ENGA WHITE, &C., ET AL., PLAINTIFFS, v. THE CITY OF NEW YORK ET AL.,
DEFENDANTS. / NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, THIRD-PARTY APPELLANT, v. ALL
CITY INSURANCE COMPANY, &C., THIRD-PARTY RESPONDENT, ET AL., THIRD-PARTY
DEFENDANTS.
81 N.Y.2d 955, 615 N.E.2d 216, 598 N.Y.S.2d 759 (1993).
April 29, 1993
1 No. 88 (1993 N.Y. Int. 90)
Decided April 29, 1993
_________________________________________________________________
This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before
publication in the New York Reports.
Bruce M. Young, for Appellant.
Alyne I. Diamond, for Respondent.
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MEMORANDUM:
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.
On September 2, 1975, four-year-old Enga White fell from a slide at a
playground in project housing owned and maintained by the New York
City Housing Authority (NYCHA), fracturing her skull and requiring six
days hospitalization. The only witnesses to the accident were Enga's
three brothers, ages 9, 13 and 14. A Housing Authority Police Officer
was called to the scene, filled out an incident report in triplicate,
filed one copy with his precinct command, and sent two copies to his
superiors. No other Housing Authority personnel were aware of the
incident at that time.
Ten years later, on September 11, 1985, Enga's mother moved for--and
was granted--permission to file a late notice of claim against NYCHA
after Enga began to have seizures allegedly attributable to the
playground incident. On October 22, 1985, NYCHA gave notice of the
claim to Empire, its insurance carrier. Empire disclaimed coverage on
the grounds that the notice was not given "as soon as practicable" as
required by the policy. NYCHA commenced this third party action
against Empire for a declaratory judgment that there was coverage.
At a hearing held solely on this issue, testimony revealed that NYCHA
generally gave notice to Empire by either filling out a special
insurance report form or by forwarding a notice of claim; the form
filled out by the Housing Police Officer had three copies--one of
SNIPPETS:
THE CITY OF NEW YORK ET AL.,
/ NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY, THIRD-PARTY APPELLANT, v.
This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed,
On September 2, 1975, four-year-old Enga White fell from a slide at a playground in project
A Housing Authority Police Officer was called to the scene, filled out an incident report in
On October 22, 1985, NYCHA gave notice of the claim to Empire, its insurance carrier.
Empire disclaimed coverage on the grounds that the notice was not given "as soon as
At a hearing held solely on this issue, testimony revealed that NYCHA generally gave notice
to NYCHA, and there was no procedure established for NYCHA to receive such forms; and NYCHA did not
Supreme Court refused to impute the knowledge of the Housing Police to the NYCHA.
We now affirm the Appellate Division.
The requirement that an insured notify its liability carrier of a potential claim "as soon as
There may be circumstances, such as lack of knowledge that an accident has occurred or a
NYCHA seeks to excuse its ten-year delay in notifying Empire by explaining that its employees
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