Hall v. Madison-Oneida County Board of Cooperative Educational Services

Appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Oneida County (Samuel D. Hester, J.), entered June 16, 2008. The order granted claimant’s application for leave to serve a late notice of claim. [1435] It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs. Memorandum: 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). “The court is vested with broad discretion to grant or deny [such an] application” (Wetzel Servs. Corp. v Town of Amherst, 207 AD2d 965 [1994]) and, although claimant failed to offer a reasonable excuse for his failure to serve the notice of claim within the statutory 90-day period (see General Municipal Law § 50-e [1] [a]), that failure “ ‘is not fatal where . . . actual notice was had and there is no compelling showing of prejudice to [respondent]’ ” (Hale v Webster Cent. School Dist., 12 AD3d 1052, 1053 [2004]; see Matter of LaMay v County of Oswego, 49 AD3d 1351, 1352 [2008], lv denied 10 NY3d 715 [2008]). 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., 207 AD2d 965 [1994]). Present—Hurlbutt, J.E, Fahey, Peradotto, Green and Pine, JJ.