Court Opinion

ID: 9476060
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:46:51.029753+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:06.743824
License: Public Domain

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I write separately only to point out that the procedure followed in the district court by the plaintiff and by the federal defendants unnecessarily muddled the procedural posture of this case. The complaint did not expressly state that the federal defendants were being sued in their individual capacities. Those defendants were served pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(d)(5) and hence were properly in the action in their official capacities. Plaintiff did not serve those defendants individually as it is required to do when suing federal officials in their individual capacities. Thus, in the ordinary case, I see no reason why those individuals should have been required to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(2) for lack of jurisdiction over the person, nor would that defense have been waived under Rule 12(h)(1) when plaintiff subsequently asserted that suit was against the federal officials both in their individual and official capacities.
In this case, however, the claim against the federal officials in their official capacities was one for money damages in excess of $10,000 and, therefore, properly should have been brought in Claims Court. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(a)(2), 1491(a)(1). Because the U.S. Attorney did not file a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction but instead moved for summary judgment on the merits, it was not unreasonable for the district court to have believed that the claim was also against the federal officials in their individual capacities.
The U.S. Attorney now argues before us that the district court did not have jurisdiction to hear the claims because the federal defendants were not individually served. The procedural stance taken by the U.S. Attorney on behalf of the federal defendants can reasonably be deemed to have been a waiver of personal service, and hence I agree with Judge Gibbons’ conclusion that the district court had jurisdiction to reach the substantive issues on the motion for summary judgment filed by the U.S. Attorney.
This is not the first case before us in which the U.S. Attorney has raised on appeal an alleged lack of subject matter jurisdiction which it did not raise in the district court. While it is true that subject matter jurisdiction is never waived, the U.S. Attorney has an obligation to raise the issue promptly before the trial court which may be put to unnecessary work when such a default is not promptly called to its attention.