2014 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4106 (June 11, 2014)At issue on this appeal was whether the plaintiff’s application to serve a late notice of claim against a municipality should be granted. In considering the application to file a late notice of claim involving the §240(1) claim in this case, the court considered these factors:Whether the public corporation or its attorney or insurance carrier had actual noticeWhether the petition had a reasonable excuseWhether the delay substantially prejudiced the public corporations (N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law §50-e[5])In this case, the court noted that the plaintiff not having a reasonable excuse was not fatal, because the public corporation had actual notice and was not prejudiced.Practice Note: Within two days of the accident, reports had been filed with the public corporation’s attorneys and insurance carrier by the public corporation’s security office that described the time and date of the accident, the injuries, and how the accident occurred.

One such limitation is the notice of claim provisions contained in most states’ general municipal laws, including the laws of New York, which require a claimant to notify the municipality of a claim within a period of time, typically 90 days, following the event on which it is based. N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law §§ 50-e, 50-I (McKinney’s 2013). In New York, there is also a “judge-made” doctrine of municipal immunity that, notwithstanding the general waiver of sovereign immunity, limits municipal liability in negligence cases.