The lesson of Quintano is that before a private civil liability remedy will be recognized for injuries resulting from a breach of obligations legislatively imposed on a governmental entity and unknown at common law, a clear expression of legislative intent must be found. See Bittle v. Brunetti, 750 P.2d 49, 57 58 (1988) (discussing Quintano). Board of County Commissioners v. Moreland, 764 P.2d 812 (Colo. 1988).

Image by t-dawg via Flickr

Whenever a claimant alleges that a statute, ordinance, or regulation implicitly creates a private right of action, the critical question is whether the legislature intended such a result. For this reason, we will not infer a private right of action based on a statutory violation unless we discern a clear legislative intent to create such a cause of action. See Quintano v. Industrial Comm’n, 178 Colo. 131, 135 36, 495 P.2d 1137, 1139 (1972). When a statute does not expressly provide for a private civil remedy, a court must consider three factors in determining if a particular plaintiff has available a private cause of action based on a violation of the statute:

whether the plaintiff is within the class of persons intended to? be benefitted by the legislative enactment;

whether the legislature intended to create, albeit implicitly, a private right of action;

and whether an implied civil remedy would be consistent with the purposes of? the legislative scheme.

Allstate Ins. Co. v. Parfrey, 830 P.2d 905, 911 (Colo. 1992).? Gerrity Oil & Gas Corp. v. Magness, 946 P.2d 913 (Colo. 1997).

If the General Assembly has the intent that employees and guests may use this statute as the basis for civil liability, then its expression of this intent should be loud and clear, by authorizing the remedy. This is not a subject in which we should attempt to infer such a legislative intent. We hold, therefore, that the petitioner may not use the statute as a basis for recovery. Board of County Commissioners v. Moreland, 764 P.2d 812 (Colo. 1988).

• What are some Principles of Statutory Construction? III
• Supreme Court on Subject Matter Jurisdiction
• Hiring an Attorney for a Thai Fiancee: Conducting Due Diligence
• Colorado Supreme Court Asked to Hold Trial Judge in Contempt Part 2
• What is “Abuse of Process”?
• When Does a Statute Abrogate Your Common-Law Rights?
• What are some Principles of Statutory Construction?
• Who Says There is No Federal Common Law?
• Whatever Happened to Private Prosecutors?
• When is Common Law Deemed Repealed?