2026-09-09 · Connecticut · Courts

A former Connecticut condominium board president who refused to sign a settlement her lawyer had negotiated is bound by it anyway, the Appellate Court held in a decision released August 4, 2026.¹

Nunez v. Brown-White, AC 48330, 240 Conn. App. 685, is the year's clearest illustration of how expensive intra-board conflict becomes once it reaches court — and of how little control a litigant retains once counsel is negotiating.

What happened

Soledad Nunez was a resident, association member and former president of the executive board of Seaview Village Condominium Association, Inc. She sued a fellow board member, Gwendolyn Brown-White, and the association itself — suing Brown-White both individually and in her capacity as board secretary.

The complaint ran to four counts: invasion of privacy by false light, defamation per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and a claim under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. She alleged a “campaign of intimidation, harassment, abuse, and blatantly false narratives.”

Her lawyer settled the case. She declined to sign. The defendants moved to enforce the settlement, and the trial court held a hearing under Audubon Parking Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Barclay & Stubbs, Inc., 225 Conn. 804 (1993).

The holding

The panel — Seeley, Wilson and Flynn, Js., opinion by Judge Seeley — affirmed. The trial court's finding that the parties had reached a meeting of the minds was not clearly erroneous.¹

Counsel's emails to opposing counsel, memorialising the pretrial terms and expressly accepting the offer, were properly relied on. The client's failure to sign was unavailing. Her unsworn declaration disputing her lawyer's actual authority carried no evidentiary weight, and she never sought an articulation of the trial court's decision.

1. Nunez v. Brown-White, AC 48330, 240 Conn. App. 685 — slip opinion, Connecticut Appellate Court (officially released August 4, 2026) ↩
2. HB 6166 (2025), pilot program for mediation of condominium disputes in the Probate Courts — died in the Judiciary Committee ↩
3. Most Common Homeowners Association (HOA) Complaints, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (March 11, 2026) ↩