Colorado Justices Question Whether Cities Can Withhold Key Facts To Beat Lawsuits

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics

Members of the Colorado Supreme Court seemed to be on different pages when they considered on Tuesday whether a woman injured by a sidewalk defect in Manitou Springs was forever barred from suing the actual entity responsible because she did not learn until it was too late that Colorado Springs was the proper defendant.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of Jaimi J. Mostellar after a judge on the state’s second-highest court suggested lawmakers revise the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act to prevent public entities from torpedoing lawsuits by withholding the identity of the actual party responsible for an injury.

The immunity law, with limited exceptions, shields public entities from lawsuits over injuries they cause. Its purpose is to protect tax dollars and prevent a flood of lawsuits from disrupting government services. Among other requirements, plaintiffs must provide the government with notice of their claim within 182 days of “the discovery of the injury.” If they do not, they cannot sue.

Mostellar fell in Manitou Springs after tripping on the protruding base of a removed bus stop sign. She initially alerted Manitou Springs well within the deadline. However, Manitou Springs did not disclose to Mostellar until more than a year later that Colorado Springs was seemingly responsible, through an intergovernmental agreement, for the defective infrastructure that caused Mostellar’s fall.

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