| Casale v Liverpool Cent. Sch. Dist. |
| 2012 NY Slip Op 06710 [99 AD3d 1246] |
| October 5, 2012 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| Karen Casale, as Parent and Natural Guardian of Stephanie Casale, an Infant, Respondent, v Liverpool Central School District, Appellant. |
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Kuehner Law Firm, PLLC, Syracuse (Brian D. Roy of counsel), for
claimant-respondent.
Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Onondaga County (Anthony J. Paris, J.), entered January 26, 2012. The order granted the application of claimant for leave to serve a late notice of claim.
It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.
Memorandum: Contrary to respondent's contention, Supreme Court did not abuse its discretion in granting claimant's application for leave to serve a late notice of claim pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-e (5). Although a court may properly consider whether a claimant provided a reasonable excuse for failing to serve a timely notice of claim (see Parton v Onondaga County, 81 AD3d 1433, 1433-1434 [2011]), a claimant's failure to tender a reasonable excuse "is not fatal where . . . actual notice was had and there is no compelling showing of prejudice to [respondent]" (Matter of Hall v Madison-Oneida County Bd. of Coop. Educ. Servs., 66 AD3d 1434, 1435 [2009] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Hale v Webster Cent. School Dist., 12 AD3d 1052, 1053 [2004]). Here, claimant "made a persuasive showing that [respondent] 'acquired actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim' . . . [and respondent has] made no particularized or persuasive showing that the delay caused [it] substantial prejudice" (Wetzel Servs. Corp. v Town of Amherst, 207 AD2d 965, 965 [1994]; see § 50-e [5]). Present—Fahey, J.P., Peradotto, Carni and Sconiers, JJ.