The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2022

The OGTCA waives sovereign immunity, providing for limited recovery for an injured claimant caused by tortious conduct of governmental employees. However, the OGTCA also provides significant protection for cities and towns from such liability.

a lawsuit, the current provision in the statute provides that the parties may extend the time to file the lawsuit during a period of continuing settlement discussions as long as it is in writing, and in no event may the time to file the lawsuit be extended longer than two years from date of loss. 29 Summarizing the procedural rules under the OGTCA, any person having a claim against a city or town must properly “present” their claim within one year of the date of loss. 30 A potential claimant must file their claim, in writing, with the proper municipal official, typ ically the city clerk. 31 A person may not initiate a suit in tort against a city until their claim has been denied. If the city fails to approve a claim within 90 days of receipt, it will be deemed denied. 32 After denial, a claimant has 180 days to file a suit against the city. 33

Failure to state most, if not all, of these items is not fatal to the claim unless it is not provided after being requested. There are some excep tions to the filing requirements: A claimant may have a 90-day extension due to incapacity from the injury. In a wrongful death action, Once a claim has been properly filed, under §157, a municipality has 90 days to review the claim. The municipality has two options: Deny the claim outright, provided written notice is given to the claimant; or If the municipality takes a personal representative has one year from date of death to file the claim.

Procedural rules: 51 O.S. §156 A claim must be filed

within one year of the date of loss (or it is for

ever barred). This OGTCA provision contrasts with a two-year statute of limita tion for torts committed by nongovernmental entities. 27 The OGTCA notice require ments are jurisdictional in nature. 28 A claim must be in writing and filed with the clerk of the governing body. The tort claim must include: y Municipality or governmental entity involved y Date, time, place, cir cumstances of the loss y Amount of compensa tion requested y Information necessary to meet reporting

no action, the claim will be deemed constructively denied after 90 days.

requirements for the Medicare Secondary Payor Act (MSPA) Claimant contact information Settlement agent con tact information

Once a claim is denied (actual or constructive), the claimant must file a lawsuit within 180 days. Although there has been a series of cases over the years regarding settlement discussions that may extend the time for filing

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL