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Williams v. Clay County11/13/2003
or fraudulent conduct must be established to estop a party from asserting a statute of limitations defense." Carr v. Town of Shubuta, 733 So.2d at 265. Concluding that good faith settlement negotiations alone are not sufficient to toll the SOL, the Court held that the claimant had failed to establish an estoppel.
. In the case sub judice, Williams has alleged that Clay County promised to pay her medical bills. Robinson's statement to Williams that the County would pay her medical bills is a promise rather than settlement negotiations. It is not qualified or conditional and Williams' reliance on that promise was reasonable. Williams has also alleged that Clay County officials, when informed of the nature of her injuries and confronted with her request to see a doctor, insulted her and refused to meet with her. This conduct, in combination with Clay County's settlement attempts, was sufficient, to estop the defendant from now asserting the SOL defense.
. Moreover, in keeping with the admonition in Carr that the interest of the claimant in seeking redress should be weighed against the prejudice to the government entity, this Court concludes that Williams' interests prevail. Clay County has not alleged or proved that it will be prejudiced if Williams' suit is allowed to go forward. Conversely, without reimbursement from Clay County, Williams' personal injury and property loss will remain uncompensated. As Clay County agreed to assume this responsibility and because Williams reasonably expected that it would fulfill that promise, we conclude that Clay County should be equitably estopped from breaking that promise.
. Williams' actions substantially complied with the notice requirements of the Act and effectively tolled the SOL. She told Robinson, the county's statutory agent of her accident on three separate occasions. Because she suffered a latent injury , Williams did not provide notice of the extent of her injuries until several months after her fall. Once the serious nature of her injuries was determined, she arranged a meeting with two supervisors and provided them with that information. Thus, the SOL was tolled until March 2000, when she discovered the extent of the damage. Clay County, through Robinson, tried to pay Williams' property damage and represented to Williams that it would pay her medical bills. Williams' reliance on this promise was reasonable. Thus, Clay County should now be estopped from asserting a SOL defense.
. This case should not have been dismissed at this early stage. Williams has alleged facts that state a claim for relief. Moreover, it is unclear from the order of dismissal whether the trial judge applied a strict or substantial compliance standard to Williams' claim. Thus, we should reverse and remand.
COBB, JUSTICE, DISSENTING:
. In my view, the one-year statute of limitations provided in Miss. Code Ann. 11-46-11(3) may not be shortened to less than one year. Because the plurality concludes otherwise, I must respectfully dissent.
. The issue of tolling under the MTCA has been dealt with a number of times by both this Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals, each time with a different set of facts and a different outcome. This Court has not endorsed a specific formula for computing the date for a timely filing under MTCA, and, based on the present case, it is not clear whether the formula proposed by the Court of Appeals is one that should be followed. This question of law should be simple and predictable, not one that must be determined by this Court on each different set of facts.
. The MTCA was amended in 1999 "to clarify notice of claim requirements under the Tort Claims Act;
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