Opinion ID: 6971585
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: United States Coast Guard as a Named Party

Text: As an initial matter, the United States claims that it was improper for the Coast Guard to be named as a party to this action. Ohio Edison does not respond to nor dispute the accuracy of this assertion, and our own analysis leads us to agree with the United States. The general rule is that a federal administrative agency cannot be sued in its own name unless such suits are specifically authorized by Congress, typically in the form of a “sue-and-be-sued” clause. See Blackmar v. Guerre, 342 U.S. 512, 515, 72 S.Ct. 410, 96 L.Ed. 534 (1952); Loeffler v. Frank, 486 U.S. 549, 554, 108 S.Ct. 1965, 100 L.Ed.2d 549 (1988); Gerritsen v. Consulado General De Mexico, 989 F.2d 340, 343 (9th Cir.1993). However, even if such authorization to sue the Coast Guard did exist, the Supreme Court’s analysis in Loeffler with respect to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1346, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., suggests that the Coast Guard is nevertheless immune from suit in this case. In Loeffler, the United States Postal Service contended that the waiver of sovereign immunity effected by § 717 of Title VII (including its scope) was exclusive in an action brought under Title VII against the Postal Service and replaced the broader waiver of sovereign immunity effected by the “sue-and-be-sued” clause of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, 39 U.S.C. § 401(1). See Loeffler, 486 U.S. at 559, 108 S.Ct. 1965. In rejecting this argument, the Supreme Court announced that a waiver of sovereign immunity in a new cause of action will not be presumed to be exclusive unless such an intention is expressly mandated by Congress. See id. at 561, 108 S.Ct. 1965. As further illustration, the Supreme Court contrasted § 717 of Title VII with the FTCA which does expressly state that “[t]he authority of any federal agency to sue and be sued in its own name shall not be construed to authorize suits against such federal agency on claims which are cognizable under section 1346(b) of this title, and the remedies provided by this title in such cases shall be exclusive.” 28 U.S.C. § 2679(a); see also Loeffler, 486 U.S. at 561-62, 108 S.Ct. 1965. Like the FTCA, the SIAA also contains a provision expressly indicating “that the waiver of sovereign immunity it effeet[s is] intended also to narrow the waiver of sovereign immunity of entities [already] subject to sue-and-be-sued clauses.” Loeffler, 486 U.S. at 562, 108 S.Ct. 1965. The SIAA only allows for proceedings to be brought against the “United States” [of America] or “any corporation mentioned in section 741 of this title.” 8 46 U.S.C.App. § 742. Title 46 U.S.C.App. § 745 further provides that “where a remedy is provided by this chapter (the SIAA) it shall hereafter be exclusive of any other action by reason of the same subject matter against the agent or employee of the United States [of America] or of any incorporated or unincorporated agency thereof whose act or omission gave rise to the claim____” Thus, just as an FTCA action naming only the United States Post Office and several individual postal workers as defendants must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the United States of America is the only proper defendant in such an action, see Allgeier v. United States, 909 F.2d 869, 871 (6th Cir.1990) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2679(a)); Myers & Myers, Inc. v. United States Postal Serv., 527 F.2d 1252, 1256 (2d Cir.1975), the Coast Guard cannot be a party to this SIAA action in its own name and must be dismissed as a party.