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Williams v. Clay County11/13/2003
owever, she has alleged that at the time she wrote the letter the extent of her injuries were unknown. Had this letter been the only form of notice given by Williams her personal injury claims may in fact be barred. However, as mentioned, this initial notice was supplemented in March 2000 through Williams meeting with two supervisors and her subsequent conversation with Robinson. Williams has alleged that she informed both the supervisors and Robinson on that date that she had been referred to a specialist and would probably require corrective surgery.
. Additionally, Robinson corresponded with Williams' counsel, Jim Waide, in a letter dated February 13, 2001. In that letter, Robinson wrote that he informed Williams on March 16, 2000, that the County "has always been willing to pay any and all valid medical claims . . . ." He also wrote that on that same date he put the County's insurer on notice that it might be subject a claim from Williams. Robinson suggested that Waide get Williams to call the County's insurance agent regarding any medical bills. This is the first time in the record where this Court has found anything establishing that Williams was told the identity of the County's insurance carrier or that she was supposed to provide him (or the County) with her medical bills.
. Clay County asserts that settlement offers are not admissible. Thus, it argues that the February 13, 2001, letter from Robinson to Waide should not be considered. Alternatively, it argues that this letter is dated after the expiration of the SOL so it cannot constitute equitable tolling. See also Miss. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Stringer, 748 So. 2d 662, 667 (Miss. 1999) (holding that good faith settlement negotiations alone are not sufficient to toll the statute of limitations). This argument overlooks several things. First, settlement offers and other things not admissible at trial are admissible and can be considered by a trial judge at a preliminary stage such as this. Miss. R. Evid. 104 (a). Second, the letter was merely a written confirmation of the March 16, 2000, conversation between Williams and Robinson wherein he told her that the County would pay her valid medical bills. Thus, that the letter was written after the expiration of the SOL is irrelevant. The letter itself is only relevant insofar as it proves that the County had agreed, prior to the expiration of the SOL, that it would pay Williams' medical bills. Third, the letter is more than a settlement offer, it is further proof that the County was notified by Williams on March 16, 2000, that she had realized that her damages were more significant than she and Robinson had originally thought. It put the County on notice that Williams has a claim for personal injury as well as one for damage to her property.
. We conclude that the trial judge failed to give appropriate consideration to the meeting Williams had with the two supervisors in March 2000. This meeting, coupled with Williams' subsequent conversation with Robinson and their two previous communications (immediately after the fall and in the November 1999 letter), were more than sufficient to notify Clay County that Williams had been injured.
. This question of the sufficiency of staggered and informal notice was considered by the Court of Appeals in Soileau v. Mississippi Coast Coliseum Comm'n, 730 So.2d 101 (Miss. Ct. App.1998). That court interpreted the Act to require that all notice of claim be received at the same time. The court stated:
Even if a claimant could comply with the Act by submitting several documents that when joined comprise a single "notice of claim," we do not find that the documents can be delivered over a several month period during p
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