Opinion ID: 1388776
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Equitable Tolling Doctrine Applies to the FTCA's Statute of Limitations.

Text: The first disputed issue that we must address is whether in any circumstance there can be equitable tolling to relax the FTCA's limitations period. At one time we held that the FTCA's statute of limitations was jurisdictional. See, e.g., Bradley v. United States, 856 F.2d 575, 577-78 (3d Cir.1988), vacated on other grounds, 490 U.S. 1002, 109 S.Ct. 1634, 104 L.Ed.2d 150 (1989). But the Supreme Court subsequently held that federal statutes of limitations are not jurisdictional and that the same rebuttable presumption of equitable tolling applicable to suits against private defendants should also apply to suits against the United States. Irwin v. Dep't of Veteran Affairs, 498 U.S. 89, 93-96, 111 S.Ct. 453, 456-57, 112 L.Ed.2d 435 (1990). The Court reasoned that [o]nce Congress has made such a waiver [of its sovereign immunity], we think that making the rule of equitable tolling applicable to suits against the Government, in the same way that is applicable to private suits, amounts to little, if any, broadening of the congressional waiver. Id. at 95, 111 S.Ct. at 457. The Court observed that this general rule is likely to be a realistic assessment of legislative intent as well as a practically useful principle of interpretation. Id. Applying Irwin, we have held that the FTCA's statute of limitations is not jurisdictional, and thus in appropriate circumstances the equitable tolling doctrine can apply in actions under it. Hughes v. United States, 263 F.3d 272, 278 (3d Cir.2001); see Hedges v. United States, 404 F.3d 744, 748 (3d Cir.2005) (federal courts apply equitable tolling to wide range of cases against the Government, including FTCA claims). Other courts of appeals also have applied equitable tolling in suits against the United States. Hedges, 404 F.3d at 748 (citing other courts of appeals); T.L. ex rel. Ingram v. United States, 443 F.3d 956, 961 (8th Cir.2006) (citing courts of appeals holding that FTCA's limitations provision is jurisdictional but that equitable tolling nevertheless applies because Congress so intended). On the other hand, a court of appeals quite recently held that the FTCA's statute of limitation is jurisdictional and thus if a case is brought beyond the limitations period the court does not have jurisdiction and, therefore, cannot apply the doctrines of equitable estoppel or equitable tolling that might otherwise allow [the] Plaintiff's case to proceed. Marley v. United States, 548 F.3d 1286, 1289 (9th Cir.2008). The Government contends, however, that we should not equitably toll the statute of limitations in this case notwithstanding Santos's asserted diligence in pursuing her action and in doing so attempting to identify the correct defendants. It predicates this argument on the FTCA's savings clause, which deems timely claims brought erroneously in state court, rather than before the appropriate federal agency, within two years after they accrue. 28 U.S.C. § 2697(d)(5). The Government contends that inasmuch as Congress explicitly provided a statutory exception to the FTCA's limitations period, we should not recognize additional nonstatutory equitable exceptions to the statutory limitations period. In support of its position, the Government cites TRW v. Andrews, 534 U.S. 19, 122 S.Ct. 441, 151 L.Ed.2d 339 (2001), a case under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which in certain circumstances confers a private right of action on consumers so that they may sue credit agencies. The FCRA, as in effect at the time of TRW, contained a statute of limitations providing that actions to enforce liability under the FCRA must be brought within two years from the date [liability accrues] except in cases of willful misrepresentation by the defendant, in which case claims must be brought within two years after [the plaintiff's] discovery... of the misrepresentation. TRW, 534 U.S. at 22, 122 S.Ct. at 444 (citing 15 U.S.C. § 1681p) (1994 ed.) (internal quotation marks omitted). The issue presented in TRW was whether a general discovery rule, which delays the beginning of a limitations period until the plaintiff knew or should have known of her injury, applied in determining when a claim accrues under the FCRA. The Court held that a general discovery rule was not applicable in calculating the FCRA's limitations period because the statute's text and structure establishing the two-year limitation period and in the same sentence a specific and limited exception for cases of willful misrepresentation, evinced congressional intent to preclude judicial implication of a broader discovery rule. The Court reasoned that a judicially recognized general discovery rule under the FCRA would render the narrower statutory misrepresentation rule insignificant, if not wholly superfluous. See id. at 31, 122 S.Ct. at 449. The Court explained that [w]here Congress explicitly enumerates certain exceptions to a general prohibition, additional exceptions are not to be implied, in the absence of evidence of a contrary legislative intent. Id. at 28, 122 S.Ct. at 447 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). We believe that Congress, in adopting the statute of limitations in the FTCA, did not demonstrate that it intended to preclude equitable tolling as it did in the FCRA. We reach this conclusion because Congress structured the two statutes differently. Thus, while Congress placed the FCRA's exception to the limitations provision within the same sentence as the general limitations provision connected by except, 15 U.S.C. § 1681p (1994 ed.), in contrast it placed the FTCA's savings clause providing that certain claims filed within two years with the wrong agency are timely in a section distinct from the limitations provision. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2679(d)(5); 2401(b). The placement of the separate statutory savings provision does not suggest that Congress intended it to preclude equitable tolling, which the Supreme Court has presumed and held to apply in actions against the United States, Irwin, 498 U.S. at 95-96, 111 S.Ct. at 458; see also Hughes, 263 F.3d at 278; Hedges, 404 F.3d at 748; Ingram, 443 F.3d at 960-61, particularly in an area of law where equitable concerns may be greater. TRW, 534 U.S. at 27, 122 S.Ct. at 446-47 (distinguishing claim in that case, private action against a credit agency under FCRA, from medical malpractice claims). The Government also argues that equitably tolling the statute of limitations would render the FTCA's savings clause insignificant, if not wholly superfluous. See id. at 31, 122 S.Ct. at 449. But we reject this argument because the savings clause is applicable in cases in which equitable tolling would not be. For example, the FTCA's savings clause lacks any due diligence requirement and thus encompasses a garden-variety claim of excusable neglect, a situation in which equitable tolling would not apply. See Irwin, 498 U.S. at 96, 111 S.Ct. at 458. At bottom, the Government's argument seems to blur two issues: whether equitable tolling can apply to the FTCA's limitations period in any circumstance and whether it should apply in this case. We view the Government's arguments supporting the first contention as a subtle invitation to overrule Hughes, but we cannot take that step as that case is binding on us. Third Circuit IOP 9.1. Consequently, we will address the second issue and do so below. In reaching our result that equitable tolling is possible under the FTCA, we recognize that the reasoning in certain recent Supreme Court decisions might call into question whether equitable tolling is available in FTCA claims and thus raise doubt as to the continuing viability of our holding in Hughes. See John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 750, 755-56, 169 L.Ed.2d 591 (2008) (distinguishing statutes of limitations protecting individual defendants, subject to waiver and equitable tolling, from those limiting the scope of governmental waiver of sovereign immunity, where equitable considerations are less likely to apply); United States v. Beggerly, 524 U.S. 38, 48-49, 118 S.Ct. 1862, 1868, 141 L.Ed.2d 32 (1998) (equitable tolling not available in Quiet Title Act claims against United States, where limitations period was 12 years and limitations period already effectively allowed for equitable tolling); United States v. Brockamp, 519 U.S. 347, 350-54, 117 S.Ct. 849, 850-53, 136 L.Ed.2d 818 (1997) (equitable tolling not available to tax refund claims, where limitation provision was detailed and technical, and where applying equitable tolling could create an immense administrative burden); United States v. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 111, 117-18, 100 S.Ct. 352, 357, 62 L.Ed.2d 259 (1979) (cautioning courts neither to extend nor to narrow the FTCA's statute of limitations from what Congress intended, because assertion of a claim within the limitations period is a condition of FTCA's waiver of sovereign immunity); see also Marley, 548 F.3d at 1289. Notwithstanding the foregoing cases, Irwin remains good law, for the Court in John R. applied but did not overrule Irwin in holding that its presumption that equitable tolling applied had been rebutted. John R. , 128 S.Ct. at 755-56. Consequently, these cases do not lead us to conclude that equitable tolling cannot apply under the FTCA. The FTCA waives the sovereign immunity of the United States to the extent that it is liable on tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but includes a straightforward limitations provision separate from the waiver of immunity section. 28 U.S.C. §§ 2674, 2401(b). Considering that the FTCA creates tort liability in the same manner as liability is imposed on private individuals, the limitation provision is non-technical with a period of only two years, the circumstances surrounding tort and medical malpractice claims reasonably may justify applying equitable tolling to such claims, and neither the text nor structure of the freestanding statutory tolling provision suggests that Congress intended to preclude equitable tolling, we think that our holding in Hughes that there can be equitable tolling in suits under the FTCA remains good law which survives the later Supreme Court decisions to which we have referred. Hughes, 263 F.3d at 278; accord Ingram, 443 F.3d at 961-63 (equitable tolling applies even though limitation provision is jurisdictional); see Hedges, 404 F.3d at 748-51 (discussing factors to consider in determining whether Irwin presumption is rebutted); but see Marley, 548 F.3d at 1290. Thus, though we agree with the Government that the statute of limitations was not tolled due to [Santos's] status as a minor, appellee's br. at 16, we conclude that we cannot in all circumstances preclude equitable tolling of the statute of limitations in FTCA actions because if we did so we unjustifiably would take upon ourselves the authority to narrow the congressional waiver of the sovereign immunity of the United States. See Kubrick, 444 U.S. at 117-18, 100 S.Ct. at 357.