If you were injured because of the negligence or misconduct of a city, town, county, New York State agency, public authority, or government employee, you may be dealing with much more than the injury itself. Medical treatment, pain, lost income, and uncertainty about your recovery can affect you and your family.
It can be especially frustrating when the harm was preventable and caused by a government entity or employee that you expected to act responsibly.
You may have the right to pursue compensation. But when a government entity is responsible, the rules can be different from an ordinary personal injury case. Claims may involve deadlines as short as 90 days, special notice requirements, pre-lawsuit hearings, government-specific defenses, and questions about which government entity is actually responsible.
Being injured by a municipality does not mean you cannot pursue compensation. Government entities can be held accountable in appropriate circumstances, and an initial denial or defense by a municipality does not necessarily mean your case is over.
This article explains the issues injured plaintiffs should understand, the obstacles municipalities may raise, and why experience handling claims against government entities can matter.
Can You Sue a Municipality in New York State?
Yes. Cities, towns, counties, villages, and many other government entities can be sued for personal injuries caused by their negligence.
Potential defendants may include the City of Buffalo, Erie County, another city, town or village (such as Williamsville, Amherst, Orchard Park, Clarence, East Aurora, and Hamburg), a school or fire district, a public authority, New York State, and sometimes individual government employees.
However, suing a government entity can involve requirements that do not ordinarily apply when suing a private person or business.
How Is Suing a Municipality Different from Other Personal Injury Cases?
Municipal injury cases can involve shorter deadlines, special procedures, additional defenses, and more difficulty determining who is legally responsible.
Unlike an ordinary claim against a private person or business, a municipal claim may require action within just 90 days, a Notice of Claim, a 50-h hearing, or compliance with other government-specific requirements.
The important difference is not whether you have the right to pursue compensation. Rather, different rules may determine how you must protect and pursue that right.
Depending on the legal matter:
- A Notice of Claim may be required within 90 days.
- The municipality may require you to attend a 50-h hearing before a lawsuit proceeds.
- Special prior written notice rules may affect certain sidewalk or roadway cases.
- Government-specific defenses may be raised.
- The correct defendant may be a city, town, county, New York State, public authority, or another entity.
- Claims against New York State generally follow a different process in the New York State Court of Claims.
- Government misconduct may potentially create both New York and federal civil-rights claims.
These differences are one reason experience handling municipal injury cases can be important.
How Long Do You Have to Sue a Municipality?
For many personal injury claims against New York State municipalities, one of the first important deadlines is a Notice of Claim that may be due only 90 days after the incident.
A Notice of Claim is not the lawsuit itself. It is, however, an essential early step required to protect your right to bring a lawsuit at a later date.
Does a police report or accident report count as a Notice of Claim?
No. A police report, accident report, 311 complaint, or other informal report does not satisfy a Notice of Claim requirement.
What if 90 days have already passed?
Do not automatically assume your claim is lost. In some circumstances, a court may permit a late Notice of Claim, although permission is not automatic. The issue should be evaluated promptly.
A municipality may also require a 50-h hearing, where you answer questions under oath about what happened and your injuries before the lawsuit moves forward. An attorney can prepare you and attend the hearing with you.
How Do You Know Which Government Entity Is Responsible?
This can be more complicated than it appears. The location of your accident does not necessarily determine which government entity is responsible.
For example, an investigation may need to determine who owned or maintained a road, sidewalk, building, or park; which public entity employed the driver who caused an accident; whether a public authority operated the facility; or whether a private contractor shared responsibility.
More than one entity may also be responsible. One government entity might own property while another maintains it, or a municipality may have hired a private contractor to perform the work involved.
Identifying the correct parties early can be critical because sending notice to the wrong government entity may not protect your claim against the entity that is actually responsible.
What Types of Injuries and Accidents Can Lead to Claims Against Municipalities?
Government responsibility can arise in many of the same situations that lead to other personal injury claims—but special municipal rules may apply.
Government Vehicle Accidents
A claim may arise when a government employee negligently causes an accident involving a police car, ambulance, fire truck, snowplow, sanitation truck, public bus, highway vehicle, maintenance vehicle, or other government vehicle.
Types of Vehicles: A crash involving an emergency vehicle or highway-work vehicle may be subject to different rules than an ordinary automobile accident, making it important to determine what the vehicle and government employee were doing when the collision occurred.
Types of Accidents: Examples include being rear-ended by a municipal vehicle, struck by a snowplow or sanitation truck, injured in an NFTA bus crash, or involved in a collision caused by a government vehicle entering traffic unsafely.
Types of Injuries: These accidents can cause concussions and traumatic brain injuries, fractures, neck and back injuries, joint injuries, scarring, spinal cord injuries, permanent disability, and, in the most serious cases, wrongful death.
Slip-and-Falls, Trip-and-Falls, and Unsafe Government Property
Claims may involve broken or uneven public sidewalks, potholes, snow or ice at public facilities, defective stairs, damaged curbs, wet floors, inadequate lighting, missing handrails, unsafe playground equipment, falling objects, or other dangerous conditions.
Government property can include city halls, courthouses, libraries, parks, playgrounds, parking garages, recreation centers, transit facilities, and airports.
Dangerous Roads, Highways, and Intersections
Municipal liability may also arise from dangerous roadway conditions such as large potholes, malfunctioning traffic signals, missing or obscured signs, unsafe construction zones, defective shoulders, barriers, or guardrails.
Is Suing New York State Different from Suing a City or County?
Yes. Claims against New York State generally follow a different process and are typically brought in the New York State Court of Claims.
For example, a dangerous roadway case may follow one procedure if the City of Buffalo controls the road and another if New York State is responsible. The injured person does not need to determine that jurisdictional issue alone, but it should be investigated quickly because strict deadlines may apply.
If you believe a deadline for a claim against New York State may have already passed, do not automatically assume the claim is lost. It may be possible to ask the Court of Claims for permission to pursue a late claim, although relief is not automatic.
Can You Pursue a Claim for Police Misconduct or a Civil-Rights Violation?
Yes. Municipal liability is not limited to accidents and negligence. Claims can also arise from misconduct by police officers, corrections officers, and other government employees.
Potential claims may involve excessive force, false arrest or imprisonment, assault or battery, malicious prosecution, unlawful searches or seizures, and other violations of protected rights.
The resulting harm can include physical injuries as well as lost income, emotional harm, loss of liberty, pain and suffering, and other damages.
What Is a Section 1983 Civil-Rights Claim?
Section 1983 is a federal law that can provide a way to hold government officials accountable for violating certain federally protected rights.
For an injured person, the important point is that your rights may extend beyond an ordinary New York State personal injury claim. One incident can potentially create claims under New York law, federal civil-rights law, or both, providing different avenues for pursuing accountability and compensation.
A municipality is not automatically responsible simply because it employed the officer involved. But that does not necessarily mean the municipality cannot be held accountable. An experienced attorney can investigate whether the violation was connected to a municipal policy, practice, failure to train, or other conduct and determine whether claims may be pursued against the employee, municipality, or both.
What If the Municipality Denies Responsibility for Your Injury?
A municipality may deny responsibility or argue that special legal protections prevent you from recovering compensation.
Do not assume that the government’s initial denial means you do not have a case.
Government entities have certain defenses that private defendants do not. Whether those defenses actually apply depends on the facts and law. An attorney experienced in representing injured plaintiffs against municipalities can investigate what happened, evaluate the government’s position, and challenge its defenses when appropriate.
What If the Municipality Says It Never Received Prior Written Notice?
If you were injured because of a pothole, broken sidewalk, or similar dangerous condition, the municipality may claim it cannot be held responsible because it did not receive “prior written notice” of the problem.
Do not assume that means your case is over.
If a municipality tells you that you cannot recover damages because it did not have prior written notice, do not simply accept that position or give up on your claim. An attorney experienced in representing injured plaintiffs against municipalities can investigate the facts, determine whether the defense can be challenged, and fight to protect your right to pursue compensation.
What Are Public Authorities and Public Benefit Corporations?
Public authorities and public benefit corporations are government-created organizations that perform public functions but can be legally separate from a city, county, or New York State.
For example, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) operates public transportation in Erie and Niagara Counties and Buffalo Niagara International Airport. An injury involving an NFTA Metro bus, transit facility, or airport property may therefore involve the NFTA rather than the City of Buffalo or Erie County.
Similarly, the New York State Thruway Authority is a separate public corporation responsible for the Thruway system. An accident involving a Thruway Authority vehicle or property may involve the Authority rather than the municipality where the accident occurred.
The takeaway is simple: identifying who actually owned, operated, maintained, or controlled the vehicle or property can be critical to protecting your claim.
What Should You Do – and What Mistakes Should You Avoid – After a Municipal Injury?
If a government entity or employee may have caused your injury, act promptly. You do not need to determine exactly who is responsible or understand the municipal-claim process before seeking help.
- Get medical attention and report the incident. Your health comes first. When appropriate, also report what happened to the police, agency, facility, or other responsible organization.
- Document what happened. Take photographs or video of the accident scene, dangerous condition, vehicles, and visible injuries, and obtain witness information when possible.
- Preserve what you already have. Keep medical records, photographs, reports, correspondence, receipts, incident numbers, and information concerning lost income or other losses.
- Do not assume you know which government entity is responsible. The entity that owns or controls a road, property, vehicle, or facility may not be the one you expect.
- Do not assume an accident report protects your claim. A police report, 311 complaint, or other informal report does not satisfy a Notice of Claim requirement.
- Do not ignore a 50-h hearing request or other government correspondence. Municipal claims can involve procedures that do not arise in ordinary personal injury cases.
- Be cautious about detailed statements and social-media posts. What you say about the accident or your injuries may later become relevant to your claim.
- Do not wait to seek legal advice. For many municipal claims, an important deadline may arise within only 90 days.
Why acting quickly matters: Evidence can disappear. Potholes may be repaired, sidewalks replaced, snow and ice may melt, surveillance or body-camera footage may be overwritten, and witnesses can become harder to locate. An attorney can also investigate government records—including prior complaints, work orders, inspection and repair histories, vehicle records, video, policies, training materials, and records of similar incidents—that may help establish what happened and who was responsible.
You Don’t Have to Navigate a Municipal Injury Claim Alone
If you believe the City of Buffalo, Erie County, another Western New York municipality, New York State, a public authority, or government employee caused your injury, you may have the right to pursue compensation for your losses.
Experience Matters When the Government Is on the Other Side
Claims against municipalities can present deadlines, procedures, and defenses that do not ordinarily arise in other personal injury cases. They can also mean taking on government agencies, law enforcement, public authorities, and other institutions with substantial resources of their own.
Act Promptly to Protect Your Rights
For many municipal claims, an important deadline may arise within just 90 days. If you believe a municipality or government employee may be responsible for your injuries, speaking with an experienced attorney promptly can help you understand your rights, identify the avenues available to pursue justice and compensation, and protect your ability to bring a claim.
Lipsitz Green Brings Experience, Legal Skill, and Results
Lipsitz Green’s trial lawyers have decades of experience representing people in serious injury, wrongful death, police misconduct, institutional abuse, and other complex cases involving municipalities, government agencies, law enforcement, and powerful institutions.
For you, that experience means having attorneys on your side who will identify responsible parties and available claims, protect critical deadlines, preserve evidence, obtain government records, and challenge municipal defenses when appropriate.
Lipsitz Green can evaluate the government’s position, protect your rights, and pursue available avenues to hold the negligent party accountable and obtain all the compensation you are entitled to.
Free Case Review
If you believe a municipality, public authority, government agency, or government employee may be responsible for your injuries, attorney Melissa Wischerath can help you understand your rights and determine what options may be available to you. Click here to contact Melissa for a free case review.
