MATTER OF GILLUM v. County of Nassau

• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Citation: MATTER OF GILLUM v. County of Nassau, 284 AD2d 533, 726 N.Y.S.2d 458 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001)
• Decision Date: 25 June 2001
• Parties: In the Matter of PAULETTE GILLUM, Respondent,<BR>v.<BR>COUNTY OF NASSAU, Appellant, and TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD, Respondent.

284 A.D.2d 533

726 N.Y.S.2d 458

In the Matter of PAULETTE GILLUM, Respondent,

v.COUNTY OF NASSAU, Appellant, and TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD, Respondent.

Decided June 25, 2001.

O'Brien, J. P., Krausman, Goldstein and Crane, JJ., concur.

Ordered that the order is reversed insofar as appealed from, on the law and as a matter of discretion, with costs, and that branch of the petitioner's application which was for leave to serve upon the appellant a late notice of claim is denied.

The Supreme Court improvidently exercised its discretion in granting that branch of the petitioner's application which was for leave to serve upon the appellant a late notice of claim one year after the accident. Even accepting the petitioner's assertion that she was incapacitated due to her injuries, she failed to offer any excuse for the five-month delay after she obtained counsel (see, Matter of McAllister v County of Nassau, 202 AD2d 670).

Furthermore, the petitioner failed to establish that the appellant had received actual notice within 90 days after the claim arose or a reasonable time thereafter (see, DeAngelis v Board of Educ., 281 AD2d 448). The police accident report did not provide the appellant with notice of the essential facts constituting the petitioner's claim (see, Matter of Dominguez v City of New York, 272 AD2d 326).

The petitioner contends that her delay in serving the notice of claim did not prejudice the appellant, as it had actual notice of...