Wilson

Introduction

In this case we are called upon to interpret the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Phillips v. Desert Hospital Dist. (1989) 49 Cal.3d 699 [ 263 Cal.Rptr. 119 , 780 P.2d 349 ] (Phillips). In Phillips the court held that a written notice which alerts a public entity to the existence of a claim for monetary damages and an impending lawsuit but fails to comply substantially with the requirements of the claim presentation statute must be treated by the public entity as a defective “claim” which triggers operation of Government Code sections 910.8, 911 and 911.3. Those sections require that a public entity notify a claimant of any insufficiencies of content or timeliness which prevent a claim as presented from satisfying the requirements of the claim statute and provide that failure to give such notice waives any defenses based on such insufficiencies.

Here the plaintiff’s prior attorney sent a hospital district’s board of directors a letter setting forth the plaintiff’s contention he was wrongfully terminated and threatening further action if the matter was not amicably resolved. The hospital responded by retaining counsel of its own, who, in a series of letters…