Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca13-16-02495/USCOURTS-ca13-16-02495-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jacqueline Smylie Herbst
Appellant
United States
Appellee

Document Text:

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals 

for the Federal Circuit ______________________ 

JACQUELINE SMYLIE HERBST,

Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

UNITED STATES,

Defendant-Appellee

______________________ 

2016-2495

______________________ 

Appeal from the United States Court of Federal 

Claims in No. 1:16-cv-00139-TCW, Judge Thomas C. 

Wheeler. 

______________________ 

Decided: December 9, 2016 

______________________ 

JACQUELINE SMYLIE HERBST, Tularosa, NM, pro se.

JOSHUA E. KURLAND, Commercial Litigation Branch, 

Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, 

Washington, DC, for defendant-appellee. Also represented 

by BENJAMIN C. MIZER, ROBERT E. KIRSCHMAN, JR.,

CLAUDIA BURKE. 

______________________ 

Case: 16-2495 Document: 20-2 Page: 1 Filed: 12/09/2016
2 HERBST v. US

Before PROST, Chief Judge, LOURIE and MOORE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM. 

Jacqueline Smylie Herbst appeals a decision from the 

United States Court of Federal Claims (“Claims Court”) 

dismissing her complaint as time barred. We affirm. 

BACKGROUND

Ms. Smylie Herbst served as a nurse in the United 

States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps 

(“USPHS”) from 1986 to 1989. In 1989, she transferred to 

the Army Nurse Corps, where she served until 1997. In 

1997, she transferred back to the USPHS and was stationed at the Fort Yuma Service Unit of the Indian Health 

Service (“IHS”) in Arizona. On November 4, 1999, the 

IHS requested that Ms. Smylie Herbst be involuntarily 

separated for “failure to demonstrate the performance, 

conduct, dedication to duty or professional attitude, and 

attributes of an officer in the Uniformed Service.” 

J.A. 171. Ms. Smylie Herbst’s termination became final 

on December 31, 1999. J.A. 189. After her termination, 

she filed a request for reinstatement with the Board for 

Correction of Commissioned Corps Records. Her request 

for reinstatement was ultimately denied by the Deputy 

Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services in December 2002. 

In March 2003, Ms. Smylie Herbst was recalled by the 

Army and stationed at Fort Riley, where she served until 

June 2004. She then served in the Army reserve until 

2009, where her service included postings in Germany 

and the Republic of Georgia. Ms. Smylie Herbst was

honorably discharged from the Army in 2009, having 

attained the rank of Major. 

Case: 16-2495 Document: 20-2 Page: 2 Filed: 12/09/2016
HERBST v. US 3

Ms. Smylie Herbst contends her 1999 termination 

from the USPHS was in retaliation for filing a complaint 

against the Fort Yuma Service Unit with the Texas State 

Board of Nurse Examiners (“Texas State Board”). A few 

months before her 1999 termination, Ms. Smylie Herbst 

sent a letter to the Texas State Board raising allegations 

that, among other things, nurses at Fort Yuma effectively 

served as doctors by diagnosing patients and prescribing

medicine. J.A. 190. Ms. Smylie Herbst filed a complaint 

in the Claims Court in January 2016, requesting back pay 

and credit for government service for the three-year 

period between her termination from the USPHS and the 

date she was recalled to active duty by the Army. The 

government moved to dismiss, arguing her complaint was 

time-barred under 28 U.S.C. § 2501. The Claims Court 

granted the motion, holding that Ms. Smylie Herbst failed 

to bring suit within six years after her claim first accrued. 

Ms. Smylie Herbst appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3). 

DISCUSSION

The Claims Court lacks jurisdiction to hear claims 

“unless the petition thereon is filed within six years after 

such claim first accrues.” 28 U.S.C. § 2501. A claim 

arises “when all the events have occurred which fix the 

liability of the Government and entitle the claimant to 

institute an action.” FloorPro, Inc. v. United States, 680 

F.3d 1377, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2012). In an action seeking 

back pay, a claim accrues “all at once at the time of discharge.” Martinez v. United States, 333 F.3d 1295, 1303 

(Fed. Cir. 2003); see id. at 1314 (“[W]e have consistently 

held that the limitations period is established by the date 

of accrual, which is the date on which the service member 

was denied the pay to which he claims entitlement.”). 

The six-year statute of limitations cannot be waived by 

Case: 16-2495 Document: 20-2 Page: 3 Filed: 12/09/2016
4 HERBST v. US

the Claims Court or the parties. Alder Terrace, Inc. v. 

United States, 161 F.3d 1372, 1376–77 (Fed. Cir. 1998). 

Whether the Claims Court possesses jurisdiction over a 

claim is a question of law we review de novo. FloorPro, 

680 F.3d at 1381.

Ms. Smylie Herbst’s claim accrued on December 31, 

1999, the day she was terminated from the USPHS. See 

Martinez, 333 F.3d at 1314. She did not file her complaint in the Claims Court until January 2016, sixteen 

years later. This falls outside the Claims Court’s six-year 

jurisdictional window. See FloorPro, 680 F.3d at 1381. 

Even if the statute of limitations did not accrue until her 

request for reinstatement was denied by the Deputy 

Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, her claim is still untimely because that 

denial occurred in December 2002. 

While we agree with the Claims Court that Ms. Smylie Herbst “presented an arguably sympathetic case for 

unjust treatment during her time with the USPHS,” her 

claim is barred by the statute of limitations. See J.A. 5. 

Therefore, the Claims Court lacked jurisdiction to hear it

and properly granted the government’s motion to dismiss.

CONCLUSION

The order from the United States Court of Federal 

Claims is affirmed. 

AFFIRMED

COSTS

No costs.

Case: 16-2495 Document: 20-2 Page: 4 Filed: 12/09/2016