Opinion ID: 687261
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Taber and Feres

Text: 98 In the case before us, we hold that the link between Taber's activity when he was injured and his military status is too frail to support a Feres bar. Put another way, given the circumstances surrounding Taber's collision with Maine, it is hard to imagine that the government would have been vicariously liable if Taber had driven negligently and injured a third party. If Maine's actions fit the traditional pattern of a detour, which gives rise to employer liability even where the employee's activity does not directly benefit the employer, so Taber's actions represent the classic frolic, which describes behavior that is not properly part of the employer's enterprise. See Prosser & Keeton, Sec. 70 at 503-05; Young B. Smith, Frolic and Detour, 23 Col.L.Rev. 444, 716 (1923). 99 There is nothing characteristically military about an employee who, after working-hours are done, goes off to spend a romantic weekend with a companion. Nor is there anything particularly military about having dinner with that companion's family at their home, and helping to fix their car. Finally, there is nothing especially military about returning to the companion's house intending to spend the rest of the weekend engaged in more intimate rest and recreation. 100 The accident that followed, on the open road and on the way to Stills's house had nothing to do with Taber's military career and was not caused by service except in the sense that all human events depend upon what has already transpired. See Brooks, 337 U.S. at 52, 69 S.Ct. at 920. 21 The only difference between Brooks and this case is that the Brooks brothers were on furlough, while Taber was on liberty, and that in Brooks the civilian riding in the car was the Brooks's father, while here it was Taber's girlfriend. There are no Supreme Court or Second Circuit decisions that require us to give significant weight to this difference, or to apply the Feres bar on any other grounds. 101 In Kohn, 680 F.2d at 925 and in Camassar v. United States, 531 F.2d 1149, 1151 (2d Cir.1976) (per curiam), we held that Feres barred plaintiffs' suits. In both of these cases the injuries occurred on military bases, and the injured servicemembers were engaged in activities that would ordinarily be covered by workers' compensation statutes. See Kohn, 680 F.2d at 924 (plaintiff's decedent was shot to death by military colleague while both were assigned to a military police narcotics unit); Camassar, 531 F.2d at 1150 (decedent navy petty officer killed while he was leaving ship for authorized liberty). 102 In Bozeman, the claimant asked us to rule that because the deceased servicemember was off duty, on liberty and off base when he was killed in an auto accident, Feres was inapplicable. See 780 F.2d at 200. In response, we noted that although these facts were considerations in our Feres analysis, none was determinative. In applying Feres, we made much of the fact that the servicemember and the tortfeasor (his cohort) got drunk at the NCO club and that the servicemember was only entitled to be in the NCO club because he had an appropriate rank, was a member of the Army, and was on active duty status. 780 F.2d at 201. Had Bozeman injured a third party, it would follow from holdings like Bushey, and our own today, that the government would be vicariously liable. Small wonder then that we found Bozeman's link to the military enterprise sufficient to support a Feres bar. But we did this despite the fact that Bozeman was on liberty and the accident occurred off base. 22 103 In Sanchez v. United States, 878 F.2d 633 (2d Cir.1989), we applied Feres in a case in which the plaintiff had been injured while riding in a car that had been negligently repaired at a military mechanic's shop. Id. at 634. In coming to our decision, we placed particular importance upon the fact that the Marine Corps garage, whose negligence was allegedly responsible for the accident, 104 was not open to the public but only to military personnel and certain civilians connected with the base, in recognition of the fact that [t]he automobile plays a highly vital role in the life of the military patron and his of her family. 105 Id. at 637 (citation omitted). 106 Although we think the facts in Sanchez are at the very fringe of the doctrine's applicability--beyond which we are unwilling to go--we note that the plaintiff's unique, and indeed necessary connection to the mechanic's shop was sufficiently incidental to his military service to invoke the Feres bar. 107 Other than the naked fact that Taber was in the Navy at the time of his injury, there is no government/plaintiff relationship of any significance in this case. Arguably, there is some government/tortfeasor relationship that might entail limited disciplinary concerns, but these are neither of the magnitude nor of the type that concerned the Court in Shearer. And we conclude that the absence of any government/plaintiff disciplinary issues, together with the fact that Taber's injury occurred in a private car, on an open road and while Taber was on liberty, outweighs whatever significance the negligible presence of a government/tortfeasor relationship might still have after Johnson. 108 It is true that Taber is covered by the government compensation system as were the plaintiffs in Brooks and in Brown. But as in those cases, Taber's coverage is akin to voluntary employee health and injury benefits that accrue independently of the nature of an employee's injury. As such, they are very different from the type of coverage that is required under workers' compensation schemes. Therefore, as in Brooks and Brown, this type of voluntary coverage will merely serve as a set-off against any FTCA award; it does not bar an FTCA action. See Brown, 348 U.S. at 111, 75 S.Ct. at 142-43; Brooks, 337 U.S. at 53-54, 69 S.Ct. at 920-21. 109 For all these reasons, we hold that Feres does not apply here.III. Liability and Damages 110 The district court found Maine liable to Taber and assessed damages in the amount of $300,000.00. The government, having been exempted from liability under the district court's respondeat superior decision, did not participate at trial and had no opportunity to contest these findings. Maine represented himself in these proceedings. At oral argument, the government's very able attorney requested that, should we determine that the government was vicariously responsible for Maine's actions, and that Taber's suit was not barred by Feres, we vacate that judgment and permit the government to contest both Maine's culpability and Taber's damages. 111 The government's request apparently stems from its concern that, upon remand, it will be collaterally estopped from disputing either Maine's negligence (on the basis of which the government's liability depends) or the district court's previous calculation of damages. The government undoubtedly raises important questions. None of them, however, has been fully briefed or argued by the parties. We therefore leave entirely to the district court what, if any, preclusive effect the judgment against Maine will have on the government's defense against Taber's assertion of liability under the FTCA. 112 We further note that Taber currently holds a valid judgment against Maine, from which Maine has not appealed. Had Maine sought review of that judgment, we might have considered whether the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2679 (providing a statutory immunity for federal employees whose employment-related conduct injures others), shielded him from personal liability. Although Maine was not certified by the Attorney General to have been acting within the scope of his employment in accordance with Sec. 2679(d)(1), subparagraph (d)(3) provides that where the Attorney general has failed to certify, 113 the employee may at any time before trial petition the court to find and certify that the employee was acting within the scope of his office or employment ... [and that upon] such certification by the court, such action ... shall be deemed to be an action ... against the United States ..., and the United States shall be substituted as the party defendant. 114 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2679(d)(3). In opposition to the government's motion for summary judgment, Maine did submit an affidavit which set forth the undisputed facts upon which we base our present ruling that he acted within the scope of his employment when he injured Taber. 115 We have previously suggested that substantial compliance with section 2679's procedural conditions may, under certain circumstances, invoke the statutory immunity. See B & A Marine Co. v. American Foreign Shipping Co., 23 F.3d 709, 715-16 & n. 4 (2d Cir.) (defendants' brief, which requested the district court to find that they acted within the scope of their employment, and district court's finding to that effect, sufficiently complied with the certification requirement), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 421, 130 L.Ed.2d 336 (1994). It is therefore possible that Maine's affidavit in opposition to summary judgment could be construed to be a petition for certification under the statute. See id. at 715 n. 4. And if Maine had appealed from the district court's final judgment, our respondeat superior ruling could be taken to satisfy section 2679's judicial certification requirement. Because he did not seek appellate review, however, we cannot reach the issue.