Delk v. Stone

52 Va. Cir. 195, 2000 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109
CourtNorfolk County Circuit Court
DecidedApril 28, 2000
DocketCase No. CL99-1790
StatusPublished

This text of 52 Va. Cir. 195 (Delk v. Stone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Norfolk County Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Delk v. Stone, 52 Va. Cir. 195, 2000 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109 (Va. Super. Ct. 2000).

Opinion

BY JUDGE MARC JACOBSON

Plaintiff Hagen L. Delk and Defendant James A. Stone were each operating a motor vehicle on or about May 27, 1994, on Virginia Avenue at the Norfolk Naval Base in the City of Norfolk, Virginia. The Plaintiff alleges that the Defendant negligently struck the vehicle operated by the Plaintiff and that, as a proximate result of the negligence, the Plaintiff sustained certain injuries and damages. Plaintiff instituted suit against Defendant as a result of the aforesaid accident and, in his Motion for Judgment, further alleged that the “plaintiff was covered as an insured under the uninsured motorist provision of a motor vehicle insurance policy issued by USAA Casualty Insurance Company” (USAA) and caused service to be made upon USAA pursuant to the Uninsured Motorist Act.

At the time of the accident, both Plaintiff and Defendant were members of the United States Navy and both were in uniform. At the time of the accident, Plaintiff was working on the Norfolk Naval Base at Ships Intermediate Maintenance Activity (SIMA) and Defendant was working and living on the U.S.S. Yellowstone which was docked at the Norfolk Naval Base. Both parties were leaving the Navy Exchange located on and at the Norfolk Naval Base when the collision and accident occurred.

Defendant has filed a Special Plea of Lack of Jurisdiction Based on Intramilitary Immunity Doctrine (Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 95 L. Ed. 152, 71 S. Ct. 153 (1950)). USAA has filed an Answer and Grounds of Defense and has also alleged in its Response to the Plaintiffs Memorandum [196]*196that “the immunity referred in Section § 38.2-2206 is not applicable to the Feres Doctrine.” USAA has further alleged in its letter dated December 20, 1999, to this Court that the definition of “uninsured motor vehicle,” in relation to immunity from liability for negligence, was not applicable nor in effect at the time of the accident, May 27, 1994, which is the subject matter of the Motion for Judgment and “accordingly, would not be applicable to the insurance contract in existence at the time of the accident.”

In Feres v. United States, 340 U.S. 135, 95 L. Ed. 152, 71 S. Ct. 153 (1950), the United States Supreme Court addressed the issue of law “whether the Federal Tort Claims Act extends its remedy to one sustaining ‘incident to the service’ what under other circumstances would be an actionable wrong.” Id. at 138. The Court concluded “that the Government is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to servicemen where the injuries arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to service ...” when such injuries result from the negligence of others in the service or armed forces.

In Trerice v. Summons, 755 F.2d 1081, 1084-85 (4th Cir. 1985), the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, indicated that, under the facts of that case, “Feres itself is a bar to any common law tort claims ...” and referred in that case to authority that “extended the Feres rationale to a serviceman’s direct suit against other servicemen ... thus ... common law tort claims, both negligent and intentional, are barred under Feres.”

The rationale underlying the Feres doctrine is threefold. First, the Court considered the “distinctly federal character of the relationship between the government and servicemen,” 340 U.S. 135, 143, and specifically, the fact that the requirements of military duty place servicemen at a particular disadvantage in litigation. Id. at 145. Second, the federal compensation system provides a remedy for injured servicemen. Id. Third, consideration is given to the disruptive effect that lawsuits between servicemen would have on the effectiveness of the military. Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296, 300, 76 L. Ed. 2d 586, 103 S. Ct. 2362 (1983).

The Feres doctrine has two requirements: that the parties to the case be servicemen and that the injuries arise out of activity incident to service. 340 U.S. 146. Both Plaintiff and Defendant were on active duty status in the Navy, thus satisfying the serviceman prong of the doctrine. The second prong of the Feres doctrine to be considered is whether the Plaintiff’s injuries were sustained in the course of activity “incident to service.” “ ‘Incident to service’ is not, of course, a narrow term restricted to actual military operations such as field maneuvers or small arms instruction.” Hass v. United States, 518 F.2d 1138, 1141 (1975). The “incident to service test” focuses on the activity of the plaintiff. The Fourth Circuit has adopted the Court’s statement in Feres that, [197]*197“the common fact underlying the three cases is that each claimant, while on active duty and not on furlough, sustained injury due to negligence of others in the armed forces as the proper test of whether an injured serviceman’s recovery under the Federal Tort Claims Act is barred..." Mariano v. United States, 605 F.2d 721 (4th Cir. 1979).

In Mariano, the plaintiff was working at a noncommissioned officer’s club, “in a civilian capacity,” when he was struck by a glass thrown by another seaman. The Court’s analysis focused on the activity of the plaintiff, not the defendant (the U.S. Government), at the time the plaintiff sustained his injury. This Court’s analysis, like the Court of Appeals’ analysis, should focus on the activity of the plaintiff in determining whether his conduct was incident to his service.

In Stewart v. United States, 90 F.3d 102 (4th Cir. 1996), two servicemen had an automobile accident on an Army base. Both men were on active duty status when the collision occurred. At the time of the accident, plaintiff was traveling from a mandatory exercise to his on-base residence to change before reporting to his next duty assignment. The other serviceman was driving to the machine gun range for mandatory training. The plaintiff sued the United States for injuries sustained in that collision. The Fourth Circuit stated:

we have no difficulty concluding that Stewart’s injuries arose from activity incident to service. “Clearly, the fact that [the plaintiff] was on the post and on his way to work was directly connected to [his] military service and the circumstances of the accident.” ... Even if we had any doubts on this score, they would be dispelled by our recognition that, in recent years the [Supreme] Court has embarked on a course dedicated to broadening the Feres doctrine to encompass, at a minimum, all injuries suffered by military personnel that are even remotely related to the individual’s status as a member of the military....

Id. at 105.

The fact that the plaintiff was on a personal errand does not change the fact that he was acting incident to service. The

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Related

Feres v. United States
340 U.S. 135 (Supreme Court, 1950)
Chappell v. Wallace
462 U.S. 296 (Supreme Court, 1983)
Federico C. Mariano v. United States
605 F.2d 721 (Fourth Circuit, 1979)
Wofton J. Stewart v. United States
90 F.3d 102 (Fourth Circuit, 1996)
VIRGINIA FARM BUREAU INS. v. Travelers
408 S.E.2d 898 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1991)
Northwestern National Insurance v. Alberts
769 F. Supp. 498 (S.D. New York, 1991)
Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance v. Travelers Indemnity Co.
408 S.E.2d 898 (Supreme Court of Virginia, 1991)
Stordahl v. Harrison
542 F. Supp. 721 (E.D. Virginia, 1982)
Trerice v. Summons
755 F.2d 1081 (Fourth Circuit, 1985)
Durant v. Neneman
884 F.2d 1350 (Tenth Circuit, 1989)

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Bluebook (online)
52 Va. Cir. 195, 2000 Va. Cir. LEXIS 109, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delk-v-stone-vaccnorfolk-2000.