ABBOTT v. United States

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

______________________________________

)

DANNY L. ABBOTT, et al., )

)

Plaintiffs, ) No. 15-211 )

v. ) Filed: January 28, 2026 )

THE UNITED STATES, )

)

Defendant. )

______________________________________ )

ORDER

Consistent with the Court’s order granting the Government’s Motion to Correct the

Judgment, the Court issues this order amending the now-vacated judgment issued on January 9,

2026 (ECF No. 237).

On December 23, 2025, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Partial Acceptance of the United States’

Offer of Judgment in accordance with Rule 68(a) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal

Claims (“RCFC”). ECF No. 233. As stated by the Government, “[e]ach accepted offer of

judgment concludes all claims for just compensation, including interest, and encompasses any and

all claims for damages and just compensation which were alleged or could have been alleged by

the respective plaintiffs in this action.” Offer of J. at 2, ECF No. 233-1.

As discussed at the status conference held on January 8, 2026, the Court will not enter

judgment at this time in favor of accepting plaintiffs who have a pending or forthcoming motion

for substitution. Additionally, the Court will not enter judgment at this time for certain accepting

plaintiffs who were identified in the chart accompanying the Government’s Offer of Judgment in

a manner that is substantively inconsistent with the Fourth Amended Complaint—i.e., the

description omits a plaintiff’s name, adds a name not identified in the operative complaint, or

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identifies the plaintiff as a trust where the named plaintiff is an individual(s). Lastly, as discussed

at the status conference held on January 23, 2026, the Court will not enter judgment at this time

for those plaintiffs named as trusts. See Gov’t’s Mot. to Correct the J. at 1, ECF No. 247 (arguing

that trusts “are not valid parties, cannot have accepted offers of judgment, cannot have judgments

entered in their name, and cannot provide identification numbers for the Department of the

Treasury to meet its statutory obligations under the Debt Collection Improvement Act”).

As for the remaining accepting plaintiffs, the Court has determined pursuant to RCFC 54(b)

that there is no just reason for delay and thus directs the Clerk to enter judgment in favor of the

accepting plaintiffs in the total amount of $1,404,580, for just compensation and interest through

September 30, 2025, plus additional interest of $199.90 per day from September 30, 2025, until

the judgment is paid, to be distributed in accordance with the figures shown in the table below.

Count1 Plaintiff(s)2 Offer Plus Per Diem Interest to Interest 9/30/2025

1 Otis L. & Beverly J. Schulte $132,654 $18.88 3 Gary & Cathy Ridenhour 52,069 7.41 4 Andrew D. & Kelley M. Schneider 29,166 4.15 5 Ida Mae & Troy A. Shockley 17,569 2.50 6 Wilma G. James 1,049 0.15 7 Kenneth Gehlert for the Estate of 16,256 2.31 Robert B. & Rita M. Gehlert 8 Brooke Pyrtle 12,535 1.78 9 Dennis & Jill Ridenhour 12,741 1.81 11 Marsha Chapman 2,098 0.30 13 Versailles Soccer League, Inc. 4,870 0.69 15 Kyle D. & Heidi M. Rayl 1,199 0.17

1 The numbers in this column correspond to the numbers in the “Count” column of the chart attached to the Government’s Offer of Judgment. See ECF No. 233-2.

2 Accepting plaintiffs are listed as named in the Fourth Amended Complaint, see ECF No.

122, with the exception of Dale A. & Mary K. McIntyre, whose last name was misspelled in the Fourth Amended Complaint. The parties confirmed the correct spelling of the McIntyres’ name at the status conference held on January 23, 2026.

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17 Richard & Sandra J. Winistoerfer 2,864 0.41 21 Shaun & Kari Nieters 12,182 1.73 23 Judith E. Willimann 20,174 2.87 27 Bledsoe-Bulas VFW Post #6133 25,664 3.65 29 Douglas & Nancy Helling 5,041 0.72 30 Dennis Wheeler 10,349 1.47 31 Franklin J. Huerner, Jr. & Linda 8,551 1.22 Huerner

32 Dale A. & Mary K. McIntyre 25,973 3.70 33 Jerry & Linda Schofield 13,555 1.93 34 Travis Acquisitions LLC 7,658 1.09 36 Jerome Hagenhoff 10,699 1.52 37 Anita Bumgardner 4,273 0.61 38 Myron & Brenda Fischer 5,203 0.74 41 Roger L. Rinne 11,186 1.59 42 John W. Kempker 14,545 2.07 44 Harold Buddemeyer 27,351 3.89 45 Bernie G. Wright 5,954 0.85 46 Patricia Eads 8,148 1.16 47 Jerry & Melissa Balke 44,967 6.40 48 Ryan J. & Erica S. Libbert 10,792 1.54 49 Jerome & Cynthia Boda 60,806 8.65 50 Tom & R. Gaylene Hesse 4,856 0.69 51 Victor & Bonnie Evans 8,701 1.24 53 Ida Mae Shockley & Herbert 14,872 2.12 Fitzgerald

56 Trevor L. & Emily C. Libbert 13,966 1.99 60 Kevin E. Brown 13,124 1.87 65 Michael L. & Celeste M. Koebel 12,004 1.71 66 Oligschlaeger Land and Cattle, LLC 120,738 17.19 68 Connie M. Goetze 29,847 4.25 69 Ronald J. Hilderbrand 10,254 1.46 70 Ellen Joann Mayor 9,040 1.29 77 MFA Exchange of Meta 6,547 0.93 79 Wesley J. & Kelly M. Kampeter 28,726 4.09 81 Russell B. & Carol J. Heck 11,553 1.64 83 Ernest Johnson 4,530 0.64 84 Teddy E. Christensen 1,995 0.28 85 Emma J. Shy 1,857 0.26 86 Suhor Industries, Inc. 5,156 0.73 88 Sharon J. Bible 1,525 0.22

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90 GRC Holdings Corporation 487,148 69.34 Totals $1,404,580 $199.90

SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 28, 2026 /s/ Kathryn C. Davis KATHRYN C. DAVIS Judge