Late notice of claim.

The Second Department granted leave to serve a late notice of claim, pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-e(5), in Hursala v. Seaford Middle School, which was decided on December 26, 2007. The court began by noting that (1) petitioners had demonstrated a reasonable excuse for failing to serve a timely notice; (2) defendant had actual knowledge of the essential facts of the claim within 90 days or a reasonable time thereafter; (3) the injured petitioner was an infant; and (4) the delay would not substantially prejudice a defense on the merits.

Specifically, the court found that petitioners demonstrated a reasonable excuse for the delay since they were unaware of the severity of the infant petitioner's ankle injury until eight months after the accident. Further, defendant will not be substantially prejudiced since all of the witnesses to the accident are known, and there will likely be no problem in interviewing them.