GAUDIO v. CITY OF NEW YORK (1997)

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

Frank GAUDIO, Petitioner-Appellant, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Respondent-Respondent.

Decided: January 09, 1997

Before SULLIVAN, J.P., and MILONAS, ROSENBERGER, NARDELLI and MAZZARELLI, JJ.

Ralph Cohen, for petitioner-appellant. Ellen B. Fishman, for respondent-respondent.

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Fern Fisher-Brandveen, J.), entered on or about November 15, 1995, which denied petitioner's application for leave to serve a late notice of claim, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Petitioner's ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse for failing to serve a timely notice of claim (Turkenitz v. City of New York, 213 A.D.2d 266, 624 N.Y.S.2d 127), and the excuse that he did not appreciate the full extent of his injuries until two months after the accident cannot be accepted in the absence of any supporting medical evidence explaining, first, why the injury took so long to become apparent, and, second, why it might have prevented plaintiff from seeking the advice of an attorney for another three months (see, id.; compare, Myette v. New York City Hous. Auth., 204 A.D.2d 54, 611 N.Y.S.2d 521).

MEMORANDUM DECISION.

Was this helpful?

Why was this helpful?

Easy to understand

Solved my problem

Other

Why was this not helpful?

Missing the information I need

Too complicated / too many steps

Out of date

Other

Thank you for your feedback!

Welcome to FindLaw's Cases & Codes

A free source of state and federal court opinions, state laws, and the United States Code. For more information about the legal concepts addressed by these cases and statutes visit FindLaw's Learn About the Law.

Go To Learn About The Law