Being Careful with Presentment Letter CITY HALL NEGLIGENCE

Know This:  I will only file with a good civil rights attorney looking at the case and - hopefully - taking the case.

The presentment letter must be sufficiently detailed to put the officer on notice of the claim so that he can investigate its validity. Gilmore v. Commonwealth, 417 Mass. 718 (1994). If the claimant is alleging multiple theories of liability, each one must be set forth in the presentment letter. See Tambolleo v. West Boylston, 34 Mass.App.Ct. 526 (1993).


Kopelman and Paige have a nice site regarding this:

MUNICIPAL TORT LIABILITY GENERAL LAWS CHAPTER 258 General Laws, chapter 258, section 1, et seq. establishes the procedure for asserting tort claims against municipalities. 


The following provides an outline of issues concerning such claims.

I. WHAT TYPES OF CLAIMS ARE GOVERNED BY CHAPTER 258?

All claims for injury or loss of property or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any public employee while acting within the scope of his employment are subject to the requirements of Chapter 258. G.L. c. 258, §1.

II. WHO CAN BE HELD LIABLE UNDER CHAPTER 258?
Public Employer – A public employer can be held liable for the negligence of its employees while acting within the scope of their employment. G.L. c. 258, §2. Aside from cities and towns, boards, committees, and departments are public employers if they exercise discretion and control over public employees. G.L. c. 258, §1. Thus, the following entities have been held to be public employers: city water and sewer commissions, Alex v. Boston Water and Sewer Com., 425 Mass. 509 (1998); city housing authorities, Wheeler v. Boston Housing Authority, 403 Mass. 328 (1988); and regional school districts, Doe v. Town of Blandford, 402 Mass. 831 (1988).

http://www.k-plaw.com/pdf/MunicipalTortLiability.pdf