Naskar v. United States

82 Fed. Cl. 319, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2008 WL 2554835
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 23, 2008
DocketNo. 08-73C
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 82 Fed. Cl. 319 (Naskar v. United States) 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
Naskar v. United States, 82 Fed. Cl. 319, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2008 WL 2554835 (uscfc 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

HEWITT, Judge.

Before the court are Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (defendant’s Motion or Def.’s Mot.), plaintiffs Response (Pl.’s Resp.), Plaintiff’s] Motion to Appeal (plaintiff's Motion or Pl.’s Mot.), and Defendant’s Reply in Support of its Motion to Dismiss (defendant’s Reply or Def.’s Reply).

I. Background

Pro se plaintiff Bikram Naskar filed a complaint with this court on February 1, 2008. Plaintiffs Complaint (Compl.) 1. Although it is not entirely clear, plaintiffs Complaint appears to allege that the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) negligent handling of an article of mail (the package), caused him “mental harassment” and harm to his reputation. Compl. 1-2. Plaintiff alleges that he sent the package to Mr. John Parras of Waltham, Massachusetts, but that instead of being delivered to the addressee, the package was redirected to the USPS Plant Manager in Tampa, Florida, and then returned to plaintiff in Kolkata, India “torn, ripped, and badly damaged.” Compl. 1. The Complaint seeks $50,000 in compensation, an identification of the USPS Plant Manager in Tampa, Florida, who, the Complaint alleges, mishandled the package, and an explanation [320]*320for why the package was not delivered to the proper address. Id. at 1. On April 2, 2008 defendant filed its motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Def.’s Mot. 1. The motion argues that plaintiffs complaint sounds in tort and that this court therefore lacks jurisdiction over it. Id. at 3-4. Defendant’s motion further argues that the court does not have jurisdiction to grant declaratory relief in this circumstance because the court does not have general equity jurisdiction. Id. at 5-6. Finally, defendant argues that the court should not transfer the case to another venue pursuant to section 1631 of Title 28 of the United States Code because it is not a claim over which another federal court would have jurisdiction. Id. at 4-5.

On May 2, 2008, plaintiff filed a response to defendant’s Motion. See Pl.’s Resp. 1. On May 5, 2008, plaintiff filed plaintiffs Motion. See Pl.’s Mot. 1. The entire content of plaintiffs Response is contained in plaintiffs Motion. Compare Pl.’s Resp. passim, with Pl.’s Mot. passim. Accordingly, the court will refer only to plaintiffs Motion in this Opinion. Although plaintiff does not seek any additional damages in his Motion, he alleges for the first time the harm of lost business with Mr. John Parras and that this harm, and those harms previously alleged, were done either “willfully or negligently,” PL’s Mot. 3, not simply “negligently” as alleged in his Complaint, Compl. 1. Plaintiff states that he is not making a claim for declaratory relief, but seeks only compensation. Id. (“[T]his Claim for $50,000 ... is the only Declaratory Relief ... may[ ]be granted on my favour____ And Nothing more.”). On May 19, 2008, defendant filed its Reply, in which it maintains its earlier arguments that plaintiffs complaint should be dismissed pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and that the case should not be transferred because the United States government did not waive its sovereign immunity for the type of tort claim brought by plaintiff. Def.’s Reply 1, 3. Because plaintiffs Complaint alleges a tort claim, over which the United States Court of Federal Claims is without jurisdiction, defendant’s Motion is GRANTED.

II. Discussion

A. This Court Lacks Subject Matter Jurisdiction over Plaintiffs Claim

Subject matter jurisdiction is a threshold issue that must be determined at the outset of a case. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 U.S. 83, 94-95, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998); PODS, Inc. v. Porta Stor, Inc., 484 F.3d 1359, 1365 (Fed.Cir. 2007). “If the court finds that it lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter, it must dismiss the claim.” Matthews v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 274, 278 (2006); see RCFC 12(h)(3). The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction. Reynolds v. Army & Air Force Exch. Serv., 846 F.2d 746, 748 (Fed.Cir.1988). When deciding a motion to dismiss based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the court must construe the allegations of the complaint in a manner favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). However, regardless of how a plaintiff frames a complaint, this court must look at the “true nature” of the claim. Puget Sound Energy, Inc. v. United States, 47 Fed.Cl. 506, 510 (2000). As a general matter, complaints drafted by pro se litigants are held to “less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers,” Haines v. Kerner 404 U.S. 519, 520, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972), but, “[tjhis latitude ... does not relieve a pro se plaintiff from meeting jurisdictional requirements,” Bernard v. United States, 59 Fed.Cl. 497, 499, aff'd, 98 Fed.Appx. 860 (Fed.Cir.2004) (Table) (emphasis omitted).

The jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims is set out in the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (2006). The Tucker Act states that this court “shall have jurisdiction to render judgment upon any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States, or for liquidated or unliquidated damages in cases not sounding in tort.” 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(1) [321]*321(emphasis added). The Court of Federal Claims does not have jurisdiction “over tort actions against the United States.” Brown v. United States (Brown), 105 F.3d 621, 623 (Fed.Cir.1997) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a); Keene Corp. v. United States, 508 U.S. 200, 214, 113 S.Ct. 2035, 124 L.Ed.2d 118 (1993)).

Here, plaintiff seeks to recover for “an act of negligence” committed by a “government employee who is based in Tampa[,] FL.” Compl. 1. He alleges that the willful or negligent misconduct of the USPS caused a “torn, ripped, and badly damaged article” to be returned to him, which caused him “mental harassment,” id. at 2, a “tarnished ... reputation,” Pl.’s Mot. 2, and the loss of “an important business transaction with Mr. John Parraras, President and CEO of Scheduling System[,] Inc.,” id. at 3.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
82 Fed. Cl. 319, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 178, 2008 WL 2554835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/naskar-v-united-states-uscfc-2008.