The Third Department determined the notice of claim, although “bare bones,” was sufficient under the circumstances because defendant Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) had conducted an investigation into the fire at a residential care facility with caused the death of claimant’s decedent:
Court of Claims Act § 11 (b) “places five specific substantive conditions upon [defendant’s] waiver of sovereign immunity by requiring the claim to specify (1) the nature of the claim; (2) the time when it arose; (3) the place where it arose; (4) the items of damage or injuries claimed to have been sustained; and (5) the total sum claimed” … . These statutory requirements are “strictly construed” … . The guiding principle and “purpose of the notice of claim requirement [is] to allow [defendant] to investigate the claim and to estimate its potential liability” … . “‘Absolute exactness'” is not required …, but the claim must enable prompt investigation and be “sufficiently specific to enable [a] defendant to reasonably infer the basis for its alleged liability” … . Moreover, defendant is not required “to ferret out or assemble information that section 11 (b) obligates the claimant to allege” … . * * *
Where an agency of defendant has performed the internal investigation of an incident and is therefore the primary or, perhaps, even the sole source of information upon which a claim is based, it cannot be readily found that a lack of specificity has interfered with defendant’s ability to investigate a claim … , nor that defendant has been improperly required to “assemble” information regarding a claim … . Davila v State of New York, 2016 NY Slip Op 04752, 3rd Dept 6-16-16
NEGLIGENCE (IN LIGHT OF DEFENDANT’S INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRE WHICH CAUSED CLAIMANT’S DECEDENT’S DEATH, THE NOTICE OF CLAIM WAS SUFFICIENT)/COURT OF CLAIMS (IN LIGHT OF DEFENDANT’S INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRE WHICH CAUSED CLAIMANT’S DECEDENT’S DEATH, THE NOTICE OF CLAIM WAS SUFFICIENT)/NOTICE OF CLAIM (IN LIGHT OF DEFENDANT’S INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRE WHICH CAUSED CLAIMANT’S DECEDENT’S DEATH, THE NOTICE OF CLAIM WAS SUFFICIENT)