Judge: Curtis A. Kin, Case: 24STCP03501, Date: 2025-04-15 Tentative Ruling

24STCP02299  Luchia Tsegaberhan
The Petition will be granted.  A copy of the signed decree will be available in Room 112 of the clerk’s office seven days after the date of the hearing.

Case Number: 24STCP03501    Hearing Date: April 15, 2025    Dept: 86

PETITION FOR ORDER RELIEVING

PETITIONER FROM CLAIM PRESENTATION

Date:               4/15/25 (1:30 PM)

Case:               Mia Bogino v. Long Beach Unified School District et al. (24STCP03501)

TENTATIVE RULING:

Petitioner Mia Bogino’s Petition for Order Relieving Petitioner from Claim Presentation is GRANTED.

On May 3, 2023, petitioner Mia Bogino was injured during an earthquake drill when a desk fell on her finger while attending Longfellow Elementary School in the City of Long Beach. (Pet. Ex.. A at 2, 5; McNair Decl. ¶ 5.) A claim relating to a cause of action for personal injury must be presented to the public entity no later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action.¿ (Gov. Code § 911.2; Munoz v. State of California¿(1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1767, 1776.)¿Accordingly, petitioner had until November 3, 2023 to present a claim to respondent Long Beach Unified School District (“LBUSD”). (See Jiminez v. Chavez (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 50, 58 [six-month limitations period is the longer of six calendar months or 182 days].)

Petitioner did not file a claim with or seek permission to file a late claim from respondents until April 25, 2024. (Pet. ¶ 2; McNair Decl. ¶¶ 3-4, Exs. A-B.) Because it appears LBUSD did not respond to petitioner’s late claim, her claim was deemed denied on or about June 9, 2024. (Gov. Code § 911.6(c) [“If the board fails or refuses to act on an application within the time prescribed by this section the application shall be deemed to have been denied on the 45th day . . .”].)

Petitioner brought the instant petition seeking relief from this Court under Government Code § 946.6 to present a late claim. The instant petition was timely filed on October 28, 2024, within six months of June 9, 2024. (Govt. Code § 946.6(b)[“The petition shall be filed within six months after the application to the board is denied or denied pursuant to Section 911.6”].)

Here, petitioner contends that her failure to timely present a claim was because she was a minor during the claim period. (Pet. ¶ 7.)  California cases “have uniformly interpreted the provisions of¿sections 911.6¿and¿946.6¿and their statutory predecessors as indicating that the Legislature intended to accord special solicitude to the claims of injured minors, and generally intended to require a public entity to accept a late claim filed on behalf of a minor so long as the application is filed with the entity within one year of the accrual of the cause of action.” (See Hernandez v. County of Los Angeles (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1020, 1028.)  The petition may be granted on this basis alone without a showing of excusable neglect.  (Id. at 1029;accord J.M. v. Huntington Beach Union High School District (2017) 2 Cal.5th 648, 652-653.) 

In petitioner’s late claim application, there is a student injury report indicating petitioner’s date of birth is June 29, 2012. (Pet. Ex. A at pg. 5.) Based on such evidence, petitioner was a minor when she was allegedly injured at school on May 3, 2023, and she is still a minor. (Pet. Ex. A at pg. 5.)  Petitioner filed her Application for Leave to Present Late Claim with LBUSD on April 25, 2024 (Pet. ¶ 2; McNair Decl. ¶¶ 3-4 & Exs. A-B), which was less than one year from the May 3, 2023 accrual of petitioner’s claim   946.6(b).) Because petitioner was a minor during all relevant time periods and because the late claim application was submitted within a year from petitioner’s alleged injury, relief is warranted. (Gov. Code § 946.6(c)(2)-(3).) 

The petition is GRANTED.