Success Village Apartments, Inc. v. Amalgamated Local 376, International Union United Automobile Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers

The plaintiff, P, sought to recover damages from the defendant, S Co., for S Co.'s breach of the parties' employment contract in connection with S Co.'s termination of P's employment. P was hired by S Co. in 2012, pursuant to an employment contract for a term of two years, and his contract was renewed in 2013 for an additional term of two years. In October, 2015, S Co. approved and executed a new employment contract with P for an additional term of two years, to begin on January 25, 2016. Although the 2015 contract was dated October 12, 2015, the board of S Co. approved the contract on October 13, 2015, at a special meeting. In December, 2015, S Co. notified P that his employment would be termi- nated as of January 25, 2016, the date his 2015 contract was to begin. Following a bench trial, the parties executed a joint stipulation providing for an extension of the statutory (§ 51-183b) 120 day deadline for the trial court to render a decision. The trial court issued its memorandum of decision past the agreed upon extended deadline, rendering judgment for S Co. P moved to open and vacate the judgment and for a new trial, which the trial court granted. A new bench trial was held, and the trial court rendered judgment for P. On S Co.'s appeal to this court, held: 1. The trial court properly granted P's motion to open and vacate the judg- ment rendered in the first trial as that court's finding that P did not waive his right to object to the untimely decision was not clearly erroneous: P was under no duty to speak or to protest after the court failed to issue a decision by the agreed upon deadline, prejudgment silence alone was not sufficient to support a finding of waiver under § 51-183b, as there must have been some other act or conduct that either delayed the start of the deadline, created a duty to protest in the silent party or served as an affirmative act of waiver or consent, and S Co. was unable to identify any such act or conduct by P that supported a finding of