Road Defect Exception to Governmental Immunity Requires Adequate Notice
Plaintiff was operating his auto on I-696 in Macomb County when a 20-pound chunk of concrete dislodged from the freeway and smashed through his windshield causing serious head injuries. Plaintiff sent a notice of claim and amended notice of claim to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in an effort to satisfy the statutory notice required before suing a state agency. Plaintiff then filed a lawsuit with the Court of Claims against MDOT alleging a highway defect under the highway exception to governmental immunity. The Court of Claims ruled that Plaintiff’s notice was defective. Summary disposition was granted for the Defendant.
On appeal, the Michigan Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case. The lower Court’s ruling was vacated because nothing within the applicable statute explicitly stated that the filing of the Complaint was insufficient notice. The statute merely required that a claimant “shall serve notice on the governmental agency of the occurrence of the injury and the defect.” The statute further requires that the notice shall include “the exact location and nature of the defect, the injury sustained and the names of the [known] witnesses….” See: MCL 691.1402(1).
The Supreme Court held that Plaintiff’s Complaint filed with the Court of Claims was “notice” but remanded the case to the Court of Claims with instructions to determine whether the Plaintiff met the statutory requirement to provide a description of the “exact location” of the alleged highway defect.
Click on the link to read the full opinion in the case of Norman Champine v. Department of Transportation.
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