Richburg v. City of Atlanta, [A25A0585 Ga. Ct. App. May 15, 2025]. The court (Rickman, P.J.; Gobeil and Davis, JJ., concur), affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of Richburg’s negligence claims against the City of Atlanta based on a deficient ante litem notice under OCGA § 36-33-5(e).
Richburg’s notice submitted on a city-provided claim form listed damages of “$20,000.00 property and/or $100,000.00 bodily injury,” which the Court found was too indefinite to satisfy the statutory requirement of stating “the specific amount of monetary damages being sought.” Because the conjunctive-disjunctive “and/or” rendered the notice ambiguous, possibly demanding $20,000, $100,000, or $120,000, it failed to constitute an offer sufficiently definite to form a binding settlement agreement, Ms.** 2–3.
Citing Hall v. City of Blakely, 361 Ga. App. 135 (2021), City of Suwanee v. Padgett, 364 Ga. App. 34 (2022), and City of Conyers v. Sampson, 362 Ga. App. 301 (2022), the court reiterated that such ambiguity defeats the statutory purpose of allowing the municipality to make an informed decision regarding settlement. Because the notice lacked a clear and enforceable amount, the trial court correctly dismissed the suit Ms.** 3–4.