Callaham v. Georgia Ports Auth.

Kelvin Callaham appeals the dismissal of his personal injury action against the Georgia Ports Authority. On appeal, he argues that when taken together, two documents, a letter to the Ports Authority’s insurance adjuster and a notice of claim to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services, satisfied the ante litem notice requirement of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, OCGA § 50-21-20 et seq. We disagree. OCGA § 50-21-26 a 2 of the Act provides that when a person has a tort claim against the state, a copy of the person’s notice of claim shall be delivered personally to or mailed by first class mail to the state government entity, the act or omissions of which are asserted as the basis of the claim. Since Callaham did not mail or personally deliver to the Ports Authority a copy of the notice of claim he sent to the Risk Management Division, he did not strictly comply with the requirements of that section. And because the duty to strictly comply with those requirements cannot be excused on the basis of actual notice, the letter to the adjuster does not supply that omission. Consequently, the trial court properly dismissed his action.

On October 3, 2012, Callaham was injured in an auto accident at a Georgia Ports Authority terminal in Savannah. Later that month, his attorney sent the first of the two documents in question, a letter to a claims adjuster for the Georgia Ports Authority. That letter advised her of his representation of Callaham and notified her that Callaham had sustained injuries and was receiving medical treatment. The letter included a copy of the police report and requested that the claims adjuster provide the declaration page showing the policy limits of the insured’s automobile insurance coverage. And it notified her that once Callaham had completed his medical treatment, the attorney would forward to the claims adjuster his evaluation of the case and demand. In June 2013, the attorney sent by certified mail the second of the documents in question: Callaham’s notice of claim to the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services.