Filing a notice of claim as required by law a condition precedent to maintaining the lawsuit
McKie v LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, 2011 NY Slip Op 04755, Appellate Division, First Department
In this employment discrimination action, Supreme Court dismissed Shirley A. Zuri McKie, finding that she had failed to file a notice of claim within 90 days of the events giving rise to the lawsuit she had filed against LaGuardia Community College and the City University of New York as required by Education Law § 6224[1],[2].
The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s ruling, holding that contrary to McKie’s contention to the contrary, the requirement of filing a notice of claim within 90 days as a condition precedent to bringing suit against a community college of the City University of New York and applies to all claims asserted against such community college, not just tort and wrongful death claims.”
In addition, the court rejected McKie’s claim that Education Law §6224 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the New York State Constitution “because it affords less protection to employees of junior colleges than it does to similarly situated employees of senior colleges.”
The Appellate Division noted that similar constitutional challenges have been rejected in prior cases, citing Guarrera v Lee Mem. Hosp., 51 AD2d 867, Leave to appeal denied, 39 NY2d 942. In this instance, said the court, it was not persuaded that the two classes of employees at issue here are similarly situated, or that the distinctions drawn between employees of junior colleges and those of senior colleges are not rationally based.
The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2011/2011_04755.htm