Ante Litem Notice Runs from Single Event Causing Injury

In the recent court of appeals opinion in City of Ashburn v. Ivie Mini Warehouses, Inc.,  308 Ga. App. 306 (2011), the Georgia Court of Appeals addressed the six (6) month ante litem notice that applies against municipalities in relation to a claim involving the collapse of a brick wall on one property on to another.  The court held that in instances where the event causing injury is a single occurrence, the injury triggers the ante litem notice period on the date of the event.  Accordingly, the claims of the plaintiff in the case were barred because the plaintiff did not send a notice of its intent to file suit for its injuries to the city until more than six (6) months after a wall collapsed on to its property.   The continuing injury theory of nuisance and trespass was not applicable since the wall collapsed an ended the tort with damages.  The theory of tolling did not apply because the plaintiff knew of the injury almost immediately on the date of the wall collapse.

The opinion in City of Ashburn, involves facts that clearly explain the application of the ante litem notice to continuing torts as opposed to torts that arise from single events.