87
CHAPTER 8
CONNECTICUT
A. Scope of the Statute and Elements of a Cause of Action
The Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA) prohibits
“unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in
the conduct of any trade or commerce.”1 The terms “trade” and
“commerce” have been defined to mean “the advertising, the sale or rent
or lease, the offering for sale or rent or lease, or the distribution of any
services and any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal or mixed,
and any other article, commodity, or thing of value in this state.”2
As of 2021, ninety-four separate state statutes have been expressly
incorporated into CUTPA by Connecticut’s legislature, the General
Assembly. Thus, a violation of each of these ninety-three statutes
constitutes a per se violation of CUTPA. Additionally, there are more than
twenty-five regulations adopted by the principal administrator of CUTPA,
the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, most of which have the force
and effect of law.3 These include, for example, statutes regulating funeral
service contracts, home improvement contractors, health club contracts,
home solicitation sales, mobile home parks and telemarketing, and
regulations concerning comparison price advertising and automobile
advertising practices.4 The Connecticut legislature has directed that, in the
1. CONN. GEN. STAT. § 42-110b(a).
2. Id. § 42-110a(4). The Connecticut Supreme Court in W. Dermatology
Consultants v. VitalWorks, Inc., 153 A.3d 574 (Conn. 2016), expressed no
opinion regarding the meaning of “in this state” in Section 42-110a(4), but
rather applied the most significant relationship test contained in Section 145
of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws with respect to whether
New Mexico or Connecticut law applied to the particular facts of the case.
3. CONN. AGENCIES REGS. §§ 42-110b-1 to 42-110b-8 were adopted prior to
a 1975 amendment to CUTPA, P.A. 75-618, authorizing the Commissioner
of Consumer Protection to promulgate regulations that would have the
force and effect of law. The original language in the public act that created
CUTPA in 1973, P.A. 73-615, only authorized the Commissioner to adopt
interpretative regulations.
4. See, e.g., ROBERT M. LANGER, JOHN T. MORGAN & DAVID L. BELT,
CONNECTICUT UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES, BUSINESS TORTS AND
ANTITRUST, Apps. B, E ( Connecticut Practice Series N o. 12, 2021-2022
