Norman v. United States

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: August 26, 2011
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2011-1538
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED

UNITED sTATEs Dlsriucr CouRr cum :g[:`)‘szm§! Hll FOR THE DISTRICT CF COLUMBIA cwm mm mgmt otag‘m Dawn Norman, ) Plaintiff, j v. j Civil Action No. United States et al., j Defendants. j

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on its review of plaintiff’ s pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperis The application will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. l2(h)(3) (requiring dismissal of an action "at any time" the Court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction).

Plaintiff is a resident of Richmond, Virginia, suing the United States and its agencies for $175 million in damages. A claim for monetary damages against the United States is cognizable under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq. Such a claim is maintainable, however, only after the plaintiff has exhausted administrative remedies by "first present[ing] the claim to the appropriate Federal agency. . . ." 28 U.S.C. § 2675. This exhaustion requirement is jurisdictiona1. See GAF Corp. v. United Stales, 818 F.Zd 90l, 917-20 (D.C. Cir. 1987); jackson v. United Slales, 730 F.Zd 808, 809 (D.C. Cir. 1984); Stokes v. U.S. Postal Service, 937 F. Supp. ll, 14 (D.D.C. 1996). The plaintiff has not indicated that she exhausted her administrative remedies under the FTCA. Therefore, the complaint will be

dismissed. See Abdurrahman v. Engstrom, 168 Fed.Appx. 445, 445 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (per

curiam) ("[T]he district court properly dismissed case [based on unexhausted FTCA claim] for

lack of subject matter jurisdiction."). A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

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§ United St§tes.bistrict Judge Date: August , 2011