Pickett v. Commonwealth

The sole issue presented in this case is whether the plaintiff may use a complaint in a Federal action to satisfy the presentment requirement of the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, G. L. c. 258, § 4 (1992 ed.). We answer in the negative.

The facts are not in dispute. In March, 1987, the plaintiff, an inmate at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Norfolk, while working on a renovation crew at Westborough State Hospital, fell from a stepladder, injuring himself. Later, in July, 1987, he fell from a thirty-foot ladder, again injuring himself. In February, 1989, he filed a pro se com plaint…