J.M. v. Huntington Beach Union High School Dist., 3/6/17 SC
This case involves the California’s Government Claims Act (GCA), an injury to a football player suffered during high school football game, and made it all the way to the California Supreme Court. In the game, the player suffered a possible concussion; even though the coach knew this he allowed the player to subsequently participate in full-contact practice (ridiculous, if true). The player was later diagnosed with double concussion syndrome. The GCA has a six month statute of limitations for claims brought against governmental entities, like school districts. But the GCA also has some flexible safe harbors when the injured party is a minor. The injury occurred on October 31, 2011; but the minor did not file a claim against the School District within six months. The minor subsequently retained counsel, and, on October 24, 2012, counsel timely applied with the School District for permission to file a late claim. The District took no action. Over a year later, on October 28, 2013, counsel filed a petition with the superior court for relief of the obligation on filing a claim before bringing suit. The trial court rejected minor’s late petition, which was affirmed by the appellate court. The Supreme Court granted cert, and also affirmed.
The GCA claims statutes impose time limits but also provide safe harbors. Once a cause of action accrues, a claim must be filed within six months. (Gov’t Code § 911.2, subd. (a).) If that deadline is missed, a minor has a year to apply to the entity for leave to file a late claim. (§ 911.4, subd. (b).) The entity must act promptly — But if it fails to respond within 45 days, the application is deemed denied (§ 911.6(c)), which gives the claimant an opportunity to petition the court for relief (§ 946.6, subd. (a)). The Legislature allowed six months for such a petition. (§ 946.6(b).) If the petition is denied, the claimant may seek relief in the trial court or on appeal. Here, because the School District took no action on minor’s application to file a late claim, it was deemed denied on December 8, 2012. Instead of filing the petition within six months (June 9, 2013) – which would have been granted – counsel for minor waited almost a year to file a petition with the superior court. The Court found that there is a limit to the safe harbor — If claimant fails to file a timely petition, the Legislature did not contemplate yet another extension of time for the pursuit of a belated claim.
The Supreme Court also disapproved E.M. v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist. (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 736, which is probably why it granted cert in the first place. In that case, contrary to the statutory scheme, an appellate court had excused the minor’s failure to file a timely petition with the superior court within six months after LA Unified denied minor’s application to file a late claim.
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