Opinion ID: 2367244
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the district court erred when it dismissed mr. howe's claims on procedural grounds arising under the utah governmental immunity act

Text: ¶ 28 Mr. Howe next argues that the district court misapplied the procedural requirements of the UGIA to dismiss his state claims. Specifically, Mr. Howe argues the district court erred when it held (1) Mr. Howe failed to sufficiently plead that Sgt. Bryant or Ms. Werner acted with fraud or malice, and (2) Mr. Howe failed to file a sufficiently pled notice of claim within the statutorily mandated time period required by the UGIA.
¶ 29 Generally, the UGIA operates to shield governmental employees from liability for tortious acts that occur during the course of employment. See Mecham v. Frazier, 2008 UT 60, ¶ 14, 193 P.3d 630. This does not mean governmental employees can never be sued in the face of the UGIA. To avoid immunity, a plaintiff must bring suit pursuant to an exception to the UGIA's general grant of immunity. See id. ¶ 15. Mr. Howe invokes the exception that abrogates immunity for government employees who act with fraud or malice. Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-4 (1997). [7] Under the UGIA's mandatory notice-of-claim provision, a claimant wishing to use this exception must reasonably alert the governmental entity employing the alleged tortfeasor that the claims are based on employee fraud or malice. See id. § 63-30-4(3)(b); Mecham, 2008 UT 60, ¶ 19, 193 P.3d 630 (stating that to reasonably alert the governmental entity of a claim against one of its employees, the claim must be due to the employee's fraudulent or malicious conduct). ¶ 30 The UGIA's notice-of-claim requirement does not demand that such notices meet the standards required to state a claim for relief. Houghton v. Dep't of Health, 2005 UT 63, ¶ 21, 125 P.3d 860 (internal quotation marks omitted). In Mecham, this court held claimants need not specifically use the words fraud or malice to satisfy this immunity exception. 2008 UT 60, ¶ 19, 193 P.3d 630. Whether a notice of claim contains an allegation of fraud or malice depends on the content of the notice as a whole. Id. ¶ 20. ¶ 31 Mr. Howe delivered an eight-page notice of claim to the Salt Lake City recorder on June 25, 2004. The district court found this notice of claim failed to assert any claims of fraud or malice and made only general conclusory statements. We disagree with this characterization. Mr. Howe's notice of claims provided facts alleging malice by Ms. Werner and Sgt. Bryant. For instance, Mr. Howe alleged that Sgt. Bryant lacked facts to support a good faith arrest of Mr. Howe. Also, Mr. Howe asserted the purpose of the prosecution was not to bring a criminal to justice but to punish Mr. Howe for his public opposition to Salt Lake City's verified response policy. Moreover, Mr. Howe employed the term malice in his notice of claim when he alleged Salt Lake City acted for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing, or otherwise maliciously inhibiting Mr. Howe's constitutional rights. (emphasis added.) Finally, Mr. Howe alleged that Ms. Werner, with the support of her supervisors, mounted a wideranging and public campaign that features exaggerated, misleading and/or false statements against the alarm industry itself and individuals within the industry. ¶ 32 These claims were sufficient to alert Salt Lake City that Mr. Howe intended to bring claims against the police department's employees on the basis of malicious conduct within the scope of employment. Therefore, the district court erred in holding that Mr. Howe failed to allege fraud or malice in his June 25, 2004 notice of claim filed with Salt Lake City.
¶ 33 In addition to meeting one of the UGIA's exceptions that nullifies immunity, a claimant must file the notice of claim within one year after the claim arises. Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-12 (1997). The district court held that Mr. Howe's notice of claim was statutorily untimely under the UGIA. However, the district court used the date Mr. Howe filed his complaint in Third District CourtApril 7, 2005rather than the date he filed his notice of claimJune 25, 2004as the date of notice of his claims against city employees. The district court's use of the later date is understandable given its conclusion that Mr. Howe's June 25, 2004 notice of claim did not sufficiently allege fraud or malice. Having found Mr. Howe's notice of claim insufficient, the court used the next document that could satisfy the UGIA's notice-of-claim requirement. That document was Mr. Howe's complaint, which was filed outside of UGIA's one-year mandate. ¶ 34 Given our holding that Mr. Howe's notice of claim sufficiently alleged malice on the part of Ms. Werner and Sgt. Bryant, the proper date from which to apply UGIA's one-year statute of limitations is the earlier date of June 25, 2004. Therefore, to be timely under the UGIA, Mr. Howe's claim must have arisen within the single year preceding the June 25, 2004 filing. All of the events giving rise to Mr. Howe's claims occurred within one year of that date. ¶ 35 Mr. Howe's notice was timely under the UGIA. We therefore reverse the district court's grant of Salt Lake City's motion for summary judgment under the UGIA and remand Mr. Howe's state claims [8] to the district court.