CGS § 31-51bb. Right of employee to pursue cause of action.

Permits employee, despite prior voluntary submission of a related claim to final arbitration under collective bargaining agreement, to pursue statutory cause of action in Superior Court. 226 C. 475. Cited. 229 C. 801; 236 C. 421. Section does not create independent right to jury determination of damages when it is unclear that any litigant has such a right. 278 C. 692. Although collective bargaining agreement was relevant to degree of economic losses suffered by plaintiff, her indemnification claim was authorized by statute, Sec. 53-39a, and she was not required to exhaust administrative remedies prior to bringing action. 300 C. 708. The phrase “in a court of competent jurisdiction” was not intended to specify the forum in which an employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement may vindicate the right to raise a statutory claim in an agency, but was intended to make clear that the procedures provided for in a collective bargaining agreement would not be the exclusive vehicle by which employees covered by that agreement may vindicate their statutory and constitutional rights; Compensation Review Board correctly determined that section permitted plaintiff to file a claim with the Workers' Compensation Commission pursuant to Sec. 31-290a, despite the fact that the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration had issued an adverse decision on a similar claim in the arbitration proceeding brought pursuant to plaintiff's collective bargaining agreement. 329 C. 366.