Santos

*1067 INTRODUCTION

Appellants Jennalyn Santos and Douglas Morales were driving northbound on Normandie Avenue in the City of Los Angeles when a Los Angeles School Police Department (LASPD) vehicle allegedly ran a red light and struck them. They were transported to the hospital by ambulance, after being given a card bearing the LASPD name, seal, address and website, and the name of an LASPD officer.

After filing a government claim for damages with LASPD within the time specified by Government Code section 911.2, appellants filed the instant lawsuit. Over a year later, appellants were provided a traffic collision report identifying the driver as an employee of LASPD and the vehicle as insured by respondent Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Appellants thereafter amended their complaint to add LAUSD as a defendant.

Subsequently, LAUSD moved for summary judgment, arguing that appellants failed to comply with the requirements of the Government Claims Act, Government Code section 810 et seq., (the Act) because no government claim was ever filed with LAUSD. LAUSD argued that the filing of a government claim with LASPD did not satisfy the Act because LASPD is not a separate…