You are here: / / CLAIMANT INITIALLY BELIEVED THE ROAD WHERE HE STEPPED IN A POTHOLE AND...
, , ,

CLAIMANT INITIALLY BELIEVED THE ROAD WHERE HE STEPPED IN A POTHOLE AND FELL WAS OWNED BY THE VILLAGE, BUT IN FACT IT WAS OWNED BY THE STATE; CLAIMANT’S LATE NOTICE OF CLAIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE COURT OF CLAIMS (THIRD DEPT). ​

The Third Department, reversing the Court of Claims, determined claimant’s late notice of claim in this roadway defect case should not have been rejected. Plaintiff alleged he stepped in a depression in the road and fell. Plaintiff initially believed the road was owned by the village, when, in fact, it was owned by the state. The defect in the road was patched within a week of plaintiff’s fall:

The delay here was minimal, with defendant having received notice approximately three weeks after the 90-day deadline lapsed … . It is significant that when [claimant] returned to the accident scene … , he discovered that the pothole had been patched with blacktop, as shown in the photographs taken that day. Claimant further averred that the depression was “almost a foot wide and around ten feet long,” specifying that it was “about three to four inches deep where [his] foot ended up.” Given this postaccident development, claimant’s attorney argued that “[w]hile [defendant] may not have obtained notice of the . . . accident within 90 days of its occurrence, it is highly likely that it had notice of the condition of the pavement that caused the accident as it patched it within a week of when the accident happened,” emphasizing that defendant’s “records should indicate precisely when it was patched as well as when the decision to patch it occurred and why.” * * *

“A claim has the appearance of merit so long as it is not patently groundless, frivolous or legally defective, and the record as a whole gives reasonable cause to believe that a valid cause of action exists” … . To hold defendant liable for his injuries, claimant will need to prove that defendant either created the condition itself by affirmative acts of negligence, or had actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition and failed to remedy such condition, thereby causing claimant’s injuries … . Constructive notice exists where a depression in the roadway was “visible and apparent and existed for a sufficient length of time prior to the accident to permit defendant’s employees to discover and remedy it” … . Grasse v State of New York, 2024 NY Slip Op 03110, Third Dept 6-6-24

Practice Point: The criteria for acceptance or rejection of a late notice of claim in the Court of Claims is explained.

 

You might also like
MOTHER, ALTHOUGH A FIT AND LOVING PARENT, WAS PROPERLY STRIPPED OF LEGAL CUSTODY, DISSENT DISAGREED (THIRD DEPT).
CLAIMANT WAS AN EMPLOYEE OF A CONSULTING COMPANY FOR AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS AND WAS THEREFORE ENTITLED TO UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS (THIRD DEPT).
DEFENDANT RETAILER’S EMPLOYEE ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTED TO FIX A MALFUNCTIONING CROSSBOW AND RETURNED IT TO PLAINTIFF IN VIOLATION OF THE RETAILER’S RETURN POLICY; PLAINTIFF ALLEGED HE WAS THEREAFTER INJURED BY THE CROSSBOW; THE RETAILER’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE NEGLIGENCE CAUSE OF ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (THIRD DEPT).
INCONSISTENCIES IN THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM’S EXPERT’S TESTIMONY REQUIRED ANNULMENT OF THE DENIAL OF PETITIONER POLICE OFFICER’S APPLICATION FOR ACCIDENTAL AND PERFORMANCE OF DUTY RETIREMENT BENEFITS.
THE REPEAL OF THE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW REQUIRING VACCINATION AGAINST MEASLES IS CONSTITUTIONAL (THIRD DEPT).
THE BREACH OF THE IMPLIED COVENANT OF GOOD FAITH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED AS DUPLICATIVE OF THE BREACH OF CONTRACT CAUSE OF ACTION (THIRD DEPT).
Village’s Opting to Remove Petitioner’s Land from the Land Available for Purchase by New York City to Maintain the City’s Drinking-Water Watershed Was Not a Regulatory Taking
DEFENDANT ARGUED HAD SHE BEEN INFORMED DEPORTATION WAS NOT AN ISSUE SHE WOULD HAVE PLED GUILTY AND THEREBY AVOIDED THE LONGER SENTENCE IMPOSED AFTER TRIAL, HEARING ON MOTION TO SET ASIDE HER CONVICTION ON INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE GROUNDS SHOULD HAVE BEEN HELD.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

HERE THE PEOPLE’S FAILURE TO PROVIDE TEN-DAY’S NOTICE THEY WERE... PLAINTIFF MODEL SUFFICIENTLY ALLEGED PHOTOSHOOTS DONE WHEN SHE WAS 16 AND 17...