Application to File Late Notice of Claim (30 Days Late) Should Have Been Granted—Respondents Had Notice of the Incident and Short Delay Did Not Affect Ability to Investigate
In concluding the application to file a late notice of claim should have been granted, the First Department explained the relevant analysis. The court noted the city had timely notice of the incident and the 30 delay in filing the notice did not prejudice the city’s ability to investigate:
General Municipal Law § 50e(5) confers upon the court “the discretion to determine whether to grant or deny leave to serve a late notice of claim within certain parameters” (Matter of Porcaro v City of New York, 20 AD3d 357, 358 [1st Dept 2005]). The statute provides, in pertinent part, that in determining whether to grant an extension of time to serve a notice of claim, a court shall consider, in particular, whether the public corporation acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim within the 90day period specified in § 50e(1) “or within a reasonable time thereafter” (§ 50e[5]). Further, under the statute, the court must take into account all other relevant facts and circumstances, including, among other things, whether the petitioner offered a reasonable excuse for the late notice and whether the delay substantially prejudiced the respondent’s defense on the merits … . The presence or absence of any one factor, however, is not determinative … . Moreover, while the court has discretion in determining motions to file late notices of claim, the statute is remedial in nature, and therefore should be liberally construed … .
…[R]espondents had actual knowledge of the pertinent facts constituting the claim … .
In addition, petitioner attempted to serve the notice of claim only 30 days after expiration of the statutory 90-day period for filing a notice of claim against a municipality. This short delay does not prejudice respondents’ ability to investigate and defend the claim, as such a short passage of time is unlikely to have affected witnesses’ memories of the relevant events. Matter of Thomas v City of New York, 2014 NY Slip Op 04423, 1st Dept 6-17-14