In a recent legal development, Vanessa Cupido and Beatriz Ballesteros have filed an appeal against the City of Los Angeles. The plaintiffs, represented by attorney Isaac Toveg, submitted their complaint to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on May 24, 2024. The case centers around allegations that the City of Los Angeles failed to maintain public sidewalks, leading to the injury and subsequent death of their mother, Alicia Flores.
The incident in question occurred on May 15, 2021, when Alicia Flores reportedly fell out of her wheelchair due to an uneven sidewalk in Los Angeles. She succumbed to her injuries a week later on May 21, 2021. Within six months of the incident, attorney Isaac Toveg presented a claim for damages amounting to $3 million on behalf of Flores. The claim alleged that the city was responsible for not maintaining the sidewalk properly, which led to Flores’s fatal accident.
The plaintiffs' case took a complicated turn when they sought to amend the original claim after it was denied by the city on December 28, 2021. On April 12, 2022, Toveg submitted an application requesting permission to modify the initial claim by substituting Flores's name with those of her daughters as claimants. This request was based on what Toveg described as an "excusable mistake," arguing that listing Flores instead of her daughters was inadvertent and did not prejudice the city's ability to investigate or defend against the claims.
Despite these efforts, complications arose when separate claims were filed for each daughter on May 12, 2022—nearly a year after Flores's death. These new claims increased the total damages sought from $3 million to $10 million and omitted previous details such as funeral costs and medical bills. The city responded by stating that these claims were not presented within the required six-month period following the incident.
Subsequently, on July 8, 2022, Toveg filed applications for leave to present late claims under California Government Code section 911.4. He argued that Flores’s incapacitation and death during the filing period justified this delay and that his initial mistake should be excused due to lack of prejudice against the city’s defense capabilities.
However, in November 2022, Judge William A. Crowfoot denied these petitions for relief from the claim presentation requirement under Government Code section 945.4. The court ruled that each plaintiff needed to file her own timely claim and found no sufficient reason for failing to do so within one year after Flores's death.
In their appeal (Case ID: B326279), Cupido and Ballesteros contend that they substantially complied with statutory requirements through their initial filings and subsequent amendments. They argue that their failure was due to excusable neglect and mistake rather than intentional non-compliance.
The plaintiffs seek economic damages including financial support lost due to their mother's death as well as non-economic damages like loss of companionship and moral support. They also aim for punitive damages citing severe emotional distress caused by their mother's untimely demise.
Representing Cupido and Ballesteros are attorneys Isaac Toveg from Law Office of Isaac Toveg and Joseph S. Socher. The City of Los Angeles is defended by Hydee Feldstein Soto along with Deputy City Attorneys Denise C. Mills, Scott Marcus, Shaun Dabby Jacobs, and Timothy Martin.