Opinion ID: 2976624
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ellen Eckert’s Claim

Text: Eckert does not contend that she did not receive the final claim denial letter or that she was unaware that Myers accepted the letter when it was delivered via certified mail. She argues that because she signed and submitted the administrative claim form, the Postal Service had a duty to send an individual notice to her. Eckert also argues that since she was not individually served with notice that her claim had been denied, the six-month statute of limitation provided in 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b) was never triggered. The government argues that the Postal Service was not obligated to issue final notice of denial to Eckert and Myers individually at their shared address. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a claim against the United States for money damages for personal injury cannot be instituted unless the claimant has first presented the claim to the appropriate federal agency and his or her claim has been finally denied by the agency in writing and sent by certified or registered mail. 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a). The Code of Federal Regulations provides that once a claim has been finally denied, a final denial letter must be sent to the claimant via certified or registered mail, and that letter must include a statement of the reasons for the denial and No. 07-3817 Myers, et al. v. United States Page 3 inform the claimant that they may file suit in district court no later than six months after the date of the mailing of the denial letter. 28 C.F.R. §14.9(a). The district court held that the Postal Service complied with the above statute and regulation. A final denial letter was sent via certified mail to the claimant, “Ellen Eckert & James Myers,” exactly as those names appeared in the claimant box on the claim form. The final denial was served in the same manner as the claim was presented to the Postal Service. Eckert has failed to cite any case, administrative rule, or regulation that requires final denial letters to be individually sent to co-claimants. We agree with the district court that the Postal Service followed the letter of the law, and conformed with federal regulations in attempting to serve the final denial on Eckert and Myers. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal of Eckert’s claims because they were not filed within six-months of the receipt of the Postal Services’ final denial letter.