Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley, the counsel for the family of Alice Gruppioni, who was tragically killed on August 3, 2013 while walking on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, has announced that they will be serving a California Government Code Section 910 claim against the City of Los Angeles on Monday, January 27, 2014 on behalf of the family.
Newlyweds Alice Gruppioni and Christian Casadei
In August the firm served a public records request on several local agencies on behalf of the Gruppioni family.
Mr. Christian Casadei (Alice’s husband) and Mr. Valerio Gruppioni (Alice’s father) will be discussing the case with the media on Monday via video chat from Italy.
Explanation of 910 Claim:
Under the California Government Claims Act, no lawsuit for money or damages may be filed against a governmental entity unless a formal claim which complies with the requirements of California Government Code Section 910 has first been filed with the governmental entity within 180 days after the date of injury or death, and such claim has been denied by the governmental entity.
The purposes of such claims statute are to provide the public entity sufficient information to adequately investigate claims and to settle them prior to litigation, and to provide an opportunity to fix a dangerous condition and avoid further injuries or death in another accident.
The governmental entity has 45 days in which to either accept or deny the claim. If the governmental entity fails to act within 45 days, the claim shall be deemed denied by operation of law. If the governmental entity denies the claim, or it is deemed denied by operation of law, there is a six-month period from the date of denial in which to file a lawsuit pursuant to California Government Code Section 945.6(a)(1).
