Samakaab v. Dept. of Social Services ( 2017 )

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HASAN SAMAKAAB v. DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL SERVICES
(AC 39067)
DiPentima, C. J., and Alvord and Pellegrino, Js.
Syllabus
The plaintiff sought to recover damages from the defendant Department of
Social Services for alleged employment discrimination after he was
denied a certain promotion during his employment with the defendant.
The plaintiff claimed that the defendant discriminated against him on
the basis of his age, sex and national origin, and his prior opposition
to unlawful employment practices in violation of the applicable provision
(§ 46a-60) of the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (§ 46a-51
et seq.). The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary
judgment and rendered judgment thereon, concluding that the evidence
submitted by the plaintiff did not support a finding that a genuine issue
of material fact existed as to whether he had been discriminated against
or retaliated against because he had engaged in a protected activity. On
appeal to this court, the plaintiff claimed that the trial court improperly
held that he had presented insufficient facts to support a prima facie
case of discrimination or retaliation. Held that the judgment of the
trial court granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment was
affirmed; the trial court having thoroughly addressed the arguments
raised in this appeal, this court adopted the trial court’s well reasoned
decision as a statement of the facts and the applicable law on the issues.
Argued October 5—officially released November 7, 2017
Procedural History
Action to recover damages for, inter alia, alleged
employment discrimination, and for other relief,
brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district
of Hartford, where the court, Scholl, J., granted the
defendant’s motion for summary judgment and ren-
dered judgment thereon, from which the plaintiff
appealed to this court. Affirmed.
Hasan Samakaab, self-represented, the appellant
(plaintiff).
Carolyn Ennis, assistant attorney general, with
whom, on the brief, were George Jepsen, attorney gen-
eral, and Ann E. Lynch, assistant attorney general, for
the appellee (defendant).
Opinion
PER CURIAM. In this employment discrimination
action, the plaintiff, Hasan Samakaab, appeals from the
summary judgment rendered by the trial court in favor
of the defendant, the Department of Social Services. On
appeal, the plaintiff contends that the court improperly
held that insufficient facts were presented to support
a prima facie case of discrimination or retaliation. We
affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The record and the trial court’s opinion reveal the
following facts and procedural history. The plaintiff
is employed as an eligibility services specialist by the
defendant. On September 5, 2013, the plaintiff inter-
viewed for a promotion to the position of eligibility
services supervisor. On the basis of the plaintiff’s
responses during his interview, he was no longer con-
sidered for the eligibility services supervisor position.
On December 26, 2014, the plaintiff filed the operative
complaint against the defendant in Superior Court. In
his complaint, the plaintiff alleged that he was denied
a promotion because of his age, sex, national origin,
and his prior opposition to unlawful employment prac-
tices in violation of General Statutes § 46a-60 of the
Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, General
Statutes § 46a-51 et seq. Following the close of discov-
ery, on November 9, 2015, the defendant filed a motion
for summary judgment as to the plaintiff’s complaint.
On March 10, 2016, the court, Scholl, J., issued a memo-
randum of decision rendering summary judgment in
favor of the defendant. The court found that the evi-
dence submitted by the plaintiff, principally his self-
serving affidavit and deposition testimony, did not sup-
port a finding that a genuine issue of material fact exists
as to whether the plaintiff had been discriminated
against in the denial of a promotion, or retaliated against
because he had engaged in a protected activity.
Upon examination of the record on appeal and the
briefs and arguments of the parties, we conclude that
the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed.
Because the court’s memorandum of decision thor-
oughly addresses the arguments raised in this appeal,
we adopt its well reasoned decision as a statement of
the facts and the applicable law on the issues. See
Samakaab v. Dept. of Social Services, Superior Court,
judicial district of Hartford, Docket No. CV-15-6056335-
S (March 10, 2016) (reprinted in 177 Conn. App. 54). It
would serve no useful purpose for this court to engage
in any further discussion. See, e.g., Woodruff v.
Hemingway, 297 Conn. 317, 321, 2 A.3d 857 (2010);
Geiger v. Carey, 170 Conn. App. 459, 462, 154 A.3d
1093 (2017).
The judgment is affirmed.