Aline Ervin v. County of Los Angeles, a Chartered Governmental Entity

Aline Ervin (“appellant”) appeals from the dismissal of her civil rights action for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, based on the running of the applicable statute of limitations. We review de novo, see Schlegel v. Bebout, 841 F.2d 937, 941 (CA9 1988) (failure to state a claim); Sheet Metal Workers, Local 150 v. Air Sys. Eng’g, Inc., 831 F.2d 1509, 1511 (CA9 1987) (statute of limitations), and we affirm.

The appellant argues that the statute of limitations relevant to her federal civil rights action was equitably tolled by virtue of her previously having filed a tort claim action in state court. This contention lacks merit.

In order for a statute of limitations to be equitably tolled, there must be a showing of three things: first, that the plaintiff gave timely notice to the defendant of the plaintiffs claim; second, that the resultant delay did not cause prejudice to the defendant’s position; and third, that the plaintiff acted reasonably and in good faith. Bacon v. City of Los Angeles, 843 F.2d 372, 374 (CA9 1988); Addison v. State, 21 Cal.3d 313, 319 , 146 Cal.Rptr. 224, 227 (1978). As a general proposition, state law governs the application of…