Loewinger v. Prince George's County

Powers, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. Sybel Loewinger and Daniel Loewinger filed suit ³¹⁷ against Prince George’s County, Maryland for injuries caused when her feet were caught in a treadmill while she was undergoing medical tests at the hospital operated by the County. The demurrer to their declaration was sustained without leave to amend and a judgment entered for the County. The narrow issue presented on appeal is whether there was compliance with Article 57, § 18 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957, 1972 Repl.

Vol.), which required that written notice be presented either in person or by registered mail to the County Commissioners or County Council 1 within 180 days after the injury was sustained, setting forth the time, place or cause of the alleged damage. The declaration alleged compliance in that written reports and records were made regarding the incident by various agents, servants and employees of the County employed at the hospital, including the hospital administrator, from their own investigation and the complaints of Sybel Loewinger; that a representative of the County’s tort liability carrier called at the home of plaintiffs a week after the occurrence to investigate their claim, and within less than a month after the injury, written notice of the claim was sent to an insurance company, which acknowledged that it was the insurer for the hospital. While claimants may consider this type of legislation to be only a hurdle in an obstacle course erected to frustrate