Summary
The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of Stacey L. Komar’s State Tort Claims Act action as time barred. The court held that the Act’s two-year limitations period governs both presentation of the claim and commencement of suit, and that a claimant who withdraws a claim receives a six-month extension measured from the first date the claim could have been withdrawn, not the date of actual withdrawal. Because Komar filed suit after both periods had expired, the dismissal was affirmed.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the two-year limitations period under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-8,227(1) governs both submission of a State Tort Claims Act claim and commencement of suit.
- Whether the six-month extension for filing suit after withdrawal of a State Tort Claims Act claim runs from the date of actual withdrawal or from the first date on which the claim could have been withdrawn.
- Whether Komar's complaint was time barred under the State Tort Claims Act.
Holdings
- The two-year limitations period in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-8,227(1) governs not only the time for submitting a claim to the Risk Manager but also the time for beginning suit under the State Tort Claims Act.
- When a claimant withdraws a State Tort Claims Act claim, the claimant must file suit within two years after accrual or within six months after the first date on which the claim could have been withdrawn, whichever is later; the extension does not run from the date of actual withdrawal if withdrawal occurs later.
- A claimant who allows the State Claims Board to reach a final decision must file suit within two years after accrual or within six months after the board mails notice of final disposition, whichever occurs later.
- Komar's action was time barred because she could first have withdrawn her claim on December 29, 2014, and she did not file suit until July 15, 2015, after both the two-year limitations period and the applicable six-month extension had expired.
Key quotations
“Claimants who allow the State Claims Board to reach a decision must file suit on the claim within 2 years after the claim accrued, or within 6 months after the board mails notice of final disposition, whichever occurs later.” (299 Neb. at 312)
“On the other hand, claimants who withdraw their claim must file suit on the claim within 2 years after the claim accrued, or within 6 months after the first date on which the claim could have been withdrawn, whichever occurs later.” (299 Neb. at 312)
“A statutory scheme which precludes one from withdrawing a claim from the State Claims Board and thereby prevents that person from filing suit before the statute of limitations runs leads to absurd, unjust, or unconscionable results.” (299 Neb. at 309)
Factual background
Komar learned on January 15, 2013, that a State of Nebraska employee had accessed her electronically stored medical records without permission. She submitted a State Tort Claims Act claim to the Risk Manager on June 27, 2014, more than 17 months after accrual but within two years. The claim remained pending for more than a year; Komar withdrew it on July 14, 2015, and filed suit on July 15, 2015, alleging invasion of privacy.
Procedural history
Komar alleged that she learned on January 15, 2013, that a state employee had accessed her electronically stored medical records without permission. She presented a tort claim to the State Claims Board Risk Manager on June 27, 2014, withdrew it on July 14, 2015, and filed suit the next day. The district court dismissed the action as time barred, the Court of Appeals affirmed, and the Nebraska Supreme Court granted further review and affirmed.