Northrup v. Witkowski

The Northrup family’s (plaintiff) home in the borough of Naugatuck (defendant) periodically flooded after heavy rainfall. The flooding occurred when rainfall overwhelmed the neighborhood’s single-catch storm drains. An engineering report issued for the town indicated that new, larger storm drains were required to handle the run-off from the area’s increasingly frequent heavy rainfall. Despite the report, Naugatuck did not install new, larger storm drains. The Naugatuck Code of Ordinances (the code) mandated that Naugatuck maintain the storm drainage system; however, the code left the manner and timing of that maintenance to the discretion of municipal employees. Naugatuck had a general policy to clean storm drains annually and address blocked drains as needed, but that policy was not codified. The Northrups sued Naugatuck, arguing that (1) Naugatuck’s duty to maintain the town’s storm drainage system qualified as a ministerial act because it was statutory; (2) because drainage system maintenance was a ministerial act, Naugatuck did not have qualified immunity from tort liability; and (3) Naugatuck’s negligent failure to properly maintain and update the storm drainage system caused the Northrups’ home to repeatedly flood. The appellate court granted summary judgment to Naugatuck, holding that Naugatuck’s maintenance of the storm drainage system was a discretionary government act subject to qualified immunity from tort liability. The Northrups appealed.