Milwaukee doctor loses appeal against Cedarburg for injury sustained from alleged negligent road maintenance

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Milwaukee Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. David Kornreich was riding his bicycle in the Town of Cedarburg when he broke his clavicle in a bicycle accident back in August of 2020, according to court documents obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal.

Kornreich’s attorney Phillip S. Georges, filed a Circuit Court lawsuit against the Town of Cedarburg claiming the town’s Public Works Department negligently maintained roads, which resulted in his bicycle accident.  The Circuit Court ruled that he could not receive damages because his suit was not filed within the statute of limitations.

On August 16, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the Circuit Court’s decision.

According to court documents obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal, after Kornreich’s accident, he served a Notice of Claim on the Town pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 893.80(1d)(b) (2021-22) on August 19, 2020.

About a week later, Georges, received a letter from Aegis Corporation Field Claims Representative Ryan Anderson stating that Community Insurance Corporation (CIC) was the Town’s insurer, Aegis was CIC’s general administrator, and CIC had received the Notice of Claim. The letter also asked Georges to “copy [Anderson] on all further correspondence.

The Town Board voted to deny Kornreich’s claim at a public meeting on October 7, 2020. On October 13, 2020, the Town sent Georges a Notice of Disallowance pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 893.80(1g). The Notice advised that, pursuant to § 893.80, no action on Kornreich’s claim could be brought against the Town after six months from the date of service of the Notice. Having received the Notice, Georges emailed Aegis Claims Manager Brian Knee on October 21, expressing that he was “quite surprised” by the Notice.

Eventually, Kornreich finally filed his suit on July 19, 2021, eleven months after notifying the Town of his claim and more than eight months after Kornreich was personally served with the Notice of Disallowance, court documents state.

The circuit court granted the Town’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that the six-month statute of limitations provided in WIS. STAT. § 893.80(1g) barred Kornreich’s claim.

In the appeal, he argued that the Circuit Court erred in finding that his claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The Appellate Court affirmed.

The Wisconsin Law Journal reached out to the Town of Cedarburg, Georges, and Kornreich. The above parties could not be reached for comment prior to publication.