Notice of Denial of Leave to Present Late Claim Must Include Date of Board's Action on Application

In D.C. v. Oakdale Joint Unified School District , published March 1, 2012, the Fifth District Court of Appeal interpreted Grovernment Code section 911.8 to require a public entity that grants or denies an application for leave to present late claim to include in the notice the date the entity's board acted on the claim. Although section 911.8 requires the entity to give notice of its action on the application, it does not prescribe the contents of the notice. But since the six months for the claimant to petition the court for relief from the claim statutes runs from the date the application to the entity is denied, rather than the date the notice is sent, the court held that the legislature must have intended that the notice include the date the application was denied. In the D.C. case, the notice was mailed a month after the application was denied, and yet less than 45 days after the application was sent (after which the application would be denied by operation of law). The petition was filed within six months of the notice's mailing. Under those circumstances, the court held, the petitioner should be able to allege and prove in the petition that the entity's failure to give the date of denial in the notice estopped the entity from asserting that the petition was untimely.