Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-04170/USCOURTS-ca10-90-04170-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Christine Goodliffe
Appellant
Larry Kim Roche
Appellant
Ilan Rothenberger
Appellant
Annette Soucie
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

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/ 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

MAY 2 - 1991 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

ILAN ROTHENBERGER, surviving spouse of) 

Lawrence Rothenberger; CHRISTINE ) 

GOODLIFFE; LARRY KIM ROCHE, surviving) 

child of decedent in loco parentis and) 

heir of Lawrence Rothenberger; ANNETTE) 

SOUCIE, surviving child of decedent in) 

loco parentis, and heirs of Lawrence ) 

Rothenberger, ) 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

v. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

by and through the United 

States Air Force, 

Defendant-Appellee. 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

No. 90-4170 

(D.C. No. 89-C-110-S) 

(D. Utah) 

Before ANDERSON, TACHA, and BRORBY, Circuit Judges. 

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. 

Plaintiffs-appellants Ilah Rothenberger, Christine Goodliffe, 

Larry Kim Roche, and Annette Soucie (plaintiffs) appeal from the 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

Appellate Case: 90-4170 Document: 010110106454 Date Filed: 05/02/1991 Page: 1 
• 

district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendantappellee United States of America (the government). Plaintiffs 

contend the district court erred in converting the government's 

motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment without 

giving plaintiffs prior notice. Plaintiffs also assert the 

district court incorrectly applied the discretionary function 

exception to relieve the government of liability under the Federal 

Torts Claims Act. We affirm. 

Plaintiffs filed this wrongful death action under the Federal 

Torts Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671 et~ (FTCA) following the death of Lawrence Rothenberger. Rothenberger was 

employed by Morton Thiokol, an independent contractor for the 

United States. Morton Thiokol builds rocket motors at its 

facility in Box Elder County, Utah for use by the United States 

Air Force for its Peacekeeper Missile Project. Rothenberger and 

four other employees were killed on December 29, 1987 when an 

explosion or rapid burn disintegrated the building in which they 

were working. 

In their complaint, plaintiffs asserted the government was 

liable for their damages because it was negligent in (1) its 

supervision and control of Morton Thiokol's operations; (2) allowing inherently dangerous activities to be conducted on its 

property; (3) failing to establish appropriate design and 

manufacturing procedures; and (4) supplying dangerous chattels. 

The government filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure 12(b)(l) and 12(b)(6). It argued the court 

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Appellate Case: 90-4170 Document: 010110106454 Date Filed: 05/02/1991 Page: 2 
lacked subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiffs' claims were 

barred by the discretionary function exception to the FTCA. 

This motion was referred to a magistrate. Following a hearing, the magistrate filed a Report and Recommendation. 

The magistrate ruled only plaintiff's claim for negligent 

supervision and control of Morton Thiokol's operations survived 

the jurisdictional bar of the discretionary function exception. 

He stated it could not be determined on the pleadings that no 

United States employee ever made the discretionary decision not to 

supervise Morton Thiokol's activities. 

In its objections to the magistrate's Report and Recommendation, the government noted its sworn answers to plaintiffs' interrogatories indicated the discretionary decision to delegate safety 

responsibility to Morton Thiokol had been made by the government. 

These answers to interrogatories had not been available to the 

magistrate when he rendered his Report and Recommendation. 

Plaintiffs filed no response to the government's objections • 

. On April 12, 1990, over four and a half months after the 

government filed its objections, the district court dismissed 

plaintiffs' claims, concluding they were barred by the 

discretionary function exception to the FTCA. Plaintiffs filed a 

motion pursuant to Rule 59 to alter or amend the judgment. 

Plaintiff Ilah Rothenberger also sought leave to file an amended 

complaint. The court denied these motions. Plaintiff Ilah 

Rothenberger then filed a Rule 60(b) motion for relief from judgment, which was also denied. Plaintiffs filed a timely notice of 

appeal from the district court's orders in this case. 

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Appellate Case: 90-4170 Document: 010110106454 Date Filed: 05/02/1991 Page: 3 
✓ 

The district court properly considered evidence developed in 

discovery in ruling that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. 

We review this question of law de novo. In re Ruti-Sweetwater, 

Inc., 836 F.2d 1263, 1266 (10th Cir. 1988). A court may consider 

matters outside the pleadings in ruling on a Rule (12)(b)(l) 

motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. This 

does not convert the motion into one for summary judgment under 

Rule 56. Wheeler Y.!.. Hurdman, 825 F.2d 257, 259 n. 5 (10th Cir.), 

cert. denied, 484 U.S. 986 (1987). 

If a court does consider factual matters outside the record 

on a Rule 12(b)(l) matter, it must do so in a manner that is fair 

to the party opposing the motion. Rogers Y.!.. Stratton Indus., 798 

F.2d 913, 916 (6th Cir. 1986). In the present case, plaintiffs 

had several months to respond to the government's objections to 

the magistrate's Report and Recommendations. There was sufficient 

opportunity for plaintiffs to conduct further discovery in an 

attempt to rebut the government's assertions on this matter. We 

find no error in the district court's manner of handling this 

motion. 

The district court properly concluded all of plaintiffs' 

claims were barred by the discretionary function exception to the 

FTCA. We review the district court's subject matter jurisdiction 

determination de nova. Weiss Y.!.. United States, 889 F.2d 937, 938 

(10th Cir. 1989). 

Plaintiffs contend their claim against the government for 

negligent supervision and control of Morton Thiokol's operations 

is not barred by the discretionary function exception. They argue 

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• 

the government had a nondelegable duty to maintain a safe 

workplace and must be held liable for its failure to fulfill this 

duty. 

This court has specifically rejected the inherently dangerous 

activity doctrine as a basis for imposing liability under the 

FTCA. See Flynn Y...!.. United States, 631 F.2d 678, 681 (10th Cir. 

1980); United States Y...!.. Page, · 350 F.2d 28, 33 (10th Cir. 1965), 

cert. denied, 382 U.S. 979 (1966). The government's operation of 

the Peacekeeper Missile Project, including the delegation of 

responsibility for the design, implementation, and enforcement of 

safety programs and procedures to the contractor, was a 

permissible exercise of policy-grounded judgment. Berkovitz Y...!.. 

United States, 486 U.S. 531, 536-37 (1988); Zumwalt Y...!.. United 

States, No. 89-3173, slip op. at 9 (10th Cir. Mar. 20, 1991). The 

government has not waived its immunity from tort actions arising 

out of such conduct. We therefore AFFIRM the rulings of the 

district court. The mandate shall issue forthwith. 

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ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Deanell Reece Tacha 

Circuit Judge 

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