HUNTINGDON BEACH, Calif. — The California Supreme Court in a March 6 filing ruled in favor of a school district in a case involving a high-school football player injured during a game.
A Huntingdon Beach student, a minor, sustained injuries while playing in a game in October 2011. According to court records, J.M. claimed he was injured when he was tackled during a football game on Oct. 9. On Oct. 31, he was diagnosed with double-concussion syndrome.
A year later, the student’s attorney filed suit against the Huntingdon Beach Union School District. The case eventually made its way to the California Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the school district, saying the player can’t file a claim because he waited too long.
The case, J.M. vs. Huntingdon Beach Union High School District, fell under the auspices of the Government Claims Act. According to the law, the student had six months to file a suit against the school district.
After the six-month period, the student retained an attorney, and they filed a petition on Oct. 24, 2012.
The late claim to the district was denied after 45 days under the Government Claims Act. The plaintiff’s attorney, though, claimed the district should have granted the application, and the case went to district court.
The plaintiff claimed that the district should have granted his application and the case headed to superior court and then appeals court. Both courts upheld the denial of the late claim.
In affirming the previous decision, the Supreme Court said there was no wiggle room when it comes to the Government Claims Act. The six-month window is “mandatory, not discretionary,” the court wrote, and that even if the claimant is a minor, there is no exception to the act.
“I note that the statutory scheme governing applications for leave to file a late claim raises an apparent anomaly that the Legislature may wish to address. When a late claim application has been presented to a public entity, the entity 'shall grant or deny the application within 45 days,'” Justice Goodwin Liu wrote in the concurring opinion.
“When the 'person who sustained the alleged injury, damage or loss was a minor during all of the time specified . . . for the presentation of the claim,' the public entity 'shall grant the application,'” Liu wrote.