Opinion ID: 71457
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Foreign Country Exception

Text: 26 In 1946, Congress passed the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346, 2671-2680. The FTCA was designed to waive sovereign immunity from suit for certain specified tortious acts of federal employees. Dalehite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15, 73 S.Ct. 956, 97 L.Ed. 1427 (1953). It was the offspring of a feeling that the Government should assume the obligation to pay damages for the misfeasance of employees in carrying out its work. 346 U.S. at 24, 73 S.Ct. at 962. Thus, under the FTCA, the government consented, under certain circumstances, to be sued in tort. 27 The relevant provision of the FTCA provides in part: 28 (b) ... [T]he district courts, ..., shall have exclusive jurisdiction of civil actions on claims 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 of 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. 29 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b). Thus, individuals generally are capable of recovering from the government and its agencies for injuries sustained as a result of the government's negligence if the state law where the conduct or omission occurred allows such recovery. Newmann v. United States, 938 F.2d 1258, 1261 n. 2 (11th Cir.1991). 30 Congress has recognized, however, that the government's sovereign immunity performs an important function in many instances and has enumerated a number of exceptions to the FTCA. See 28 U.S.C. § 2680. The exception at issue in this case is the foreign country exception which exempts [a]ny claim arising in a foreign country from the waiver of sovereign immunity. 28 U.S.C. § 2680(k). The government contends that this exception applies here because all of the negligent acts took place in a foreign country. The district court properly concluded otherwise. 31 First, we look to Florida state law to determine if the government's actions at issue would support a cause of action for the plaintiffs. The Florida Supreme Court has recognized that a defendant owes a duty of care to persons who are foreseeably endangered by the defendant's conduct and fall into the zone of risk which makes the conduct unreasonably dangerous. McCain v. Florida Power Corp., 593 So.2d 500 (Fla.1992). It is clear, under the facts of this case, that the plaintiffs have a cause of action for negligence against the government. It was reasonably foreseeable that the crew of Flight 712 could be endangered by the failure of the government to notify the Honduran authorities regarding the controlled delivery of cocaine. 32 Next, we consider where the events at issue occurred. An FTCA claim is decided under the law of the place in which the negligent act or omission occurred and not the place in which the act or omission had its operative effect. See Richards v. United States, 369 U.S. 1, 10, 82 S.Ct. 585, 591, 7 L.Ed.2d 492, 498-99 (1962); Sami v. United States, 617 F.2d 755, 762 (D.C.Cir.1979); Leaf v. United States, 588 F.2d 733, 735-36 (9th Cir.1978); Donahue v. United States Dep't of Justice, 751 F.Supp. 45, 47 (S.D.N.Y.1990). These claims are characterized as headquarters claims. 33 The plaintiffs urge that a headquarters claim exception exists in § 2680(k) jurisprudence under which the location of the injury is not controlling for jurisdictional purposes. This claim is achieved on proof that a negligent failure to warn, instruct or train occurred in the United States. 34 In In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation, 580 F.Supp. 1242, 1255 (E.D.N.Y.1984), appeal dismissed, 745 F.2d 161 (2d Cir.1984), the court held that although the injuries to the claimants resulting from the exposure to Agent Orange occurred in Vietnam, the initial decision to use Agent Orange, the decision to continue using it, and the decision relating to the specifications for the herbicide, were all made in the United States. Therefore, the negligent act or omission occurred in the United States and liability was properly imposed upon the government. Thus, a claim is not barred by section 2680(k) where the tortious conduct occurs in the United States, but the injury is sustained in a foreign country. Donahue, 751 F.Supp. at 48. 35 The plaintiffs in this case have established such a proximate nexus. The district court, in its findings of fact, described the actions of the DEA and Customs as bilateral conduct requiring the coordination of the two agencies and specifically found that these actions constituted a joint operation. The district court found that the plaintiffs' incarceration was directly and proximately caused by the actions of the government both within and without the United States. Specifically, the district court determined that the government loaded cocaine on the plane in Belize, and the government (mainly DEA Agent Holifield) failed to notify the authorities in Honduras of the controlled delivery. This failure resulted in the plaintiffs' arrest and incarceration. The district court also noted that Customs Agent Childers failed to notify Agent Holifield regarding his investigation of the controlled delivery and this failure also contributed to the plaintiffs' misfortune. In sum, the district court found that the actions of the agencies resulted in a turf battle which proximately caused the arrests and incarceration of six innocent individuals. 36 We hold that the district court's factual findings are not clearly erroneous and, in fact, are amply supported by the record. Many factors occurring within the United States contributed to the utter lack of coordination of the controlled delivery in this case. Childers should have notified Holifield of his investigation and of the possibility that the Honduran authorities might use drug-sniffing dogs to search the plane when it landed. Holifield would then have known that the plane might be subject to a search and that he should notify the Honduran authorities about the controlled delivery. Childers should have questioned Holifield about Childers' growing suspicion that the controlled delivery was not being appropriately coordinated. As DEA Agent Hidgon admitted, the disaster would have been prevented, had the agents communicated to the Honduran authorities about the operation. 37 We are persuaded that tort liability was properly imposed upon the government in this case. The plaintiffs proved that the government agents in Florida engaged in acts or omissions that breached a duty under Florida law and proximately caused the plaintiffs' injuries. In conducting the controlled delivery, the government had a duty to secure the safety of the crew and passengers unknowingly involved in the mission. The agents' testimony confirms this duty. Nevertheless, neither Customs nor the DEA ever requested the flight's manifest to determine who would be on board the plane. At no time did the agents discuss the use of drug-sniffing dogs at any transit stops or the itinerary of the flight. Customs should have provided the DEA with the information it had to assist the DEA in making informed decisions regarding the delivery. The Customs agent's failure to divulge critical information and to cooperate with the DEA in executing the controlled delivery negligently compromised the safety of the passengers and the crew and proximately caused the plaintiffs' injuries. Thus, the district court's judgment in favor of the plaintiffs is supported by the record and is not clearly erroneous. 1