Woman's defective sidewalk claim dismissed because of imprecision in notice to City

In Heiser v. City of Flint, a woman who suffered severe injuries in a sidewalk fall appealed the trial judge's grant of summary disposition to the City.  The judge had ruled that the City was entitled to governmental immunity and that Heiser's initial notice to the City was defective because it was not precise in identifying the "exact" address where her injury occurred.

In numerous recent cases, the Michigan Supreme Court's Republican majority has over-turned longstanding existing law and ruled that substantial compliance with statutory notice requirements is no longer adequate, and that injury and damage claims will be dismissed if there is any defect in a required notice,  even if the at-fault defendant has suffered no prejudice as a result. 

While Ms. Heiser apparently got the appropriate notice of injury to the City within days of the incident, as required, she didn't know the "precise address" and according to anti-victim judges Henry Saad and Kirsten Kelly, she failed to cure this imprecision by accompanying her notice with (non-mandatory) pictures or a diagram of the defect in the sidewalk that caused her fall.