In Beretey v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp. (Elmhurst Hosp. Center) , Mariama Sheriff sued the hospital where she gave birth to her son, Mammud, who was injured during delivery.
In 1996, Elmhurst Hospital Center gave Sheriff labor-inducing drugs and, when they weren't effective, doctors performed a caesarean section which caused the kid to suffer perinatal asphyxia and respiratory depression. Four years later, in 2000, Sheriff learned her son suffered from "severe cognitive development delays and some motor-condition difficulties." But it wasn't until January 2006 Sheriff served the Hospital with a Notice of Claim. (The negligence suit was filed a month later.)
After the Queens County Supreme Court found Sheriff's Notice of Claim untimely and denied her request to serve a late Notice of Claim, she appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
According to the AD2, when determining whether to allow a late Notice of Claim, Elmhurst's actual knowledge of the essential facts was an important consideration. Since there was no indication the hospital knew of Mammud's injury, the lower court's determination was affirmed.
(Sheriff also failed to offer an adequate excuse for the late filing. It took her more than five years from the injury's discovery to consult with attorneys, and the appellate court didn't take too kindly to that delay.)
The AD2 shot the Sheriff !
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Beretey v. New York City Health & Hosps. Corp. (Elmhurst Hosp. Center)