This case involves two fatalities following a multi-vehicle accident. Both Timothy O’Donnell and his 5 year old daughter B.O. were killed. Pamela O’Donnell, Timothy’s widow, retained an attorney who prepared a Tort Claims Act notice and identified the correct public entity in the Tort Claims Act notice but then served it upon the wrong entity. As it turned out, a separate claimant involved in the same accident did file and serve a timely tort claims act notice upon the correct entity. The New Jersey Supreme Court was asked to decide whether these circumstances constituted extraordinary circumstances so as to permit the filing of a late notice of claim.
Timothy O’Donnell was driving westbound on the New Jersey Turnpike with his daughter B.O. in the back seat. As they approached a tollbooth at Interchange 14C, Timothy’s vehicle was rear-ended by a vehicle travelling at a high rate of speed, propelling his vehicle onto the opposite side of the Turnpike and into oncoming traffic. Timothy was struck head on by an ambulance driven by Eliasar Morales, who was injured in the accident. Both Timothy and his daughter were killed.
Timothy’s widow, Pamela O’Donnell, hired counsel who served a notice of tort claim upon the Bureau of Risk Management of the State of New Jersey. The notice identified the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”) as a responsible party and alleged that its actions caused the deaths of Timothy and their daughter. The notice claimed that Timothy’s vehicle would not have been propelled to the other side if the Turnpike had installed safety barriers to separate opposing lanes of traffic. That notice was timely served upon the State but not the NJTA.
Thereafter, O’Donnell’s widow obtained new counsel, who served an amended notice of claim on the NJTA 197 days after the accident. Two days later, she filed suit against the NJTA. The NJTA filed a motion to dismiss the claim based upon the failure to timely file a notice of claim in 90 days, as required pursuant to N.J.S.A. 59:8-8. O’Donnell opposed the motion and filed a cross-motion seeking permission to file a late notice of tort claim, alleging that the NJTA would not suffer substantial prejudice and extraordinary circumstances justified the untimely filing. (N.J.S.A. 59:8-9 permits, upon the discretion of the trial judge, a notice of claim to be filed within one year after the accrual of the claim, if the public entity “has not been substantially prejudiced” and if the claimant can show upon affidavit “sufficient reasons constituting extraordinary circumstances for his failure to file notice of claim” within the 90 day time period.)
The trial judge found that O’Donnell had demonstrated extraordinary circumstances and allowed her to file a late notice of claim. This decision was appealed to the Appellate Division, which reversed. It found that the attorney’s failure to serve the proper entity did not constitute extraordinary circumstances and the State had no obligation to forward the wrongly filed notice to the NJTA.
O’Donnell filed a petition for certification, which the Supreme Court granted. It also permitted O’Donnell to expand the record to include the Morale’s notice of tort claim, which had been timely served upon the NJTA. Morale’s notice provided the details of the accident, as well as the allegation that the NJTA failed to install roadway safety barriers. It also attached the police report as to the incident.
The Supreme Court found that, in considering the totality of circumstances, that O’Donnell had demonstrated extraordinary circumstances. The Court noted that O’Donnell did not sit on her rights. She did retain counsel who, within the 90 day time period, prepared a proper notice of tort claim. The notice listed the NJTA as the responsible party and alleged that it was NJTA’s failure to install safety barriers to prevent vehicles from crossing into oncoming traffic that caused the deaths of her husband and daughter.
Further, the Court noted that the NJTA did receive a timely notice of claim from Morales, which notice of claim was nearly identical. It provided all of the details of the accident and the same theory of liability. His notice attached the police report, which explicitly listed Timothy and B.O. and indicated they died in the accident.
The Supreme Court analyzed the two tort claims notices together, in combination with the circumstances surrounding this terrible accident, and found that the NJTA was notified of its potential liability within the 90 days of the accident. Utilizing the Morales’ notice, the NJTA was able “to investigate potential claims from the accident, prepare a defense, and formulate a plan to remedy promptly any Turnpike defect.” The Court found that when O’Donnell finally served her amended notice of claim, the NJTA was already aware of its potential liability and was not prejudiced by the untimely filing.
It seemed clear that the Supreme Court was limiting its holding to the “unique facts” presented in this case: that O’Donnell quickly pursued her claims against the NJTA, identifying the NJTA as the correct responsible party but improperly serving the State as opposed to the NJTA; that another claimant from the same accident, Morales, served a timely notice of claim on the NJTA, describing the exact circumstances of the accident and the same theory of liability against the NJTA; and that O’Donnell filed for leave within one year following the accident to file a late notice of claim.
The Supreme Court refers to this matter as a “rare” case, in which the claimant had presented adequate proofs indicating that the totality of facts and circumstances are extraordinary and, hence, the Court found it “consistent with the Tort Claims Act, its legislative history, our precedent, and the interests of justice to allow the claimant to pursue his or her claims against the public entity.” Thus, the Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Davison’s decision and reinstated the O’Donnell’s complaint.
This case can be found at O’Donnell v. New Jersey Turnpike Authority, 2019 N.J. LEXIS 42 (Jan. 14, 2019). Its holding will be of limited application. This was a narrow holding and cannot be construed to carte blanche excuse a plaintiff who names the correct public entity in a tort claims act notice, but serves the wrong entity. It seems that the tipping factor for the Court was that another claimant in the same accident had timely filed a Tort Claims Act notice, giving the NJTA notice of the O’Donnell fatalities. Hence, there was no prejudice to the NJTA in permitting the late notice to be filed.
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Betsy G. Ramos, Esq. is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Litigation Group. She is an experienced litigator with over 25 years’ experience handling diverse matters. Her practice areas include tort defense, insurance coverage, Tort Claims Act and civil rights defense, business litigation, employment litigation, construction litigation, estate litigation and general litigation.