This page summarizes and comments on a published court decision. It is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Unless this page says otherwise, The Eskesen Law Firm did not represent any party in this case.
Bottom line
Unless email is an authorized method of service for a Notice of Claim, claimants must ensure that papers are served in a manner that the law allows. Here, the Second Department upheld the dismissal of an injured woman’s case, ruling that even though an NYCTA lawyer received the emailed Claim, NYCTA’s prompt rejection required the Claimant to serve by authorized means.
The case
- Court
- Appellate Division, Second Department
- Decided
- September 30, 2026
- Case
- Kopitova v New York City Tr. Auth.
- Citation
- 2026 NY Slip Op 05524
- Official text
- Read the decision on the New York courts’ official reporter site
The facts
The plaintiff said she slipped and fell on a staircase at a subway station in February 2020. In May 2020, her lawyer emailed two lawyers employed by the Transit Authority, attached the notice of claim, and asked how to e-file or otherwise serve it. One of them replied that the authority was not accepting service by personal delivery, email, or fax, and referred the lawyer to the applicable statutes. She then sued. The Transit Authority moved to dismiss because she had not served a notice of claim as General Municipal Law § 50-e and Public Authorities Law § 1212 require. The Supreme Court, Kings County, granted the motion, and she appealed.
The holding
The Second Department affirmed. It held that “the e-mail did not constitute valid service of the notice of claim pursuant to General Municipal Law § 50-e(3)(a), as e-mail was not a form and manner prescribed for service upon NYCTA” (2026 NY Slip Op 05524, *2). It also rejected the argument that the authority had waived the defect, because “one of the NYCTA attorneys replied to the e-mail within 10 minutes of its receipt and stated, inter alia, that NYCTA did not accept service via e-mail” (id.).
What changed
Nothing new: this applies settled law. The court applied the delivery methods listed in General Municipal Law § 50-e(3)(a), and the rule in § 50-e(3)(c) that can save a notice delivered the wrong way.
What it means
- A claim for injuries against the New York City Transit Authority starts with a written notice of claim. It must be served before a lawsuit can go forward, generally within 90 days after the claim arises.
- How the notice is delivered matters as much as when. As the court quoted the statute, it may be delivered personally, or by registered or certified mail, to the person the law designates to receive a summons for the agency, or to an attorney who regularly represents it. Electronic delivery counts only if made “in a form and manner prescribed by such city”; email was not a prescribed method for serving the Transit Authority.
- The statute can save a timely notice delivered the wrong way, if a proper person actually receives it in time and the agency does not return it within 30 days, pointing out the problem. Here, the authority objected within minutes, so that rule did not help.
- If the 90 days have passed, a court may allow a late notice in some cases. See our entry on Matter of Tkebuchava v NYCTA, decided the same day.
Our view
Commentary by Frank N. Eskesen. This section is opinion.
We note that this Claim was emailed on May 7, 2020, which was when COVID was still new and, in our experience, many public agencies were making accommodations for electronic service. NYCTA was not one of them: within 10 minutes, its lawyer replied that NYCTA was not accepting personal delivery, email, or fax. That said, this case stands as a lesson that procedural elements must be strictly followed.
Topics
Court: Second Department. Year: 2026. Statutes: General Municipal Law § 50-e; Public Authorities Law § 1212. Result: affirmed.
Reviewed by Frank N. Eskesen, admitted in New York since 2000. Decided September 30, 2026. Posted October 5, 2026.
Questions about your own accident?
Call us for a free consultation. Calls answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.