Opinion ID: 480554
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Dismissal of Falicha's Claim

Text: 18 We and other circuits have held, on various grounds, that the administrative filing prerequisites in Sec. 2675 encompass a requirement that the request for damages in any administrative claim state a sum certain. See Keene Corp. v. United States, 700 F.2d 836, 841-42 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 864, 104 S.Ct. 195, 78 L.Ed.2d 171 (1983); Erxleben v. United States, 668 F.2d 268, 271 & n. 3 (7th Cir.1981) (per curiam); Adams v. United States, 615 F.2d 284, 291-92 n. 15 (5th Cir.), clarified on reh'g, 622 F.2d 197 (5th Cir.1980) (per curiam); Caton v. United States, 495 F.2d 635, 638 (9th Cir.1974). The requirement that the claim state a specific dollar sum, like other requirements imposed in a Sec. 2675, is jurisdictional and cannot be waived. See Keene Corp. v. United States, 700 F.2d at 841; Hohri v. United States, 782 F.2d 227, 245 (D.C.Cir.1986). 19 We reject Adams's contention that Falicha's administrative claim for an amount in excess of $1,000.00 met the sum certain requirement with respect to a suit for $4,000,000 merely because it informed the government of the circumstances underlying the claim and enabled the government to attempt to negotiate a settlement. First, acceptance of this proposition would in effect nullify the prohibition in Sec. 2675(b) against any suit for an amount in excess of that stated in the administrative claim, for there is no theoretical upper limit on an amount that is described only as being in excess of a stated dollar figure. Further, one purpose of the specificity requirement is to give the government adequate notice of the extent of the claimant's demands. A claim mentioning the sum of $1,000 does not give notice that the claimant actually contends he suffered damages in the amount of $4,000,000. Thus, we find no merit in Adams's argument that Falicha's administrative claim was sufficient to permit the present suit for $4,000,000 to proceed. 20 Nonetheless, we are not persuaded that Falicha's claim should have been dismissed in its entirety. While a claimant's failure to state any dollar amount in his administrative claim would give the government no notice of the extent of his claim and would, under Sec. 2675(b), deprive the court of jurisdiction to consider his subsequent suit, we do not believe an otherwise adequate request for a specific dollar amount should be deemed fatally uncertain by reason of the claimant's mere inclusion of the words in excess of. Such a request gives the government adequate notice to the extent of the stated dollar amount. Since a principal purpose of the FTCA is to promote fairness in the settlement of tort claims asserted against the United States, see Johnson ex rel. Johnson v. United States, 788 F.2d 845, 848-49 (2d Cir.1986); Erxleben v. United States, 668 F.2d at 273, we think it more appropriate, where the plaintiff's administrative claim is otherwise adequate, to treat the qualifying words in excess of simply as surplusage, leaving the specific amount stated as the claim. See, e.g., Martinez v. United States, 728 F.2d 694, 697 (5th Cir.1984) (administrative claim for damages in excess of $100,000 stated a claim for $100,000); Erxleben v. United States, 668 F.2d at 270, 272-73 (administrative claim alleging damages of $149.42 presently stated a claim in that amount). 21 In the present case, the Quinlan letter requested damages in excess of $1,000.00. This should be deemed sufficiently definite to the extent of $1,000. 22 Our decision in Keene Corp. v. United States, in which we declined to disregard qualifying language in order to hold an administrative claim sufficient, is not to the contrary. In Keene we considered the sufficiency of the plaintiff's administrative claim against the United States for expenses incurred by the plaintiff in connection with more than 14,000 asbestos-related lawsuits filed against it; with respect to approximately 1,000 of these lawsuits, the administrative claim had requested damages in the sum of $1,088,135 and in an additional amount yet to be ascertained. We held that the amount stated, as qualified by the demand for an additional amount yet to be ascertained, was too indefinite to satisfy the sum certain requirement of Sec. 2675. We declined to disregard the qualifying language and to deem the claim one for $1,088,135 only because the Keene claim had an additional defect: it failed to inform the United States of its potential exposure on each of the 1,000 underlying suits. See 700 F.2d at 842. 23 The reason for declining to disregard the qualifying language in Keene does not exist here, for the government has not called to our attention any respect in which Falicha's administrative claim was defective other than in its use of the in excess of phrase to qualify the stated $1,000 amount. We conclude that that phrase should be disregarded and that the present suit may proceed on her behalf to the extent of a demand for $1,000.