Jamison

On January 18, 1971, plaintiff was injured in a collision between the vehicle in which he was riding and a truck owned by the State of California Department of Water Resources and driven by its employee Thomas Monteith. Plaintiff’s attorney filed a claim in his client’s behalf with the State of California Department of Water Resources 43 days after the accident; 58 days thereafter, plaintiff filed suit to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in the accident. In his complaint, plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that he had filed a claim in proper form with ■the State of California Department of Water Resources on March 3, 1971, in compliance with the provisions of the Government Code, and that the claim had been denied; a copy of the claim was annexed to the complaint.

In June 1971, the state filed an answer in which it generally denied the allegations contained in the complaint and set up contributory negligence and failure to state a cause of action as affirmative defenses.

In February 1972, the state filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, requesting a dismissal of the action on the ground that the plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a cause of action…