Matter of O'Shea v. State of New York

In Matter of O'Shea v. State of New York (36 AD3d 706 [2d Dept 2007]), which affirmed the denial of a motion to dismiss a claim for failure to comply with 11 (b) pleading requirements, a somewhat similar procedural history was considered by the court: "in July 1998 the claimant . . . accidentally cut off two of his fingers while using a table saw. He packed the fingers in ice and went to the emergency room at the University Hospital & Medical Center at Stony Brook, a hospital owned and operated by the defendant. The claimant alleges that, despite repeated entreaties to the emergency room personnel by both he and his wife, he was not treated for approximately six hours, at which point re-attachment of his fingers was no longer possible. Thereafter, the claimants failed to serve a timely notice of intention to file a claim or to actually file such a claim. Thus, in a prior motion, they sought leave to file a late claim. Appended to their motion papers was a proposed claim setting forth the facts and alleging medical malpractice. in October 1999 the Court of Claims granted the motion, and the order of the Court of Claims was affirmed by this Court on appeal . . . The claimants filed a claim seeking damages for medical malpractice and for negligent hiring and supervision. However, in what was an obvious oversight, the claim did not set forth the fact that the claimant's fingers were severed nor the particulars as to the alleged malpractice." The O'Shea court held, at p. 707, that: "The proposed claim in the prior motion provided the defendant with timely notice of all of the relevant facts and allegations giving rise to the claim. Thus, the purpose underlying Court of Claims Act 11 (b) was clearly served. The defendant had a sufficiently detailed description of the particulars of the claim to enable it to investigate and promptly ascertain the existence and extent of its liability."