Suing the Federal Government

1
Suing the Federal Government
2
History

• Traditional Sovereign Immunity
• US Constitution
• "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but
  in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."
  U.S. Const. art. I, 9.
• All compensation had to be by private bills
• What problems do private bills pose?

3
Court of Claims

• 1855
• Administrative tribunal to review claims and make
  recommendations to Congress
• Later Congress made the decisions binding
• Not an Art III court
• Like bankruptcy courts
• Appeal to the Federal circuit and the United
  States Supreme Court
• Contracts, tax refunds, takings - not torts

4
Federal Tort Claims Act

• Went into effect in 1945
• All private bills before then
• Waives sovereign immunity for the delineated
  claims against the federal government

5
Causes of Action under the FTCA - Sec 2672

• The head of each Federal agency or his designee,
  in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
  Attorney General, may consider, ascertain,
  adjust, determine, compromise, and settle any
  claim for money damages against the United States
  for injury or loss of property or personal injury
  or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act
  or omission of any employee of the agency while
  acting within the scope of his office or
  employment, under circumstances where the United
  States, if a private person, would be liable to
  the claimant in accordance with the law of the
  place where the act or omission occurred

6
Limitations on Liability - Sec 2674

• The United States shall be liable, respecting the
  provisions of this title relating to tort claims,
  in the same manner and to the same extent as a
  private individual under like circumstances, but
  shall not be liable for interest prior to
  judgment or for punitive damages.
• If, however, in any case wherein death was
  caused, the law of the place where the act or
  omission complained of occurred provides, or has
  been construed to provide, for damages only
  punitive in nature, the United States shall be
  liable for actual or compensatory damages,
  measured by the pecuniary injuries resulting from
  such death to the persons respectively, for whose
  benefit the action was brought, in lieu thereof.

7
Administrative Procedural Requirements - Sec 2675

• An action shall not be instituted upon a claim
  against the United States for money damages for
  injury or loss of property or personal injury or
  death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or
  omission of any employee of the Government while
  acting within the scope of his office or
  employment, unless the claimant shall have first
  presented the claim to the appropriate Federal
  agency and his claim shall have been finally
  denied by the agency in writing and sent by
  certified or registered mail.
• The failure of an agency to make final
  disposition of a claim within six months after it
  is filed shall, at the option of the claimant any
  time thereafter, be deemed a final denial of the
  claim for purposes of this section.

8
Filing a Claim is Jurisdictional

• This is an administrative compensation scheme
• You file a claim with the agency with 2 years of
  the accidence
• You can only go to court after the agency rules
  on the claim or after six months
• If you do not comply with this requirement, you
  case will be dismissed and if the 2 years has
  elapsed, you will not be prescribed.

9
The Discretionary Function Defense - Sec 2680

• (a) Any claim based upon an act or omission of an
  employee of the Government, exercising due care,
  in the execution of a statute or regulation,
  whether or not such statute or regulation be
  valid, or based upon the exercise or performance
  or the failure to exercise or perform a
  discretionary function or duty on the part of a
  federal agency or an employee of the Government,
  whether or not the discretion involved be abused.

10
What is the Intent of this Provision?

• What is a discretionary function?
• Why do we limit claims based on government
  decisionmaking?
• What are the consequences for allowing litigants
  to challenge government polices?
• How does this mirror judicial review of rules and
  adjudications?
• What is the remedy for bad decisions?
• What about compensation?

11
Exceptions for Intentional Torts

• Any claim arising out of assault, battery, false
  imprisonment, false arrest, malicious
  prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander,
  misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with
  contract rights

12
Intentional Torts by Law Enforcement Officers

• with regard to acts or omissions of investigative
  or law enforcement officers of the United States
  Government, the provisions of this chapter and
  section 1346 (b) of this title shall apply to any
  claim arising, on or after the date of the
  enactment of this proviso, out of assault,
  battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, abuse
  of process, or malicious prosecution.
• What about invasion of privacy, such as a
  defective search?
• Does not displace Bivens for constitutional claims

13
Other Exceptions to Coverage - Sec 2680

• http//biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/immunity/ftca_exc
  eptions.htm

14
Allen v. United States, 816 F.2d 1417 (10th Cir.
1987) - The Atom Bomb Case

• AEC tested atomic bombs in Nevada
• Fallout drifted out of the test area and into
  populated areas
• There was evidence that the local population was
  harmed
• After decades, the plaintiffs won at the district
  court
• On appeal, the AEC argued that it had made a
  policy choice that exposing the population to
  fallout was justified by the need to do the
  testing
• Is this a proper discretionary function?
• How is this different from a traditional torts
  case?

15
Berkovitz by Berkovitz v. U.S., 486 U.S. 531
(1988)

• What was the product in Berkovitz?
• What did the FDA regulations require the FDA to
  do to assure the safety of the polio vaccine?
• What did the plaintiffs claim the FDA failed to
  do?
• What was the FDAs defense?

16
Varig Airlines (in Berkovitz)

• What was the injury in Varig Airlines?
• What did the enabling act require the agency to
  do?
• What did the regs require?
• How are the regs in Berkovitz different from
  those in Varig Airlines?

17
Agency Liability

• Why was the FDA liable in Berkovitz?
• How could the FDA have worded the regulations to
  avoid this sort of liability?
• Why might that have raised a red flag during
  notice and comment?
• LA follows Berkovitz

18
Can the Government Be Liable When the Case
Involves Battery?

• Sheridan v. United States, 487 U.S. 392 (1988)
• Government assumed a duty to restrain an
  intoxicated, armed serviceman
• Government did not carry out this duty properly
  and the drunk assaulted people
• Legal results
• Is an assault covered by the FTCA?
• What about failure to restrain?
• Is this like Allen or Berkovitz?

19
Tort Claims in Louisiana
20
Raw Oysters

• What do oysters eat?
• Hepatitis A - traditional
• Liver disease
• some die
• vibrio vulnificus - the new threat
• acute liver disease and failure
• various other nasty vibrios
• This is why God made deep fat fryers

21
The Oyster Industry

• Did they support the reporting regulations?
• What was their concern?
• What would you tell them as a products liability
  lawyer?
• How did their position affect the final form of
  the law?
• What should it really say?
• Is this like fugu - puffer fish - sushi?

22
State Warning

• THERE MAY BE A RISK ASSOCIATED WITH CONSUMING RAW
  SHELLFISH AS IS THE CASE WITH OTHER RAW PROTEIN
  PRODUCTS. IF YOU SUFFER FROM CHRONIC ILLNESS OF
  THE LIVER, STOMACH OR BLOOD OR HAVE OTHER IMMUNE
  DISORDERS, YOU SHOULD EAT THESE PRODUCTS FULLY
  COOKED.

23
Where Does the Warning Have to be Posted??

• Section 23006-4 of the Sanitary Code requires
  that all "establishments that sell or serve raw
  oysters must display" a prescribed warning "at
  point of sale." The establishment has discretion
  in determining what method may be used to convey
  the warning because the warning can be conveyed
  by a sign, menu notice, table tent or other
  clearly visible message.
• What is the critical language?

24
Gregor v. Argenot Great Central Insurance Co.,
851 So.2d 959 (La. 2003)

• What happened to plaintiff?
• Preexisting illness?
• What if he did not have a preexisting illness?
• Where was the sign posted?
• Where did plaintiff eat?
• Did he see the sign?

25
The Claims

• Who did the plaintiff sue?
• What was the comparative fault assessment?
• Why was DHH assessed so much fault?
• Why did the Supreme Court reduce it?
• What is the plaintiff's negligence theory against
  the state?
• What is the state's defense?
• How does plaintiff attack this defense?

26
State Immunity

• Sovereign immunity was abolished
• How does this change the construction of the
  immunity provision as compared to the
  construction of the FTCA?
• The Statute
• "Liability shall not be imposed on public
  entities or their officers or employees based
  upon the exercise or performance or the failure
  to exercise or perform their policymaking or
  discretionary acts when such acts are within the
  course and scope of their lawful powers and
  duties. "

27
Court's Analysis

• What federal case did the court adopt as a
  standard?
• What was the real negligence of DHH?
• Does this violation put people at real risk, or
  is it just technical?
• Was the restaurant also liable?
• Bad oysters or bad warning?

28
Public Health Risks

• Does the health department have a duty to warn
  about risks it knows of?
• What if it warns physicians, but not the public?
• Should it be liable for not abating a risk to the
  public?
• What about testing the oyster beds?
• How would you need to know to tell if the state
  could be liable for not closing a bed?

29
Hepatitis in Bathhouses

• Data from health studies in the mid-1970s showed
  a huge risk of hepatitis b in bathhouses
• Should the health department have warned the
  public?
• Should they have closed down the bathhouses?
• What if the statute says the government shall
  protect the public?
• What does the public assume from government
  inaction?