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Salyer v. 396 Investment Co.5/17/2005
kes two assertions with respect to the claims of individual plaintiffs. First, it asserts that three of the plaintiffs never filed any claims against it at all and that, therefore, their claims are barred. Second, it argues that because four of the plaintiffs did not allege emotional distress damages, they are barred from recovering such damages. We will address these arguments in turn.
(b) Failure to File Claims
Anaheim, in its April 2001 trial brief re tort claims issues, asserted that Dolores Biazevich, Cyndie Marion and Yi-Yi Wei had not filed any claims whatsoever. In its May 1, 2001 order on Anaheim's motion for non-suit, the court overruled the motion without specifically addressing the claims of these three individuals.
In their respondents' brief, these three individuals state that their respective spouses filed claims on their behalves. The three claims were substantially similar. The claims identified the three claimants as Matthew Biazevich, Michael Marion, and Alexis Wei, respectively. The claims also identified the owners of the properties as Matthew Biazevich, Michael Marion, and Alexis Wei, respectively.
Each claim described the injury, property damage or loss as: "Cracks, breaks, distortions and other damage to the home and other structures on the lot, damage to utilities, and other damage related to earth movement, expansion, and excessive water in the soils. Imminent danger of complete loss of the property as well as death or injury to Claimants, their families, their guests, and/or anyone else present on their property at the time of failure, due to imminent danger of catastrophic slope failure and/or associated failure of the reservoir." Also, each claim described the names and addresses of "any other person injured" as "All residents in and/or owners of property in the Vista Royale and the Peralta Pointe subdivisions . . . ."
The three respondents, emphasizing the reference to possible injuries to families, assert that the foregoing language on the claim forms was sufficient to constitute substantial compliance with the claims filing statutes on behalf of themselves, as the spouses of the persons who filed the claims. They also state that Anaheim did not notify them or their family members of any deficiency in the claims or request further information for clarification and that Anaheim is therefore estopped to argue non-compliance. They further contend that the notices were sufficient to enable Anaheim to investigate the claims and settle without litigation and that Anaheim is not prejudiced in any way when the claims are construed as being made on behalf of both spouses. In addition, they assert that a claim may be signed by either the claimant or the claimant's agent and that their spouses acted as their agents.
Anaheim wholeheartedly disagrees. It states that there is no such thing as "constructive notice" under the Tort Claims Act, citing Nguyen v. Los Angeles County Harbor/UCLA Medical Center (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 729. As the court in Nguyen put it, "the substantial compliance doctrine has application only when there is a defect in form but the statutory requirements have otherwise been met. [Citations.]" (Id. at p. 733.) The court further explained, "appellate courts have held that when . . . an injured party timely files a claim with a government entity and another party also injured by the same transaction seeks to pursue a suit against the government entity without filing a separate claim, the second injured party may not rely on the claim filed by the original claimant if the injury suffered by the second injured party was separate and distinct. [Citations.]" (Id. at pp. 733-734.)
In the case bef
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