Olmstead v. Mayor And Aldermen Of City Of Savannah

• Decision Date: 21 April 1938
• Docket Number: No. 26740.,26740.
• Citation: Olmstead v. Mayor And Aldermen Of City Of Savannah, 57 Ga.App. 815, 196 S.E. 923 (Ga. App. 1938)
• Parties: OLMSTEAD . v. MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF CITY OF SAVANNAH.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

57 Ga.App. 815

196 S.E. 923

OLMSTEAD .

v.MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF CITY OF SAVANNAH.

No. 26740.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2.

April 21, 1938.

Syllabus by the Court.

The ad litem notice required by the Code, § 69-308, was sufficient in this case. The court erred in sustaining the demurrer and dismissing the action.

Error from City Court of Savannah;

Alex R. MacDonell, Judge.

Action by Mrs. Anna Olmstead against the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Savannah for injuries sustained by plaintiff by tripping on a sidewalk, wherein defendant filed a demurrer. To review a judgment for defendant, plaintiff brings error.

Reversed.

E. S. Fuller and Ulmer & Dowell, all of Savannah, for plaintiff in error.

Spence M. Grayson and J. C. Hester, both of Savannah, for defendant in error.

FELTON, Judge.

The only question for decision by this court in this case is whether or not the ad litem notice given by the plaintiff to the City of Savannah was sufficient under the statute providing for such notice. The notice given the city is as follows: "As attorneys at law for Mrs. Anna Olmstead, of this city, we present to you, in accordance with section 910 of the Civil Code of Georgia, the claim of Mrs. Anna Olmstead for damages in the sum of $2500 for personal injuries received by her on September 16, 1936, while walking east on St. Julian Street, between Price and Houston Streets, she stepped on a brick in the sidewalk which turned and threw her to the sidewalk. Mrs. Olmstead suffered a fractured right arm, sprained right ankle and right knee, and was otherwise bruised on her whole right side. Mrs. Olmstead was treated by Dr. L. W. Williams, and is still suffering from the effects of said fall. We will be pleased to have you get in touch with Dr. Williams if you so desire, as to the injuries suffered by our client. Any further information will be supplied upon request from you, your honorable board, or from city attorneys."

It is admitted in the brief of counsel for the defendant in error that the notice as to time, place, and extent of injury has been sufficiently complied with, leaving only the question as to whether or not the negligence which caused the accident is sufficiently set out in the notice. Code, § 69-308, provides: "No person, firm or corporation, having a claim for money damages against any municipal corporation on account of injuries to person or property, shall bring any suit at law or equity against said municipal corporation for the same, without first presenting in writing such claim to the governing authority of said municipality for adjustment, stating the time, place, and extent of such injury, as nearly as practicable, and the negligencewhich caused the same, and no such suit shall be entertained by the courts against such municipality until the cause of action therein shall have been first presented to said governing authority, for adjustment." This act does not contemplate that the notice shall be drawn with all the technical niceties necessary in framing a declaration. The purpose of the law is simply to give the municipality notice that a citizen has a grievance against it. A substantial compliance with the section is all that is required....