A plaintiff who brings a suit against a government entity must first file a government claim with the defendant entity. If the plaintiff misses the 6-month deadline for presentation of a claim, she may, within a year of accrual of her claim, file a petition for leave to file a late claim. If the entity denies the petition, the plaintiff may petition the trial court for relief based on a showing that the late filing was due to mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Though this provision for relief is interpreted liberally in favor of the plaintiff, the trial court’s decision is reviewed for abuse of discretion on appeal. The ultimate question the trial court must decide is whether the plaintiff acted in an objectively reasonable manner given the circumstances in which she found herself. Here, the appellate court affirms denial of relief to a plaintiff claiming she was sexually molested by a sheriff’s deputy and the ensuing emotional trauma and fear for her and her child’s safety justified her late claim. The appellate court found that the trial court applied the correct legal standard, properly considering the unique psychological factors affecting victims of sexual assault. The decision to deny relief was within the bounds of the trial court’s wide discretion. The appellate court would not create a general rule exempting all sexual assault victims from claim filing deadlines.