El Dorado Irrigation District v. Superior Court

Petitioner, El Dorado Irrigation District (district), seeks a writ of mandate to compel the Superior Court of Sacramento County to vacate its order relieving real party in interest (Evans) from the claim-filing requirements of Government Code section 945.4.

On November 30, 1977, while employed by H. M. Byars Construction Company, Evans was injured when a steel pipe fell from a truck causing injury to his left arm and elbow. One hundred twenty days later, on March 30, 1978, Evans engaged a law firm for the purpose of filing a workers’ compensation claim. The next day an application was filed; and contemporaneously counsel’s attention turned to the possible existence of a third party claim. An investigator was hired promptly, but he did not report the district’s status as owner of the construction project to counsel until November 2, 1978.

An application for leave to file a late claim was presented to the district on November 15, 1978; it was denied on January 10, 1979, with the statement “I must respectfully deny both your leave to Present Late Claim and also the claim for your client’s bodily injuries.” On February 15, 1979, pursuant to section 946.6, Evans filed his…