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Can I sue a school district for injury after 3 yrs?
Anonymous8 views8 answers
In March of 2011 I dropped off my son for school. I was pouring rain and windy. When leaving school grounds my car windshield was smashed by an unsecure gate and nearly hitting me in the head. Ambulance was called and they removed glass from my eyes. School board paid for vehicle repair and emergency room xrays for my neck. I never signed any kind of settlement. I now suffer from severe headaches and constant strain in my neck and constant bone popping noise when brushing my hair. Am I able to still sue the school district?
Georgia has a two year statute of limitations that would bar the claim even if you did comply with the ante litem notice requirement (6 months for City, 12 months for state and county.) Sorry
Generally speaking, the statute of limitations for a personal injury suit is two years. Worse still for someone in your position, a suit against a governmental entity (like a school board) has procedural hurdles beyond a typical injury lawsuit. Typically, a written notice of the claim must be given within one year of the incident.
It is possible, though probably unlikely, that you fall into one of the situations that allow for tolling, or extending, the statute of limitations - situations such as mental incompetency. Absent that, though, and based on the information you've presented so far, it appears that it is too late to file suit.
Nonetheless, you should meet with an attorney and explore all possible claims and contingencies.
Georgia law hgas a 2 year statute of limitations. I second past that and you lose forever any claim you had. You additionally missed the shorter deadlines for notice to a government (and probably also would have faced problems with soverign immunity and acts of God).
Based solely upon the limited info you have given, it appears that you no longer have the right to sue. First, because the defendant would be a governmental agency, you would have to have given a legally sufficient and timely ante litem notification to the school board( you did not to so and it is too late to do it now. Second, you only have two years to sue for this type of case in Ga. so you have missed that statute of limitations. Third, the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which bars people from suing a government entity except in limited circumstances, might have barred your lawsuit even if you had filed it on time. I hope your injuries will abate soon, unfortunately, it is too late to hold anyone legally responsible.
