Michaud v. Travel Indemnity Co.

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Michaud v. Travelers Indemnity Co.

YVONNE MICHAUD v. TRAVELERS
INDEMNITY COMPANY
(AC 46939)
Seeley, Westbrook and Prescott, Js.

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed from the decision of the trial court denying her
application to vacate an arbitration award granting the defendant’s motion
for summary judgment and dismissing her complaint alleging age discrimina-
tion with prejudice. Following the commencement of the civil action against
the defendant, the parties, by agreement, proceeded to arbitration on all
claims in the complaint. The plaintiff claimed that the court improperly
failed to vacate the award because the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the
law. Held:

This court dismissed the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, as
the plaintiff did not have a statutory right to appeal from the trial court’s
denial of her application to vacate the award and the trial court’s denial
did not implicate either of the two prongs set forth in State v. Curcio (191
Conn. 27).
Argued October 7, 2024—officially released May 6, 2025

Procedural History

Action to recover damages for employment discrimi-
nation on the basis of age, and for other relief, brought
to the Superior Court in the judicial district of Hartford,
where the court, Noble, J., granted the parties’ motions
for stay to compel arbitration; thereafter, the court,
Buckley, J., denied the plaintiff’s application to vacate
the arbitration award, and the plaintiff appealed to this
court. Appeal dismissed.
James V. Sabatini, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Allison P. Dearington, with whom was Jessica L.
Chamberlin, for the appellee (defendant).
Opinion

PRESCOTT, J. The plaintiff, Yvonne Michaud,
appeals following the trial court’s denial of the applica-
tion to vacate an arbitration award she filed in her
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pending civil action against the defendant, Travelers
Indemnity Company. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that
the court, Buckley, J., improperly failed to vacate the
arbitration award in accordance with General Statutes
§ 52-4181 because, contrary to the conclusions of the
court, the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law
when she granted the defendant’s motion for summary
judgment and dismissed with prejudice the plaintiff’s
complaint of age discrimination in violation of General
Statutes § 46a-60 (b) (1).2 Specifically, the plaintiff
1
Chapter 909 of the General Statutes pertains to ‘‘Arbitration Proceed-
ings.’’ Effective October 1, 2018, the legislature enacted part I of Chapter
909, referred to as the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (revised act), General
Statutes §§ 52-407aa through 52-407eee. Pursuant to General Statutes § 52-
407cc, subject to certain exceptions, ‘‘an agreement to arbitrate made on
or after October 1, 2018,’’ is governed by the revised act. Pursuant to General
Statutes § 52-407eee, agreements executed prior to October 1, 2018, remain
governed by part II of Chapter 909, specifically, General Statutes §§ 52-408
through 52-424, inclusive. The record reflects that the arbitration agreement
in this case was executed on May 8, 2018. As such, the arbitration agreement
is governed by part II of chapter 909. See also Torrington v. Council 4,
AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 442, 224 Conn. App. 237, 244–46, 312 A.3d 1112
(2024) (explaining that part II of chapter 909 applies to agreements executed
prior to October 1, 2018.)
General Statutes § 52-418, which is included in part II of chapter 909,
provides in relevant part: ‘‘(a) Upon the application of any party to an
arbitration, the superior court for the judicial district in which one of the
parties resides . . . shall make an order vacating the award if it finds any
of the following defects: (1) If the award has been procured by corruption,
fraud or undue means; (2) if there has been evident partiality or corruption
on the part of any arbitrator; (3) if the arbitrators have been guilty of
misconduct in refusing to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause shown
or in refusing to hear evidence pertinent and material to the controversy
or of any other action by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced;
or (4) if the arbitrators have exceeded their powers or so imperfectly exe-
cuted them that a mutual, final and definite award upon the subject matter
submitted was not made. . . .’’
Our Supreme Court has recognized ‘‘manifest disregard of the law’’ as a
narrow ground for vacating arbitration awards that is encompassed within
§ 52-418 (a) (4). (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Garrity v. McCaskey,
223 Conn. 1, 10, 612 A.2d 742 (1992).
2
General Statutes § 46a-60 is a provision of the Connecticut Fair Employ-
ment Practices Act (CFEPA), General Statutes § 46a-51 et seq. Section 46a-
60 provides in relevant part: ‘‘(b) It shall be a discriminatory practice in
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argues that the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the
law ‘‘by failing to consider the evidence explaining why
[her] objection to the motion for summary judgment
was filed late,’’3 ‘‘by granting summary judgment where
the defendant had not satisfied its burden in establish-
ing its entitlement to summary judgment as to the pay
raise and bonus denials,’’ and by concluding, nonethe-
less, that the ‘‘plaintiff could not establish [that she
suffered] an adverse employment action.’’ We cannot
reach the merits of the claims the plaintiff has raised
on appeal, however, because the court’s denial of the
application to vacate the arbitration award, in the con-
text of this case, is not an appealable final judgment.
Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for lack of subject
matter jurisdiction.
The following facts4 and procedural history are rele-
vant to our resolution of this appeal. The plaintiff had
been employed by the defendant for roughly forty-five
years when she resigned on May 10, 2019.5 She was
violation of this section: (1) For an employer, by the employer or the employ-
er’s agent, except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or
need, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment
any individual or to discriminate against any individual in compensation or
in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual’s
race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital
status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability,
intellectual disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but
not limited to, blindness, status as a veteran or status as a victim of domestic
violence . . . .’’
Section 46a-60 was amended after the plaintiff’s employment ended in
May, 2019; see Public Acts 2019, No. 19-16, § 4; and again after she initiated
this action in 2021; see Public Acts 2022, No. 22-78, §§ 7 and 8; but those
changes are not relevant to this appeal. For convenience, we refer to the
current revision of § 46a-60.
3
In her application to vacate the arbitration award, the plaintiff argued
that the arbitrator’s decision in this regard reflected that she was ‘‘guilty of
misconduct’’ in violation of § 52-418 (a) (3).
4
The factual record before us includes the pleadings and exhibits filed with
the trial court and the transcript of the hearing on the plaintiff’s application
to vacate the arbitration award. No evidence was offered at that hearing.
5
The plaintiff held various positions throughout the course of her employ-
ment with the defendant. When she resigned, she had been working in the
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approximately sixty-nine years old at the time of her
resignation.
On April 9, 2021, the plaintiff commenced this civil
action against the defendant by way of a one count
complaint, in which she alleged that the defendant had
discriminated against her on the basis of her age in
violation of § 46a-60 (b) (1). Specifically, she alleged
that, because of her age, ‘‘she had been passed over for
promotion, received no annual raises and did not get
any compensation for . . . extra work she performed.’’
She further alleged that the defendant treated her
‘‘adversely different from similarly situated younger
employees.’’
On June 2, 2021, the defendant filed a motion to stay
the trial court proceedings and to compel arbitration
in accordance with its arbitration policy, which made
‘‘arbitration the required and exclusive forum for the
resolution of all past, present and future employment-
related disputes based on legally protected rights
. . . .’’6 In response to the defendant’s motion and
demand ‘‘that all claims asserted in [the plaintiff’s] com-
plaint be arbitrated,’’ the plaintiff filed, that same day,
a motion to stay the proceedings ‘‘until such arbitration
has been had in accordance with the terms of the agree-
ment.’’ The court, Noble, J., granted both motions ‘‘by
agreement.’’ See General Statutes § 52-409.7
defendant’s ‘‘Business Insurance Actuarial & Analytics Department for about
thirteen years.’’
6
The record reflects that, between 2011 and 2018, the defendant required
all of its United States employees to certify annually that they reviewed and
agreed to comply with its arbitration policy and that the plaintiff had done
so in each of those years.
7
General Statutes § 52-409 provides: ‘‘If any action for legal or equitable
relief or other proceeding is brought by any party to a written agreement
to arbitrate, the court in which the action or proceeding is pending, upon
being satisfied that any issue involved in the action or proceeding is referable
to arbitration under the agreement, shall, on motion of any party to the
arbitration agreement, stay the action or proceeding until an arbitration has
been had in compliance with the agreement, provided the person making
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Thereafter, the plaintiff filed a demand for arbitration
and, on December 16, 2021, the arbitrator issued a com-
prehensive scheduling order that established deadlines
for, among other things, pleading, discovery, and the
filing of dispositive motions, and set dates for a hearing
on the merits. The scheduling order also specified that
deadlines ‘‘will be strictly enforced unless a party has
made a showing of good cause in any request for an
extension, in which case extensions will be freely given
as long as the hearing dates are not affected.’’
On October 17, 2022, the defendant timely filed a
motion for summary judgment8 with the arbitrator,
wherein it argued that it was entitled to judgment as a
matter of law because the plaintiff could not meet the
initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of age
discrimination in accordance with the ‘‘familiar burden
shifting standard articulated in McDonnell Douglas
Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, [802, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L.
Ed. 2d 668] (1973),’’ and that, even if she could, the
defendant ‘‘had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons
for not promoting [the plaintiff] . . . and . . . there
[was] no evidence that those reasons were a mere pre-
text to cover up unlawful age discrimination.’’9 Specifi-
cally, the defendant argued that the plaintiff’s voluntary
application for the stay shall be ready and willing to proceed with the
arbitration.’’
8
Attached to the motion were twenty-two exhibits, which included sworn
declarations from Jason Manganello, who was a senior director employed
by the defendant and to whom the plaintiff reported, either directly or
through another supervisor, from 2010 to 2019, Kristin Deffley, who was
employed by the defendant as a human resources manager, and Brian Hoff-
man, who was employed by the defendant as a vice president of state and
bureau regulatory affairs; the plaintiff’s affidavit of illegal discrimination;
excerpts from the plaintiff’s deposition; and several emails and documents
pertaining to the plaintiff’s employment and her resignation. The defendant
subsequently attached its motion, with exhibits, to its opposition to the
plaintiff’s motion to vacate the arbitration award.
9
‘‘If a plaintiff cannot prove directly the reasons that motivated an employ-
ment decision, the plaintiff may establish a prima facie case under the
McDonnell Douglas-Burdine or ‘pretext’ model of analysis. . . . [See Texas
Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S. Ct. 1089, 67
L. Ed. 2d 207 (1981).] [T]o establish a prima facie case of discrimination
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retirement was not an adverse employment action, that
the circumstances surrounding the defendant’s promo-
tion decisions did not give rise to an inference of dis-
crimination, that the defendant did not promote the
plaintiff because of poor work performance and con-
duct, and that the plaintiff could not establish that these
legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons were a pretext
for age discrimination.
The original deadline for the plaintiff to file her oppo-
sition to the defendant’s motion for summary judgment
was October 31, 2022, but she requested and received
a seven day extension of time, up to and including
November 7, 2022.10 The plaintiff’s counsel did not, how-
. . . the complainant must demonstrate that (1) [she] is in the protected
class; (2) [she] was qualified for the position; (3) [she] suffered an adverse
employment action; and (4) . . . the adverse action occurred under circum-
stances giving rise to an inference of discrimination. . . . The level of proof
required to establish a prima facie case is minimal and need not reach the
level required to support a jury verdict in the plaintiff’s favor. . . .
‘‘Under the McDonnell Douglas-Burdine model, the burden of persuasion
remains with the plaintiff. . . . Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie
case, however, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to rebut the
presumption of discrimination by articulating (not proving) some legitimate,
nondiscriminatory reason for the plaintiff’s rejection. . . . Because the
plaintiff’s initial prima facie case does not require proof of discriminatory
intent, the McDonnell Douglas-Burdine model does not shift the burden of
persuasion to the defendant. Therefore, [t]he defendant need not persuade
the court that it was actually motivated by the proffered reasons. . . . It
is sufficient if the defendant’s evidence raises a genuine issue of fact as to
whether it discriminated against the plaintiff. . . . Once the defendant
offers a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, the plaintiff then has an oppor-
tunity to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the proffered reason
is pretextual.’’ (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Jones v.
Dept. of Children & Families, 172 Conn. App. 14, 24–25, 158 A.3d 356 (2017).
‘‘In the context of summary judgment, regardless of [McDonnell Douglas-
Burdine’s] burden-shifting framework, it is axiomatic that a defendant seek-
ing summary judgment bears the burden to show the absence of a genuine
fact issue for trial. . . . Accordingly, the burden [is] placed on [the defen-
dant] to show the absence of a genuine fact issue . . . .’’ (Internal quotation
marks omitted.) Femia v. Meriden, 223 Conn. App. 1, 12 n.9, 307 A.3d
312 (2023).
10
After granting the plaintiff’s requested extension, the arbitrator sug-
gested in a November 4, 2022 email correspondence to both parties’ counsel
that the plaintiff’s extension ‘‘will necessitate a comparable extension for
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ever, file an opposition on or before the extended dead-
line.
On November 10, 2022, the defendant’s counsel sent
an email to the arbitrator, on which she copied the
plaintiff’s counsel and four other individuals from the
plaintiff’s counsel’s office, indicating that, because the
plaintiff had ‘‘not submitted an objection to [the defen-
dant’s] summary judgment motion [by the extended
deadline], we will not be submitting a reply by Monday’s
[November 14, 2022] deadline.’’
On November 22, 2022, the defendant’s counsel sub-
mitted to the arbitrator, by an email on which the plain-
tiff’s counsel was copied, the defendant’s witness and
exhibit lists for the arbitration hearing, which was
scheduled to commence on December 6, 2022. Immedi-
ately thereafter, the plaintiff, through counsel, submit-
ted to the arbitrator, by an email on which the defen-
dant’s counsel was copied, the plaintiff’s objection to
the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The
plaintiff’s counsel then submitted to the arbitrator, later
that same evening, his own affidavit in which he averred
that he mistakenly thought that he had filed the objec-
tion on November 7, 2022, and realized on November
22, 2022, that he had not. He explained that he ‘‘discov-
ered that the email [he] drafted on November 7, 2022,
to send out the [plaintiff’s] objection to [the defendant’s]
motion for summary judgment was not sent. The email
had remained in draft format.’’ The plaintiff’s counsel
further averred that when he discovered his error, he
‘‘immediately clicked ‘send’ and the email was sent.’’
On November 23, 2022, the defendant’s counsel
objected, by email, to the arbitrator considering the
[the defendant] to reply’’ and that the hearing dates might, in turn, need to
be rescheduled. The defendant’s counsel advised, in response, that she
would not require an extension of the November 14, 2022 deadline and that
she would ‘‘prefer that the hearing dates remain as scheduled, as I will be
commencing parental leave on or about [December 19].’’
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plaintiff’s ‘‘belated objection to [defendant’s] motion for
summary judgment.’’ The arbitrator sustained counsel’s
objection, expressly stating, in a responsive email, that
‘‘[the plaintiff’s] objection and affidavit will not be con-
sidered.’’
On December 6, 2022, the arbitrator issued her deci-
sion granting the defendant’s motion for summary judg-
ment and dismissing the plaintiff’s claim with preju-
dice.11 The arbitrator concluded that the defendant met
its burden of establishing that there were no genuine
issues to be heard with respect to the third and fourth
elements of the conjunctive test set forth in the first
prong of the McDonnell Douglas-Burdine burden shift-
ing standard. See footnote 9 of this opinion. The arbitra-
tor explained that ‘‘[a] plaintiff sustains an adverse
employment action if he or she endures a materially
adverse change in the terms and conditions of employ-
ment. An adverse employment action is one which is
more disruptive than a mere inconvenience or an alter-
ation of job responsibilities. Examples of materially
adverse changes include termination of employment, a
demotion evidenced by a decrease in wage or salary,
a less distinguished title, a material loss of benefits,
significantly diminished material responsibilities, or
other indices unique to a particular situation. . . .
‘‘[The plaintiff] admits that she voluntarily resigned.
[F]urthermore, contemporaneous records—comprising
performance reviews, emails, and [the plaintiff’s] own
deposition—substantiate that the circumstances sur-
rounding her resignation were such that this resignation
cannot be construed as a constructive discharge/an
adverse employment action. [The plaintiff’s] allegations
are pure unsubstantiated speculation. Performance
reviews, inter alia, also, support the legitimacy of [the
defendant’s] stated reason for not promoting her.
11
The arbitrator’s decision is dated December 5, 2022, but the parties
agree that it was not issued until December 6, 2022.
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‘‘Accordingly, [the plaintiff] cannot prove that she
‘suffered an adverse employment action,’ inter alia.
Thus, her claim for relief for age discrimination must
be denied.’’ (Citation omitted.) The arbitrator did not
consider the plaintiff’s untimely objection before she
granted the motion for summary judgment.
On December 29, 2022, the plaintiff filed, in her pend-
ing Superior Court action, a motion to vacate12 the arbi-
trator’s decision13 and, in accordance with the briefing
schedule that the court, Graham, J., entered thereafter,
she filed her brief in support thereof on March 6, 2023.
The plaintiff claimed that the arbitrator was guilty of
misconduct in violation of § 52-418 (a) (3) and that ‘‘the
arbitrator’s decision was in manifest disregard of the
law’’ in violation of § 52-418 (a) (4). Specifically, the
plaintiff argued that the arbitrator’s refusal to consider
her untimely objection to the defendant’s motion for
summary judgment constituted misconduct and that
the arbitrator ‘‘chose to ignore governing law’’ when
she concluded that the ‘‘plaintiff could not prove she
suffered an adverse employment action.’’ She main-
tained, therefore, that the court should vacate the arbi-
trator’s decision and remand the case ‘‘back to arbitra-
tion for further consideration consistent with the
court’s order.’’
12
The applicable statutes pertaining to ‘‘Arbitration Proceedings’’; see
footnote 1 of this opinion; appear to use the terms ‘‘application’’ and ‘‘motion’’
interchangeably. See, e.g., General Statutes § 52-420. In light of the fact that
the plaintiff filed her ‘‘application’’ to vacate the arbitrator’s award within
the context of a pending Superior Court proceeding that had been stayed,
by agreement, until the arbitration had occurred; see General Statutes § 52-
409; the plaintiff’s filing has the attributes of a motion rather than an indepen-
dent application. For this reason, we refer to the plaintiff’s ‘‘application’’ as
a ‘‘motion’’ throughout this opinion.
13
Although we recognize that ‘‘[t]he decision rendered by the arbitrator
upon the controversy submitted for arbitration constitutes the arbitration
award . . . [and that] [a] final award is [o]ne [that] conclusively determines
the matter submitted and leaves nothing to be done except to execute and
carry out [its] terms’’; (emphasis added; internal quotation marks omitted)
Pickard v. Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services, 210 Conn. App.
788, 797–98, 271 A.3d 178 (2022); the ‘‘award’’ in this case is the arbitrator’s
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On April 6, 2023, the defendant filed an opposition
to the plaintiff’s motion to vacate. The defendant did
not, however, in that opposition, request the court to
confirm the arbitrator’s decision.14 Nor did the defen-
dant file, contemporaneously with its objection, a sepa-
rate application or motion to confirm the arbitrator’s
decision. Thus, in responding to the plaintiff’s motion
to vacate, the defendant did not seek to invoke the
provisions of General Statutes § 52-417, which provides
in relevant part: ‘‘At any time within one year after
an award has been rendered and the parties to the
arbitration notified thereof, any party to the arbitration
may make application to the [S]uperior [C]ourt for the
judicial district in which one of the parties resides . . .
for an order confirming the award. The court or judge
shall grant such an order confirming the award unless
the award is vacated, modified or corrected as pre-
scribed in sections 52-418 and 52-419.’’
The court, Buckley, J., held a hearing on July 10, 2023,
and, on September 8, 2023, issued a decision denying
the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s decision.
After reciting the principles that apply to a court’s
review of an arbitration award, the court determined
‘‘that the arbitrator’s ruling granting the defendant’s
motion for summary judgment was not reached in mani-
fest disregard of the law. The arbitrator made it clear
that the plaintiff did not carry her burden on the third
and fourth prongs of the McDonnell Douglas test.’’ The
decision granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, which
awards the plaintiff nothing and establishes no terms to be executed and
carried out. We therefore refer to it as a ‘‘decision’’ throughout this opinion.
14
The defendant’s sole claim in its opposition was that the court should
not vacate the arbitrator’s decision. Specifically, the defendant argued that
(1) the plaintiff’s argument that the arbitrator improperly concluded that
she had not suffered an adverse employment action was flawed both substan-
tively and procedurally and failed, therefore, to establish that the arbitrator
had manifestly disregarded the law, and (2) the arbitrator’s refusal to con-
sider an untimely brief is not ‘‘positive’’ misconduct as contemplated by
§ 52-418 (a) (3), and, even if it were, the plaintiff failed to establish that she
was prejudiced by the decision in this regard.
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Michaud v. Travelers Indemnity Co.

court further determined, with respect to the plaintiff’s
misconduct claim, that ‘‘[a]rbitrators have broad discre-
tion to enforce deadlines’’ and that ‘‘[t]he arbitrator was
well within her discretion to decline to consider the
plaintiff’s belated objection to the defendant’s motion
for summary judgment; consequently, the court does
not find that the arbitrator committed misconduct in
refusing to consider it.’’
After the court rendered its decision denying the
motion to vacate, neither party sought to have the court
confirm the arbitrator’s decision.15 Moreover, neither
party requested that the court render a final judgment
in the action in accordance with the arbitrator’s deci-
sion, or a ‘‘judgment or decree upon [the] award.’’ See
General Statutes § 52-423.16 Rather, the plaintiff filed
this appeal from the court’s ‘‘decision denying the plain-
tiff’s application to vacate the arbitrator’s award.’’
Prior to oral argument before this court, we directed
the parties to be prepared to address ‘‘whether the
plaintiff’s appeal from the trial court’s denial of her
application to vacate the arbitration award should be
dismissed for lack of a final judgment. See Hartford
Steam Boiler Inspection & Ins. Co. v. Underwriters at
Lloyd’s & Cos. Collective, 271 Conn. 474, 495–98, [857
A.2d 893] (2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 974, [125 S. Ct.
1826, 161 L. Ed. 2d 723] (2005) (Hartford Steam Boiler);
General Statutes § 52-423; State v. Curcio, 191 Conn.
27, 31, [463 A.2d 566] (1983).’’17 In response to that
15
Either party could have filed a timely application or motion to confirm
the arbitrator’s December 6, 2022 decision on or before December 6, 2023.
See General Statutes § 52-417.
16
General Statutes § 52-423 provides: ‘‘An appeal may be taken from an
order confirming, vacating, modifying or correcting an award, or from a
judgment or decree upon an award, as in ordinary civil actions.’’
17
Although the defendant did not file a motion to dismiss this appeal or
argue in its brief that the appeal should be dismissed for lack of a final
judgment, it is well settled that ‘‘[w]e [may raise], on our own motion,
the question of whether the plaintiff’s appeal has been taken from a final
judgment. . . .
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order, the plaintiff argued to this court, through counsel,
that, by denying the motion to vacate, the court ‘‘in
essence was confirming’’ the arbitrator’s decision and
that consequently, this court has jurisdiction over the
appeal. See General Statutes § 52-423. The plaintiff’s
counsel also suggested that, if the procedural posture
of this appeal does present a final judgment problem,
that problem can ‘‘be cured by obtaining a final judg-
ment now.’’
In response, the defendant argued, through counsel,
that the court’s denial of the motion to vacate is not an
appealable order and that the plaintiff’s action remains
pending in the trial court ‘‘with no final judgment’’ hav-
ing been rendered. The defendant maintains, therefore,
that we do not have subject matter jurisdiction to con-
sider the merits of this appeal.
We agree with the defendant. Specifically, we con-
clude that (1) the plaintiff does not have a statutory
right to appeal from the court’s denial of her motion
to vacate the arbitrator’s decision and (2) the court’s
denial does not implicate either of the two prongs set
forth in State v. Curcio, supra, 191 Conn. 31. Accord-
ingly, we dismiss this appeal.
‘‘We begin our analysis by recognizing that [t]he lack
of a final judgment implicates the subject matter juris-
diction of an appellate court to hear an appeal. A deter-
mination regarding . . . subject matter jurisdiction is
a question of law . . . . We commence the discussion
of our appellate jurisdiction by recognizing that there
is no constitutional right to an appeal. . . . Article fifth,
‘‘The lack of a final judgment implicates the authority of this court to
hear the appeal because it is a jurisdictional defect. . . . Thus, even where
the appellee fails to bring to our attention the lack of a final judgment,
either by motion to dismiss or in its brief, or at oral argument, we must,
nonetheless, act sua sponte.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Mase v.
Riverview Realty Associates, LLC, 208 Conn. App. 719, 726, 265 A.3d 944
(2021).
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§ 1, of the Connecticut constitution provides for a
Supreme Court, a Superior Court and such lower courts
as the [G]eneral [A]ssembly shall . . . ordain and
establish, and that [t]he powers and jurisdiction of these
courts shall be defined by law. . . . To consider the
. . . [plaintiff’s] claims . . . we must apply the law
governing our appellate jurisdiction, which is statutory.
. . . The legislature has enacted . . . [General Stat-
utes] § 52-263, which limits the right of appeal to those
appeals filed by aggrieved parties on issues of law from
final judgments. Unless a specific right to appeal other-
wise has been provided by statute, we must always
determine the threshold question of whether the appeal
is taken from a final judgment before considering the
merits of the claim . . . . Further, we have recognized
that limiting appeals to final judgments serves the
important public policy of minimizing interference with
and delay in the resolution of trial court proceedings.
. . .
‘‘Thus, [a]s a general rule, an interlocutory ruling may
not be appealed pending the final disposition of a case.
. . . In determining whether a judgment or a ruling is
an immediately appealable final judgment, courts have
routinely looked to a statute’s text to see if the legisla-
ture has provided an express right to appeal. . . . In
those instances [in which] the legislature has not pro-
vided such an express right, our courts then continue
to consider whether the right at issue implicates one
of the two prongs set forth in State v. Curcio, [supra,
191 Conn. 31].’’ (Emphasis in original; internal quotation
marks omitted.) Torrington v. Council 4, AFSCME,
AFL-CIO, Local 442, 224 Conn. App. 237, 242–43, 312
A.3d 1112 (2024).
Accordingly, we turn first to § 52-423, which ‘‘expressly
confers on parties the right to appeal from orders
related to the judicial enforcement of arbitration
awards’’; Blondeau v. Baltierra, 337 Conn. 127, 135, 252
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A.3d 317 (2020); to determine whether it provides the
plaintiff with a specific right to appeal from the denial
of her motion to vacate the arbitration award. ‘‘To the
extent that our review requires us to construe statutory
provisions, this presents a legal question over which
our review . . . is plenary.’’ (Internal quotation marks
omitted.) Rubin v. Brodie, 228 Conn. App. 617, 637, 325
A.3d 1096 (2024).
As previously noted, § 52-423 provides that ‘‘[a]n
appeal may be taken from an order confirming, vacat-
ing, modifying or correcting an award, or from a judg-
ment or decree upon an award, as in ordinary civil
actions.’’ ‘‘[Our Supreme Court has] explained that [t]he
final judgment in an arbitration proceeding is ordinarily
an order of the court vacating, modifying or confirming
the arbitrator’s award.’’ (Internal quotation marks omit-
ted.) Blondeau v. Baltierra, supra, 337 Conn. 136. Indeed,
our Supreme Court has determined that, if ‘‘the trial
court did not vacate the award, or otherwise confirm,
modify or correct it, the judgment does not constitute
an appealable final judgment pursuant to [§ 52-423].’’
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Ins. Co. v. Under-
writers at Lloyd’s & Cos. Collective, supra, 271 Conn.
496.
Moreover, in Hartford Steam Boiler, our Supreme
Court strictly applied the provisions of § 52-423 to con-
clude that a trial court’s remand order to an arbitration
panel for a rehearing to clarify an award was not an
appealable final judgment. Specifically, our Supreme
Court determined that, because the trial court did not
intend by its order ‘‘to vacate the award and direct a
rehearing pursuant to § 52-418 (b)’’; id., 480; but, rather,
intended to leave the award intact and remand it to the
panel solely for clarification, § 52-423 did not provide
it with jurisdiction to review the merits of the claims
raised on appeal. Id., 496.
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In the present case, the court did not render a final
judgment in the defendant’s favor and dispose of the
plaintiff’s complaint, nor did it, in the words of the
statute, render a judgment or decree upon the award.
Moreover, and to be clear, the plaintiff has appealed
from the court’s order denying her motion to vacate
the arbitration award, which, like the order in Hartford
Steam Boiler, did not vacate the arbitrator’s decision.
The denial of a motion to vacate, however, is not identi-
fied in § 52-423 as an order from which an appeal may
be taken, and, thus, that statute does not, by its terms,
provide the plaintiff with a right to appeal. See id.
The plaintiff nonetheless maintains that the court’s
denial of her application to vacate the arbitration award
constitutes an appealable final judgment because it
effectively confirmed the award. We disagree.
We begin by observing that, because ‘‘[t]he right to
an appeal is . . . a statutory privilege available to one
who strictly complies with the statutes and rules on
which the privilege is granted’’; Chanosky v. City Build-
ing Supply Co., 152 Conn. 449, 451, 208 A.2d 337 (1965);
‘‘[t]he conditions of the statute must therefore be met
to have a valid appeal.’’ (Internal quotation marks omit-
ted.) State v. S & R Sanitation Services, Inc., 202 Conn.
300, 307, 521 A.2d 1017 (1987). To this end, we acknowl-
edge that, if the court’s order effectively confirmed the
award as the plaintiff claims, the conditions of § 52-423
would be satisfied. See, e.g., In re Haley B., 262 Conn.
406, 412–13, 815 A.2d 113 (2003) (‘‘we examine the prac-
tical effect of the trial court’s ruling in order to deter-
mine its nature’’); see also U.S. Equities Corp. v. Cer-
aldi, 186 Conn. App. 610, 614 n.5, 200 A.3d 747 (2018)
(practical effect of court ruling determined appealabil-
ity), cert. denied, 330 Conn. 971, 200 A.3d 1151 (2019).
We do not agree with the plaintiff, however, that the
practical effect of the court’s denial of her motion to
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vacate the arbitrator’s decision was the confirmation
thereof.
To determine the nature of the trial court’s order,
we begin by examining the pertinent portions of the
established statutory scheme that governs judicial
enforcement of the arbitration award in this case. See
footnote 1 of this opinion. ‘‘Section 52-417 controls
applications [and motions] for confirmation of an arbi-
tration award and states in relevant part: At any time
within one year after an award has been rendered and
the parties to the arbitration notified thereof, any party
to the arbitration may make application to the superior
court . . . for an order confirming the award. . . .
The specific steps for applying for confirmation of an
arbitration award are set out in [General Statutes] § 52-
421 (a), which provides: Any party applying for an order
confirming, modifying or correcting an award shall, at
the time the order is filed with the clerk for the entry
of judgment thereon, file the following papers with the
clerk: (1) The agreement to arbitrate, (2) the selection
or appointment, if any, of an additional or substitute
arbitrator or an umpire, (3) any written agreement
requiring the reference of any question as provided in
section 52-415, (4) each written extension of the time,
if any, within which to make the award, (5) the award,
(6) each notice and other paper used upon an applica-
tion to confirm, modify or correct the award, and (7)
a copy of each order of the court upon such an applica-
tion.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Rubin v. Bro-
die, 225 Conn. App. 108, 114, 314 A.3d 1066 (2024).
Section 52-418, in turn, controls applications and
motions to vacate an arbitration award and provides
in relevant part: ‘‘(a) Upon the application of any party
to an arbitration, the superior court for the judicial
district in which one of the parties resides . . . shall
make an order vacating the award if it finds any of the
following defects: (1) If the award has been procured
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by corruption, fraud or undue means; (2) if there has
been evident partiality or corruption on the part of
any arbitrator; (3) if the arbitrators have been guilty of
misconduct in refusing to postpone the hearing upon
sufficient cause shown or in refusing to hear evidence
pertinent and material to the controversy or of any
other action by which the rights of any party have been
prejudiced; or (4) if the arbitrators have exceeded their
powers or so imperfectly executed them that a mutual,
final and definite award upon the subject matter submit-
ted was not made. . . .’’ ‘‘General Statutes § 52-420 (b)
creates a time limitation on bringing a motion to vacate:
‘No motion to vacate, modify or correct an award may
be made after thirty days from the notice of the award
to the party to the arbitration who makes the motion.’ ’’
Directory Assistants, Inc. v. Big Country Vein, L.P.,
134 Conn. App. 415, 420, 39 A.3d 777 (2012).
Our Supreme Court has ‘‘recognize[d] that applica-
tions to confirm and applications to vacate arbitration
awards are distinct statutory proceedings.’’ State v. New
England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199,
AFL-CIO, 271 Conn. 127, 143, 855 A.2d 964 (2004). To
this end, ‘‘§§ 52-417 and 52-418 provide the jurisdictional
requirements that are relevant to . . . applications to
vacate and confirm . . . arbitration [awards].’’ Lemma
v. York & Chapel, Corp., 204 Conn. App. 471, 477, 254
A.3d 1020 (2021).
In this case, the plaintiff timely filed a motion to
vacate the arbitrator’s decision pursuant to § 52-418, as
part of the pending civil action she initiated prior to
the inception of the arbitration proceedings, and the
defendant filed an opposition thereto. In that opposi-
tion, the defendant simply argued that the plaintiff had
not established that the arbitration award suffered from
any of the defects enumerated in § 52-418 and that the
plaintiff’s application should be denied. Importantly,
the defendant did not argue, in its opposition, that the
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court should confirm the arbitration award.18 Cf. Wind-
ham v. Doctor’s Associates, Inc., 161 Conn. App. 348,
354–55, 127 A.3d 1082 (2015) (defendant filed combined
‘‘Opposition to . . . Motion to Vacate and . . . Appli-
cation to Confirm Arbitration Award’’ requesting that
court deny motion to vacate and confirm award (inter-
nal quotation marks omitted)).
Nor did the defendant file an application with the
court, separate and apart from its objection, which
sought an order that confirmed the arbitration award
in accordance with § 52-417. See, e.g., Aldin Associates
Ltd. Partnership v. Healey, 72 Conn. App. 334, 337, 804
A.2d 1049 (2002) (defendants filed objection to applica-
tion to vacate arbitration award and separate motion to
18
We carefully have combed through the defendant’s twenty-six page
opposition, which bears the title ‘‘[The defendant’s] opposition to the plain-
tiff’s motion to vacate,’’ to ascertain whether the defendant expressly
requested the court to confirm the award, or whether it used any language
that might reasonably be construed as making such a request, and we
conclude that the defendant did not do so. The defendant presented its
entire argument under the heading ‘‘[The] plaintiff’s motion to vacate should
be denied’’ and solely focused on establishing that the provisions set forth
in § 52-418 were not satisfied. Throughout its argument, the defendant pos-
ited, on four separate occasions, that the plaintiff’s motion to vacate should,
or must, ‘‘be denied,’’ and it reiterated this single request for relief in the
one sentence conclusion section of its opposition. The defendant made no
reference to confirming the decision, nor did it seek to invoke the statutes
that would have authorized the court to do so. As such, the substance of
the defendant’s ‘‘opposition to the plaintiff’s motion to vacate’’ is consistent
with its title and there is no basis on which to construe it as anything
more than a request that the court deny the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the
arbitrator’s decision. See, e.g., Ocwen Federal Bank, FSB v. Charles, 95
Conn. App. 315, 320 n.7, 898 A.2d 197 (‘‘[i]t is the substance of a motion
. . . that governs its outcome’’ (internal quotation marks omitted)), cert.
denied, 279 Conn. 909, 902 A.2d 1069 (2006). Indeed, the court did not read
an additional claim for relief into the defendant’s opposition and neither
will this court. Cf. Wu v. Chang, 264 Conn. 307, 309–10, 312, 823 A.2d 1197
(2003) (trial court treated objection to confirmation of arbitration award as
motion to vacate arbitration award and parties did not challenge character-
ization on appeal); Rosenthal Law Firm, LLC v. Cohen, 165 Conn. App.
467, 468 n.1, 139 A.3d 774 (same), cert. denied, 322 Conn. 904, 138 A.3d
933 (2016).
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confirm arbitration award); see also Lemma v. York &
Chapel, Corp., supra, 204 Conn. App. 475 (defendant
filed application to vacate arbitration award and plain-
tiff, in response, filed application to confirm arbitration
award). As such, neither party sought, by their filings, to
invoke the provisions of § 52-417 to have the arbitration
award confirmed in accordance with the statutory
scheme pertaining to arbitration proceedings and the
enforcement of arbitration awards.19

The court, in turn, confined its analysis to the require-
ments of § 52-418 when it denied the plaintiff’s motion
to vacate the arbitration award. It explained, in doing
so, that ‘‘[a]n application to vacate or correct an award
should be granted where an arbitrator has exceeded
h[er] power,’’ and it concluded that the arbitrator had
not done so in this case. (Internal quotation marks omit-
ted.) The court recited the law pertaining to the mani-
fest disregard of the law standard and applied it to
conclude that ‘‘the arbitrator’s ruling granting the defen-
dant’s motion for summary judgment’’ did not violate
§ 52-418 (a) (4). The court also addressed the arbitra-
tor’s discretion to enforce deadlines and concluded that
she did not commit misconduct, as contemplated by
§ 52-418 (a) (3), ‘‘when she refused to consider the
19
We note that both parties had an interest in obtaining a final judgment
in this case. Had the plaintiff taken successful steps to do so, either by
seeking confirmation of the arbitrator’s decision or by seeking a judgment
thereupon, she would have unquestionably had the right to take an appeal
to challenge the merits of the court’s denial of her motion to vacate the
arbitrator’s decision. See General Statutes § 52-423. Had the defendant taken
successful steps to do so, it could have secured an end to the very proceed-
ings in the trial court it sought to avoid when it moved to compel the
arbitration. See, e.g., Bennett v. Meader, 208 Conn. 352, 362–63, 545 A.2d
553 (1988) (stated purpose of arbitration is ‘‘avoiding the formalities, delay,
expense and vexation of ordinary litigation’’ (internal quotation marks omit-
ted)). Instead, the parties’ inaction has led to an untenable situation whereby
the case remains pending in the trial court with no definitive resolution
in sight.
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plaintiff’s objection to the defendant’s motion for sum-
mary judgment because it was untimely.’’ Thus, the
court denied the plaintiff’s motion to vacate. The court
did not, however, render judgment confirming the arbi-
tration award after doing so. In fact, when the court
denied the motion to vacate on September 8, 2023, the
parties still had nearly three months within which to
timely file a motion to confirm the arbitrator’s decision
in accordance with § 52-417, although, ultimately, nei-
ther party chose to do so. As such, the trial court may
well have assumed that further proceedings would take
place after it rendered its order.
Indeed, after the court denied her motion to vacate
the arbitration award, the plaintiff could have filed a
motion to confirm the award for the purposes of secur-
ing an order from which she could appeal. See General
Statutes § 52-417. Alternatively, the plaintiff could have
asked the court to render judgment on her complaint
in the defendant’s favor for the purpose of obtaining a
final judgment and taking an appeal to challenge the
merits of the court’s decision to deny her motion to
vacate the award. See General Statutes § 52-423. Nota-
bly, our rules employ a similar procedure with respect
to the granting of motions to strike, which ‘‘ordinarily
[are] not . . . final judgment[s] because our rules of
practice afford a party a right to amend deficient plead-
ings.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Pellecchia v.
Connecticut Light & Power Co., 139 Conn. App. 88, 90,
54 A.3d 658 (2012), cert. denied, 307 Conn. 950, 60 A.3d
740 (2013). If a complaint is stricken and the plaintiff
does not replead, ‘‘the judicial authority may, upon
motion, enter judgment against [the plaintiff] on said
stricken complaint . . . . ’’ (Emphasis added.) Prac-
tice Book § 10-44. Unless and until such motion is
granted and judgment is rendered, however, there is
no final judgment from which to appeal. See Pellecchia
v. Connecticut Light & Power Co., supra, 90. For this
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reason, this court routinely dismisses appeals taken
from the granting of motions to strike where judgment
has not been rendered on the stricken claims. See id.,
91; see also Stevens v. Khalily, 220 Conn. App. 634, 641
n.9, 298 A.3d 1254 (dismissing appeal taken from order
granting motion to strike), cert. denied, 348 Conn. 915,
303 A.3d 260 (2023).
It is apparent to us, therefore, that the parties pre-
sented, and the trial court ruled on, in substance, noth-
ing more than a motion to vacate the arbitrator’s deci-
sion, filed pursuant to § 52-418, and an objection
thereto. Given that § 52-417 establishes an entirely sepa-
rate and distinct statutory procedure by which to seek
confirmation of an arbitrator’s decision, which neither
party followed, the court’s denial of the plaintiff’s
motion to vacate the arbitrator’s decision simply cannot
be deemed to have ‘‘effectively’’ confirmed the deci-
sion.20 Cf. State v. New England Health Care Employees
Union, District 1199, AFL-CIO, supra, 271 Conn. 143
(‘‘[w]hen both an application to confirm an award and
an application to vacate the award are pending before
the same trial court and the court grants the application
to confirm without ruling on the application to vacate
. . . it is logical to assume that the ruling is premised
on the court’s prior consideration and rejection of the
application to vacate’’).
Thus, under the circumstances of this case, we con-
clude that the court’s denial of the plaintiff’s application
to vacate the arbitration award is not, in effect, an order
20
Significantly, in adopting the revised act, the legislature specified in
General Statutes § 52-407ww (d), which governs the vacating of awards
made in relation to arbitration agreements made on or after October 1, 2018;
see footnote 1 of this opinion; that, ‘‘[i]f the court denies a motion to vacate
an award, it shall confirm the award unless a motion to modify or correct
the award is pending.’’ This notable departure from the provisions of § 52-
418 further supports our determination as to the limited nature of the order
the court issued in this case.
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confirming the arbitration award and that § 52-423 does
not provide us with jurisdiction to review the plaintiff’s
claims on appeal. Moreover, contrary to the suggestion
of the plaintiff’s counsel at oral argument before this
court, this jurisdictional impediment cannot be ‘‘cured
by obtaining a final judgment now.’’ It is well settled
‘‘under our case law [that] appeals from nonfinal judg-
ments are void ab initio’’; Clinton v. Aspinwall, 344
Conn. 696, 709, 281 A.3d 1174 (2022); and ‘‘any attempt
. . . to render the judgment final, nunc pro tunc,’’ at
this stage of the proceedings on appeal, would be ‘‘inef-
fectual.’’ Id., 710.21
Because § 52-423 does not provide the plaintiff with
an express right to appeal from the trial court’s denial
of her motion to vacate the arbitration award, we now
consider whether that denial satisfies the finality test
for interlocutory orders set forth in State v. Curcio,
supra,191 Conn. 31. See Hartford Steam Boiler Inspec-
tion & Ins. Co. v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s & Cos. Collec-
tive, supra, 271 Conn. 495–98; Torrington v. Council
4, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Local 442, supra, 224 Conn. App.
242–43. We conclude that it does not.
21
The plaintiff could have, however, ‘‘cured’’ the final judgment problem
at an earlier point in these proceedings, but she made no attempt to do so.
Practice Book (2023) § 61-9 provides in relevant part: ‘‘Should the trial court,
subsequent to the filing of a pending appeal, make a decision that the
appellant desires to have reviewed, the appellant shall file an amended
appeal within twenty days from the issuance of notice of the decision as
provided for in Section 63-1. . . . If the original appeal is dismissed for
lack of jurisdiction, any amended appeal shall remain pending if it was filed
from a judgment or order from which an original appeal properly could
have been filed. . . .’’
As such, if, after filing this jurisdictionally infirm appeal, the plaintiff had
filed, and the trial court had granted, either a motion to confirm the arbitra-
tor’s decision or a motion for judgment on her complaint in the defendant’s
favor, the plaintiff could have filed an amended appeal from a final judgment,
and that amended appeal would have been properly before this court. See
Practice Book (2023) § 61-9; see also Stevens v. Khalily, supra, 220 Conn.
App. 641 n.9.
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We begin by observing that our Supreme Court
applied the Curcio test under remarkably similar cir-
cumstances in Hartford Steam Boiler. After first con-
cluding that the trial court’s remand to an arbitration
panel for a rehearing to clarify the award was not
appealable under § 52-423 because the court did not
intend by that order to ‘‘vacate the award, or otherwise
confirm, modify or correct it’’; Hartford Steam Boiler
Inspection & Ins. Co. v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s & Cos.
Collective, supra, 271 Conn. 496; our Supreme Court
further concluded that neither Curcio prong was satis-
fied. Id., 496–98. Our Supreme Court began by explaining
that, ‘‘[i]n both criminal and civil cases . . . we have
determined certain interlocutory orders and rulings of
the Superior Court to be final judgments for purposes
of appeal. An otherwise interlocutory order is appeal-
able in two circumstances: (1) where the order or action
terminates a separate and distinct proceeding, or (2)
where the order or action so concludes the rights of
the parties that further proceedings cannot affect them.
. . . The first prong of the Curcio test . . . requires
that the order being appealed from be severable from
the central cause of action so that the main action can
proceed independent of the ancillary proceeding. . . .
If the interlocutory ruling is merely a step along the
road to final judgment then it does not satisfy the first
prong of Curcio.’’ (Citations omitted; internal quotation
marks omitted.) Id., 496. The court further explained
that the trial court’s remand for a rehearing to clarify
the award, ‘‘so that the court will know exactly what
it is being asked to enforce . . . is indicative of the
ongoing and unfinished nature of the process leading
to a final judgment by the court,’’ and thus did not
satisfy Curcio’s first prong. (Citation omitted; internal
quotation marks omitted.) Id., 497.
Similarly, in this case, the court’s order denying the
plaintiff’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s decision did
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not terminate a separate and distinct proceeding. The
order was issued in the context of the plaintiff’s ongoing
employment discrimination action, which remains
pending before the trial court, awaiting the entry of a
final judgment. Indeed, as we previously have stated,
the trial court has not yet been asked to enforce the
arbitrator’s decision, although both parties may still
ask it to do so. See Spearhead Construction Corp. v.
Bianco, 39 Conn. App. 122, 130, 665 A.2d 86, cert.
denied, 235 Conn. 928, 667 A.2d 554 (1995). Although
one year has passed since the arbitrator rendered her
decision; see General Statutes § 52-417; this court has
explained that the statutory procedures set forth in
‘‘§ 52-417 (application to confirm), § 52-418 (application
to vacate) or [General Statutes] § 52-419 (modification
or correction of award) . . . are not the exclusive
means for judicial enforcement of an arbitration award
but rather are an expeditious means to turn a voluntary
contractual proceeding into a judgment of the court
for purposes of executing on, or enforcement of, the
arbitration award.’’ Spearhead Construction Corp. v.
Bianco, supra, 39 Conn. App. 130. With respect to § 52-
417 in particular, we adopted reasoning the trial court
employed when denying a defendant’s motion for sum-
mary judgment that claimed the plaintiff was prevented
from seeking to otherwise enforce an arbitration award
it had not sought to confirm thereunder, as follows:
‘‘There are no provisions contained in § 52-417 which
require that an application to confirm an arbitration
award must be made. In the absence of a motion to
confirm the award, the parties would be left to their
common law remedies. Under our common law, prior
to the statute providing for an application to confirm
an award, an arbitration award was in the nature of a
judgment and the remedy for a party to an arbitration
was to bring an action on the award.’’ (Internal quota-
tion marks omitted.) Id., 132. As such, the failure to
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seek relief under § 52-417 does not leave the parties
without any recourse with respect to seeking judicial
enforcement of the arbitrator’s decision, and they may
still attempt to do so within the context of the plaintiff’s
pending action if they so choose. See Franco v. East
Shore Development, Inc., 271 Conn. 623, 632–33, 858
A.2d 703 (2004).
Moreover, the challenged order is not severable from
the employment discrimination action as it directly
relates to the plaintiff’s right to recover on the merits
of her claim. Thus, the court’s order is merely a step
along the road to a final judgment and is not appealable
under the first prong of the Curcio test. See Hartford
Steam Boiler Inspection & Ins. Co. v. Underwriters at
Lloyd’s & Cos. Collective, supra, 271 Conn. 495–98.
We further conclude that the denial of the motion to
vacate does not satisfy the second prong of the Curcio
test, which ‘‘focuses on the nature of the right involved
. . . [and] requires the parties seeking to appeal to
establish that the trial court’s order threatens the pres-
ervation of a right already secured to them and that
that right will be irretrievably lost and the [parties]
irreparably harmed unless they may immediately
appeal. . . . An essential predicate to the applicability
of this prong is the identification of jeopardy to [either]
a statutory or constitutional right that the interlocutory
appeal seeks to vindicate.’’ (Citation omitted; internal
quotation marks omitted.) Id., 497. ‘‘[Our Supreme
Court has] said that the claimed right cannot be a contin-
gent right created by statute and subject to the discre-
tion of the trial court . . . rather, the right must exist
independently of the order from which the appeal is
taken. . . .
‘‘Moreover, even when an order impinges on an
existing right, if that right is subject to vindication after
trial, the order is not appealable under the second prong
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of Curcio.’’ (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks
omitted.) Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co. v. Ace
American Reinsurance Co., 279 Conn. 220, 231, 901
A.2d 1164 (2006).
In the present case, the court’s order denying the
plaintiff’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s decision
does not implicate a statutory or constitutional right
belonging to the plaintiff. Rather, as our earlier discus-
sion illuminates, the right the plaintiff seeks to vindicate
by this appeal is a contingent right created by § 52-
418 which is subject to the discretion of the court.
Moreover, the plaintiff will be able to seek vindication
of that right following the entry of a judgment or decree
on the award that ultimately disposes of her complaint.
See, e.g., Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Ins. Co.
v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s & Cos. Collective, supra, 271
Conn. 497–98 (‘‘[a]fter the trial court’s review of the
arbitration panel’s clarifying decision, wherein it will
confirm, modify, vacate or correct the award, both [par-
ties] will be free to appeal any adverse final decision
by the court’’).
Because we conclude that the court’s order denying
the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the arbitrator’s award
does not constitute a final judgment and does not satisfy
either prong of the Curcio test, we lack subject matter
jurisdiction to review the merits of this appeal. We
emphasize, in reaching this conclusion, that ‘‘[s]trict
adherence to the requirements of the final judgment rule
under the present circumstances serves two important
purposes. First, the rule is jurisdictional, and we are
not at liberty to expand our jurisdiction merely because
it seems expedient to do so. See, e.g., Sena v. American
Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc., 333 Conn. 30,
40, 213 A.3d 1110 (2019) (‘Neither the parties nor the
trial court . . . can confer jurisdiction [on an appel-
late] court. . . . [E]xcept insofar as the legislature has
specifically provided for an interlocutory appeal or
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28 ,0 0 Conn. App. 1
Michaud v. Travelers Indemnity Co.

other form of interlocutory appellate review . . .
appellate jurisdiction is limited to final judgments of
the trial court.’ . . .)). An appeal by [the plaintiff] may
be inevitable . . . [but] [t]hat circumstance does not
allow [her] to jump the gun by obtaining appellate
review before the judgment is final. Second, even apart
from jurisdictional considerations . . . one of the prin-
cipal purposes served by the final judgment rule is to
prevent piecemeal appeals. Permitting a party to appeal
a nonfinal judgment creates the risk of fragmented trial
and appellate proceedings.’’ Benvenuto v. Brookman,
348 Conn. 609, 624–25, 309 A.3d 292 (2024).
If we were to reach the merits of the plaintiff’s appeal
and conclude that the court correctly determined that
the arbitrator’s decision did not suffer from any of the
defects set forth in § 52-418 and, thus, properly declined
to vacate it, our affirmation of the court’s order would
not necessarily put an end to the trial court proceed-
ings.22 See id. As such, the plaintiff would have an oppor-
tunity to return to the trial court and, perhaps, argue
that the arbitrator’s decision did not resolve all of her
claims. See, e.g., Spearhead Construction Corp. v.
Bianco, supra, 39 Conn. App. 132 (‘‘[a]n arbitration
award, confirmed or not, has the preclusive effect
regarding issues of law and fact litigated before and
determined by the arbitration panel’’ (emphasis added;
22
Given the procedural posture of this case, in which the arbitration
agreement is governed by part II of chapter 909; see footnote 1 of this
opinion; and neither party has filed a motion to confirm the arbitrator’s
decision, but both still have the right to secure a judgment or decree upon
the decision and/or to exercise their common-law remedies with respect to
securing judicial enforcement of the decision, it would not be appropriate
for this court to direct judgment were we to affirm the propriety of the court’s
denial of the motion to vacate. See General Statutes § 52-423; Spearhead
Construction Corp. v. Bianco, supra, 39 Conn. App. 132; cf. General Statutes
§ 52-407ww (d) (for arbitration agreements made on or after October 1,
2018, ‘‘[i]f the court denies a motion to vacate an award, it shall confirm
the award unless a motion to modify or correct the award is pending’’).
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0 Conn. App. 1 ,0 29
Michaud v. Travelers Indemnity Co.

internal quotation marks omitted)). Indeed, she has
argued in her brief to this court that the defendant failed
to move for summary judgment as to certain of her
claims and that, consequently, the arbitrator never
addressed those particular claims in her decision. ‘‘We
consider it far preferable to entertain a single appeal
raising all appellate claims emanating from a single
case, unless the circumstances require interlocutory
review under an established exception to the final judg-
ment rule.’’ Benvenuto v. Brookman, supra, 348 Conn.
625.
The appeal is dismissed.
In this appeal the other judges concurred.