Mark v. Board of Education
The Supreme Court, Kings County, denied the petitioners' application for leave to serve a late notice of claim, an order which was subsequently affirmed on appeal. The appellate court found no improvident exercise of discretion in the denial. The petitioners failed to provide a legally acceptable excuse for their almost six-month delay beyond the 90-day statutorily-prescribed period. Additionally, the petitioners did not provide the respondents with actual notice of the essential facts of the claim within the required timeframe. The court noted that the conditions at the accident scene changed to the prejudice of the respondents, preventing their own investigation, and the ladder involved was allegedly discarded immediately after the incident. Filing a Workers’ Compensation claim was also deemed insufficient to satisfy the notice requirements of General Municipal Law § 50-e.