Decker v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services

51 Fed. Cl. 288, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 255, 2001 WL 1681686
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedDecember 14, 2001
DocketNo. 90-1115 V, 90-1116 V
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 51 Fed. Cl. 288 (Decker v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Decker v. Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, 51 Fed. Cl. 288, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 255, 2001 WL 1681686 (uscfc 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

BUSH, Judge.

Petitioners bring this matter before the court to seek reconsideration of and relief from the judgment entered by the Clerk of the United States Court of Federal Claims in accordance with the special master’s dismissal of petitioners’ claim for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-l to 34 (the Vaccine Act) for the alleged vaccine-related injuries sustained by petitioners’ twins, Destry and Damien Decker.1 Petitioners also seek a new trial. For the reasons stated below, this court upholds the Clerk’s entry of judgment.

[289]*289BACKGROUND

On April 30, 2001, the special master issued a decision dismissing petitioners’ petition seeking compensation under the Vaccine Act. On May 31, 2001, the Clerk of this court received petitioners’ motion for review of the special master’s decision, one day beyond the 30-day statutory time period set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(l) (1994). As the tendered motion for review was not received within the 30-day limit, it, along with petitioners’ unopposed motion for leave to file an overlength memorandum of objections, was not filed by the Clerk, and the Clerk entered judgment in accordance with the special master’s decision pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(3).

The papers received on May 31, 2001 were transmitted to the court for a ruling. On June 5, 2001, the court ordered that the papers received on May 31, 2001 be retained, unfiled, for 30-days pending any filing by petitioners for relief from judgment. On June 14, 2001, petitioners filed a Motion for Reconsideration, For Relief from Judgment, and For New Trial.

In support of them motion for reconsideration, petitioners submit that: (1) their motion for review was timely under Rule 6 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC); (2) RCFC 60(b) and the “excusable neglect” standard is applicable to this matter; (3) equitable tolling is appropriate under the circumstances; and (4) a new trial is necessary to establish that compensation is appropriate. With regard to equitable tolling, petitioners submitted the declaration of Melissa K. Lasiter, an employee of petitioners’ counsel, averring that one day before the expiration of the statutory time period, Ms. Lasiter sent petitioners’ motion for review to the Clerk of this court via United Parcel Service (UPS). Ms. Lasiter states that after leaving work on May 29, 2001 at approximately 5:45 p.m., she intended to send petitioners’ motion for review via a UPS drop box at the Cheyenne Airport. Upon arrival, an airport customer service representative informed Ms. Lasiter that the airport was no longer a UPS drop off point. Ms. Lasiter then telephoned UPS’s toll-free number to locate another drop box. After telling the UPS representative that she needed a drop box where UPS picked up packages at or after 7:00 p.m., the UPS representative informed Ms. Lasiter of such a drop box located at 2310 West Lincolnway. Ms. Lasiter placed petitioners’ motion for review in the Lincolnway dropbox shortly after 6:00 p.m. Ms. Lasiter states that she relied upon the UPS representative’s statement that UPS would pick up petitioners’ package that night, May 29, 2001. She further avers that if she had seen a posted sign denoting an earlier delivery time on the Lincolnway drop-box she would have telephoned UPS a second time. The carrier ultimately picked up petitioners’ package the next day. UPS therefore failed to deliver petitioners’ motion on May 30, 2001, and instead delivered it on May 31, 2001.

By order of this court, issued July 3, 2001, respondent filed a response to petitioners’ motion for reconsideration on August 3, 2001. On August 20, 2001, to assist in the resolution of this matter, the court ordered petitioners to file additional documentary evidence in support of its equitable tolling argument and Ms. Lasiter’s declaration.

Petitioners responded to this court’s August 20, 2001 order on September 19, 2001. In this response, petitioners provided documentary evidence that: (1) petitioners’ counsel chose to deliver petitioners’ motion for review by UPS “Next Day Air”; (2) UPS guaranteed that the package would be delivered the next day; (3) Ms. Lasiter prepared a shipping label for the package on May 29, 2001; (4) the parcel containing the motion for review was picked up by UPS on May 30, 2001; (5) on May 30, 2001, the UPS “Pickup Manifest” (concerning petitioners’ parcel) was received at 8:03 p.m.; and (6) on May 31, 2001, UPS delivered the package to this court at 10:08 a.m. As a result of the information obtained, petitioners conclude that since the UPS information is not specific regarding the pickup time of parcels, the UPS guarantee is a “blanket guarantee” with regard to all drop-off boxes. Petitioners’ response also states that Ms. Lasiter was misled by the airport employee regarding whether UPS had discontinued the airport drop box as well as by the UPS representative who told her [290]*290that the Lincolnway drop box had a 7:00 p.m. pickup time. Neither petitioners’ counsel nor the government, through UPS, was able to discover the name of the UPS representative who allegedly spoke with Ms. Lasiter.

This court, on September 20, 2001, ordered respondent to prepare a response to petitioners’ September 19, 2001 submission. Respondent filed its response on October 9, 2001. In its response, respondent included a declaration by Sue Griess, a UPS Office Supervisor responsible for dispatches, claims, and general overview, among other things. Ms. Griess declares that: (1) the UPS letterbox located at 2310 West Lincolnway has a 5:00 p.m. pickup time, which is posted on the letterbox and which has not been altered during this calendar year; (2) UPS records indicate that a UPS representative picked up packages from the Lincolnway letterbox at 5:00 p.m. on May 29, 2001; (3) on May 30, 2001, UPS picked up packages from the Lincolnway letterbox again at 5:00 p.m.; (4) UPS has not discontinued the Cheyenne Airport letterbox and the daily scheduled time for the airport pickup is 7:00 p.m.; (5) on May 29, 2001, a UPS representative picked up packages from the Cheyenne Airport letterbox at 7:05 p.m.; (6) UPS posts all pickup times on its UPS letter boxes and UPS drivers scan a barcode label inside of the letterbox when packages are picked up, automatically entering the time of pickup in the UPS database; (7) the UPS toll-free number does not list the Lipcolnway letterbox; however, after speaking with an operator, Ms. Griess was told that the Lincolnway letterbox posted a pickup time of 5:00 p.m.; (8) Ms. Griess was unable to identify or verify the UPS individual with whom Ms. Lasiter spoke on May 29, 2001; (9) the times listed on the UPS tracking receipts printed from UPS’s internet website for the activity “pickup manifest received” do not reflect the time packages were picked up by a driver from the letterbox location where packages were placed; instead, they reflect the time that the driver’s scanner is uploaded into the UPS system at UPS’s central office after the packages have been dropped off at the airport; and (10) UPS keeps all of the actual pickup times of individual letterbox locations in its database.

On October 19, 2001, petitioners filed a reply to respondent’s October 9, 2001 submission.

DISCUSSION

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
51 Fed. Cl. 288, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 255, 2001 WL 1681686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/decker-v-secretary-of-the-department-of-health-human-services-uscfc-2001.