O'Donnell v. N.J. Tpk. Auth.

199 A.3d 786, 236 N.J. 335
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedJanuary 14, 2019
DocketA-69 September Term 2017; 080735
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 199 A.3d 786 (O'Donnell v. N.J. Tpk. Auth.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Donnell v. N.J. Tpk. Auth., 199 A.3d 786, 236 N.J. 335 (N.J. 2019).

Opinion

JUSTICE SOLOMON delivered the opinion of the Court.

*788**338This appeal arises from the tragic deaths of Timothy O'Donnell and his five-year-old daughter, B.O.,1 following a fatal multi-vehicle accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. Timothy's widow and B.O.'s mother, Pamela O'Donnell (O'Donnell), sought to hold the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) liable for the wrongful death of her husband and daughter pursuant to the New Jersey Tort Claims Act, N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 to 59:12-3. O'Donnell's attorney prepared a notice of tort claim describing the fatal accident and naming the NJTA as the responsible entity. Within ninety days of the accident, O'Donnell's attorney served her notice **339of claim on the State, rather than the NJTA. However, another driver involved in the accident properly served the NJTA within the ninety-day window. This notice of claim served upon the NJTA cited the exact circumstances surrounding the collisions, named the involved parties, and alleged the same theory of liability against the NJTA. After the ninety-day window had closed but within one year of the accident, O'Donnell sought leave to file an amended notice of claim with the NJTA, arguing that she should be permitted to file her notice of claim late pursuant to N.J.S.A. 59:8-9 because extraordinary circumstances existed.

We are asked to determine whether extraordinary circumstances exist under N.J.S.A. 59:8-9 to permit the untimely filing of a notice of claim when: (1) the claimant pursues her claims against a public entity in good faith within ninety days of the accident and identifies the proper entity in her notice of claim, but serves the wrong public entity; (2) a separate claimant serves a timely notice of claim on the correct public entity pursuant to N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, citing the exact circumstances, parties, and theories of liability in his or her notice; and (3) the claimant then invokes N.J.S.A. 59:8-9's procedure for obtaining judicial approval of an untimely notice of claim within one year of the accident giving rise to the tort claim. We conclude that, under the limited circumstances of this case, extraordinary circumstances existed justifying O'Donnell's late filing. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division.

I.

On a February afternoon, Timothy O'Donnell was driving westbound on the Turnpike with his five-year-old daughter B.O. in the rear passenger seat. As the pair travelled toward their Bayonne home and approached a tollbooth at Interchange 14C, Timothy's vehicle was violently rear-ended by a vehicle travelling erratically and at a high rate of speed. The impact propelled Timothy's vehicle onto the opposite side of the Turnpike and into oncoming traffic, where it was struck head on by *789an ambulance driven by **340Eliasar Morales.2 Both Timothy and B.O. died as a result of the accident.

Timothy's widow and B.O.'s mother, O'Donnell, hired counsel to sue the other drivers involved in the accident and the NJTA. On May 17, 2016, within ninety days of the accident, O'Donnell's attorney served a notice of claim under N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 on the Bureau of Risk Management of the State of New Jersey. However, the attorney did not serve a notice of claim on the NJTA as is required by the Tort Claims Act. The filed notice of claim described the fatal accident and indicated that it occurred on the afternoon of February 22, 2016 on the Turnpike near the 14C Interchange. In the notice, O'Donnell named the NJTA as the responsible state agency and listed its address. O'Donnell alleged that the NJTA's negligence caused the deaths of Timothy and B.O. Specifically, the notice stated that Timothy's vehicle would not have propelled to the opposite side of the Turnpike had the NJTA installed safety barriers to separate opposing lanes of traffic.

O'Donnell retained new counsel, who served an amended notice of claim on the NJTA one hundred and ninety-seven days after the accident. Two days later, O'Donnell brought suit individually, on behalf of the estates of Timothy and B.O., and as guardian of her minor daughter who was not involved in the accident. She asserted claims against the NJTA and others under the Wrongful Death Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:31-1 to -6, the Survival Act, id. § 15-3, and Green v. Bittner, 85 N.J. 1, 15-20, 424 A.2d 210 (1980) (extending scope of recovery in actions for the wrongful death of a child to loss of companionship, subject to stated limitations).3

**341The NJTA filed a Rule 4:6-1 motion to dismiss the complaint, contending that O'Donnell failed to serve the notice of claim within ninety days of the accident pursuant to N.J.S.A. 59:8-8.4 The NJTA argued that under N.J.S.A. 59:8-7, O'Donnell's initial notice of claim had to be served timely on the NJTA, rather than the State. O'Donnell opposed the NJTA's motion and filed a cross-motion for leave to file a late notice of claim under N.J.S.A. 59:8-9, which permits a claimant to apply to the court for permission to file a late notice of claim if the public entity will not suffer substantial prejudice and extraordinary circumstances justify the untimely filing.

The trial court denied the NJTA's motion to dismiss and granted O'Donnell's cross-motion. It found that O'Donnell failed to serve timely a notice of claim on the NJTA and that service on the State did not constitute service on the NJTA under the Tort Claims Act. Nevertheless, the trial court found that O'Donnell had demonstrated the existence of extraordinary circumstances and allowed her to file a late notice of claim. The judge found it extraordinary that the State, having received a notice of claim involving a double-fatality car crash, failed to forward the notice of claim to the NJTA or otherwise notify O'Donnell that the notice had been served on the wrong public entity. The judge also determined that, given the surrounding circumstances, it would be inappropriate *790to penalize O'Donnell for her attorney's negligence.

On appeal, the NJTA argued that the trial court abused its discretion in finding extraordinary circumstances to permit the filing of a late notice of claim. According to the NJTA, the trial court's extraordinary circumstances finding was contrary to binding precedent, which "establish[es] that neither attorney mistake nor a public entity's failure to alert plaintiffs to their mistakes will support a finding of extraordinary circumstances." The NJTA relied primarily on D.D. v. University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, 213 N.J. 130, 157-58,

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Bluebook (online)
199 A.3d 786, 236 N.J. 335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/odonnell-v-nj-tpk-auth-nj-2019.