Can a plaintiff bring a claim for damages against a public entity?

The Act authorizes limited governmental liability for injuries suffered as a result of the acts or omissions of public entities or their employees. ( 815.2, 815.6.) However, a prerequisite to the determination of whether such liability exists is compliance with the claims procedure of the Act. Section 905 requires the presentation of "all claims for money or damages against local public entities," subject to exceptions not relevant here. Claims for personal injury and property damage must be presented within six months after accrual of the cause of action; all other claims must be presented within a year. ( 911.2, subd. (a).) "[N]o suit for money or damages may be brought against a public entity on a cause of action for which a claim is required to be presented . . . until a written claim therefor has been presented to the public entity and has been acted upon . . . or has been deemed to have been rejected . . . ." ( 945.4.) Thus, under these statutes, failure to timely present a claim for money or damages to a public entity bars a plaintiff from filing a lawsuit against that entity. (City of Stockton, supra, 42 Cal.4th at p. 738; Munoz v. State of California (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1767, 1776.)

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