustice appears to have been done. 99 CA
719. With respect to CUTPA, clear and convincing evidence is not the appropriate standard of proof whenever claims of
tortious conduct require proof of willful, wrongful or unlawful acts. The ordinary preponderance of the evidence standard
is appropriate. Id.
Cited. 39 CS 107. Cited. 40 CS 560. Cited. 41 CS 130; Id., 484.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 184 C. 607. Cited. 192 C. 591; Id., 747. Cited. 193 C. 208. Cited. 203 C. 342; Id., 616. Cited. 207 C. 204. Cited.
209 C. 579. Cited. 219 C. 644. Cited. 228 C. 42. Cited. 229 C. 213; Id., 479. Cited. 232 C. 666. Cited. 238 C. 183; Id.,
216; Id., 293. Cited. 240 C. 300. Cited. 241 C. 630. Cited. 243 C. 1; Id., 17. Defendant's attempted takeover of plaintiff,
defendant's employer, was not unethical or in violation of CUTSA and did not constitute a violation of CUTPA entitling
plaintiff to punitive damages. 282 C. 209.
Cited. 25 CA 56. Cited. 33 CA 575. Award of punitive damages in an amount equal to actual damages is not an abuse
of discretion. 35 CA 455. Cited. 41 CA 437. Cited. 42 CA 599. Cited. 43 CA 113; Id., 756. Two threshold requirements
for a party seeking to recover damages under CUTPA. 51 CA 292. Single act of misconduct is sufficient to support CUTPA
claim. Proof of an ascertainable loss does not require quantification of the loss that claimant has suffered. 72 CA 342.
Subsec. allows recovery only when the party seeking to recover damages establishes that conduct at issue constitutes an
unfair or deceptive trade practice and presents evidence providing court with basis for reasonable estimate of the damages
suffered. 99 CA 645.
Cited. 35 CS 1. Cited. 36 CS 183. Cited. 40 CS 336. Cited. 42 CS 198; Id., 514. Cited. 43 CS 431.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 42 CS 198. Cited. 44 CS 569.
Subsec. (c):
Cited. 42 CS 198.
Subsec. (d):
Cited. 184 C. 607. Cited. 202 C. 106. Cited. 203 C. 342; Id., 616. Cited. 208 C. 515. Cited. 209 C. 579. Cited. 216 C.
200. Cited. 219 C. 644. Cited. 222 C. 211. Cited. 238 C. 216; Id., 293. Cited. 240 C. 654.
Court rather than jury determines an award of attorneys' fees. 10 CA 22. Cited. Id., 527. Attorneys representing plaintiff
class on whose behalf "relief is granted" may, in court's discretion, recover attorneys' fees and costs. 17 CA 421. Cited.
24 CA 514. Cited. 35 CA 455. Cited. 41 CA 437; Id., 754. Cited. 42 CA 599. Trial court's award of attorney's fees under
CUTPA was improper where award was made without affording parties the opportunity to present evidence and to be
heard on issue of reasonable attorney's fees. 49 CA 751. Awarding of attorney's fees under subsection discussed. 57 CA
189. Award of attorney's fees pursuant to subsec. encompasses claims related to prosecution of a CUTPA claim, not only
one claim explicitly labeled as a CUTPA claim. 93 CA 727.
Cited. 35 CS 1. Cited. 36 CS 183. Cited. 42 CS 514. Cited. 43 CS 91.
Subsec. (f):
Cited. 202 C. 234. Section has no alternative provision for suit within certain time following discovery of violation.
207 C. 204. Cited. 219 C. 644. Calculation of statute of limitations period. 245 C. 1.
Cited. 27 CA 59. Cited. 33 CA 702. Three-year limitation is jurisdictional. 50 CA 688. Applies to all claims brought
under CUTPA without regard to nature of the underlying unfair trade practice that has been alleged. 94 CA 593.
In action to recover damages caused by fire, plaintiffs' claims asserting violation of CUTPA were not time barred by
applicable statute of limitations in light of defendant's continuous failure to do what was necessary to install a sprinkler
system, obtain a permanent certificate of occupancy and correct construction deficiencies so as to comply with applicable
codes, all of which tolled the time limitations of this subsec. 50 CS 28.