The lawyer for the estate of a Bridgeport woman who died along with her three children in a 2009 fire claimed Thursday it should be able to sue city officials for neglecting to inspect their public-housing apartment before the fatal blaze.
But an attorney representing Bridgeport fire and building officials told the state Supreme Court that Connecticut law should prevent the suit from proceeding because the failure of the inspection of the late Tiana Black’s apartment in the P.T. Barnum housing complex did not fall to the level of official recklessness.
During an hourlong hearing, Daniel Krisch, representing fire and building officials who are the defendants, and John Bochanis, representing Twila Williams, Black’s mother, were both grilled by a six-member panel of the high court, which will rule on the case later this year.