Barclay Damon announces that the Connecticut Appellate Court has upheld a $16.8 million jury verdict in favor of the owners of Party Depot in litigation arising from the construction of a commercial building addition in Danbury, Connecticut. The decision was issued by a panel consisting of Judges Seeley, Wilson, and Keller in the consolidated appeals of John Girolametti, Jr., et al. v. James R. Larrabee et al., 238 Conn. App. 1 (2026).
The case arose from the construction of a large addition intended for wholesale storage and sales displays at Party Depot’s Danbury retail location. After the project was completed, the owners discovered serious structural and safety deficiencies in violation of the building code that rendered the space unusable for its intended purpose. Following extensive litigation and a five-week trial before Judge Pierson, the jury returned a verdict exceeding $16.8 million for the plaintiffs. The Appellate Court scrutinized all of the statutory and factual arguments of the city and its building official and rejected all those arguments except for a $280,000 remittitur ordered for money received from a settling party long prior to the trial. The Appellate Court in its 72-page decision approvingly quoted at length from the jury charges of Judge Pierson on the concepts of “reckless disregard for health and safety” under Conn. Gen. Statute 52-557n. The Appellate Court further approvingly quoted at length from the owners’ expert and fact testimony in rejecting all the claims of legally insufficient evidence raised by the city. The judgment has been remanded to the Complex Litigation Court in Waterbury for adjustment and then for the addition of statutory interest at 10 percent per annum, which would bring the current indebtedness of the city to over $20 million dollars.
Brian J. Donnell, a partner at Barclay Damon and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said, “The Appellate Court’s decision affirms what the jury recognized after hearing weeks of evidence—that our clients were left with a building addition and improvements that never should have been approved or constructed under the building code as it was, but the city knowingly and recklessly approved it anyway.” Donnell continued, “This ruling reinforces that municipalities and building officials can and must be held accountable when public safety and building code requirements are recklessly disregarded.”
The ruling represents a significant victory for John and Cindy Girolametti, the owners of the family business, after over a decade of litigation, and it underscores Barclay Damon’s commitment to achieving results for our clients in complex, high-stakes cases.
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