Opinion ID: 204532
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The FTCA.

Text: Writ large, the doctrine of sovereign immunity bars the maintenance of any tort claim against the federal government. FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 475 (1994); Román-Cancel v. United States, 613 F.3d 37, 41 (1st Cir. 2010). Congress created a limited waiver of this immunity when it enacted the FTCA, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680, which allows suits against the United States for personal injuries, death, or property damage caused by the negligent or wrongful act . . . of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment. Id. § 1346(b)(1). As part and parcel of this waiver, the FTCA establishes firm filing requirements for both administrative claims and lawsuits. Courts must faithfully enforce these requirements, neither extend[ing] the waiver beyond that which Congress intended [nor assuming] authority to narrow the waiver. United States v. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 111, 118 (1979). An FTCA claim must first be presented to the affected agency. 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a). This must be done promptly: the FTCA builds in a statute of limitations forever barring any tort claim against the United States . . . unless it is presented in writing - 17 - to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues. Id. § 2401(b). These appeals hinge on the temporal parameters of this claim-filing requirement. As said, the Halloran estate filed its administrative claim on September 25, 2000. The Donahues followed suit on March 29, 2001. Thus, if the Hallorans' claim accrued prior to September 25, 1998 (that is, more than two years prior to the claim-filing date), the action founded upon it is time-barred. For the Donahues, the critical accrual date is March 29, 1999. We frame the dispositive question as whether the plaintiffs' claims accrued earlier than September 25, 1998. After all, the relevant facts for calculating the accrual date are nearly identical for both sets of claimants, so if the first-filed (Halloran) claim is time-barred, the later-filed (Donahue) claim is time-barred as well.