Breach of Contract Action Against School District Untimely—Notice of Claim Required by Education Law 3813 Not Filed Within Three Months of the Accrual of the Claim

In finding plaintiff’s breach of contract action against defendant school district was time-barred, the Second Department noted the Education Law, as a condition precedent, requires the filing of a notice of claim within three months of the accrual of the cause of action:

Education Law § 3813(1) requires a party to serve a notice of claim upon a school district within three months after the accrual of such claim as a condition precedent to the commencement of an action … . Claims arising out of a breach of contract accrue when “payment for the amount claimed was denied” (Education Law § 3813[1]). A denial of payment is only deemed to occur “upon an explicit refusal to pay” or when a party should have viewed its claim as having been constructively rejected … . Here, in support of that branch of the defendants’ cross motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, the defendants demonstrated, prima facie, that the plaintiff failed to serve a notice of claim within three months of … the date when the defendants explicitly refused payment to the plaintiff. In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact … . School Aid Specialists, LLC v Board of Educ. of Warwick Val. Cent. Sch. Dist., 2015 NY Slip Op 06328, 2nd Dept 7-29-15