Nunnelee v. United States

972 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 5366964, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139482
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedSeptember 26, 2013
DocketCase No.: 4:11-CV-2039-VEH
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 972 F. Supp. 2d 1279 (Nunnelee v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nunnelee v. United States, 972 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 5366964, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139482 (N.D. Ala. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

VIRGINIA EMERSON HOPKINS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff John Nunnelee (“Mr. Nunnelee”) initiated this property damage action against the United States of America (the “Government”) on June 14, 2011. (Doc. 1). At that particular juncture, Mr. Nunnelee was proceeding pro se. Subsequently, due to the complexity of the case, on October 5, 2011, the court appointed counsel to represent Mr. Nunnelee. (Doc. 14).

Mr. Nunnelee filed a first amended complaint on February 20, 2013, asserting four tort-based causes of action1 against the Government pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (the “FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b).2 (Doc. 21). After answering Mr. Nunnelee’s amended pleading (Doc. 24) on April 26, 2013, the Government filed, on June 7, 2013, a Motion To Dismiss Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint for Lack of Jurisdiction (Doc. 29) (the “Motion”), a supporting brief (Doc. 30),3 and several evidentiary materials. (Docs. 31-33)

Mr. Nunnelee opposed the Motion on June 24, 2013 (Doc. 35), and the Government followed with its reply on July 9, 2013. (Doc. 36). This case was then reassigned to the undersigned on July 15, 2013. (Doc. 37). Having studied both sides’ positions, the Motion is due to be granted in part and denied in part.

II. STANDARDS

A. Statute of Limitations

An unpublished panel of the Eleventh Circuit has articulated the following standard governing a statute of limitations de[1281]*1281fense asserted in a lawsuit arising under the FTCA:

We review de novo the grant of a motion to dismiss. Doe v. Pryor, 344 F.3d 1282, 1284 (11th Cir.2003). “When considering a motion to dismiss, all facts set forth in the plaintiffs complaint are to be accepted as true and the court limits its consideration to the pleadings and exhibits attached thereto.” Grossman v. Nationsbank, N.A, 225 F.3d 1228, 1231 (11th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “Dismissal ... on statute of limitations grounds is appropriate ... if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that the claim is time-barred.” Tello v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 410 F.3d 1275, 1288 (11th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “At the motion-to-dismiss stage, a complaint may be dismissed on the basis of a statute-of-limitations defense only if it appears beyond a doubt that Plaintiffs can prove no set of facts that toll the statute.” Id. at 1288 n. 13 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Keira v. United States Postal Service, 157 Fed.Appx. 135, 136 (11th Cir.2005) (emphasis added).

Regarding timeliness under the FTCA:

In order to bring a tort action against the United States, a plaintiff must act within the two-year statute of limitations period established by the FTCA. The applicable provision dictates that “[a] tort against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues.” 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b). The general rule is that a claim under the FTCA accrues at the time of injury. United States v. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 111, 120, 100 S.Ct. 352, 358, 62 L.Ed.2d 259 (1979). In certain situations, such as medical malpractice, the claim may accrue at a later date. The rule for medical malpractice claims is that they accrue when the plaintiff knows of both the injury and its cause. Id., at 22, 100 S.Ct. at 359. “The rationale behind the modified rule is to protect plaintiffs who are blamelessly unaware of their claim because the injury has not yet manifested itself or because the facts establishing a causal link between the injury and the medical malpractice are in the control of the tortfeasor or are otherwise not evident.”

Diaz v. United States, 165 F.3d 1337, 1339 (11th Cir.1999) (emphasis added).

B. Subject Matter Jurisdiction Generally

Unlike state courts, federal tribunals are bodies of limited jurisdiction, meaning that the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction must be present at the time the complaint is filed and must be obvious on the face of the complaint. Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a); 28 U.S.C. § 1330, et seq. The law is clear that Mr. Nunnelee, the person seeking to invoke federal jurisdiction in this case, has the burden to demonstrate that the court has subject matter jurisdiction. See McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 182, 56 S.Ct. 780, 782, 80 L.Ed. 1135 (1936) (“It is incumbent upon the plaintiff properly to allege the jurisdictional facts, according to the nature of the case.”).

Further, lack of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived or expanded by judicial interpretation, and a jurisdictional deficiency can be raised at any time by either the parties or the court. See, e.g., Sosna v. Iowa, 419 U.S. 393, 398, 95 S.Ct. 553, 556-57, 42 L.Ed.2d 532 (1975) (citation omitted) (“While the parties may be permitted to waive nonjurisdictional defects, [1282]*1282they may not by stipulation invoke the judicial power of the United States in litigation which does not present an actual ‘case or controversy,’ and on the record before us we feel obliged to address the question of mootness before reaching the merits of appellant’s claim.”); Am. Fire & Cas. Co. v. Finn, 341 U.S. 6, 17-18, 71 S.Ct. 534, 542, 95 L.Ed. 702 (1951) (“The jurisdiction of the federal courts is carefully guarded against expansion by judicial interpretation or by prior action or consent of the parties.”).

C. Standing Specifically

“Because standing is jurisdictional, a dismissal for lack of standing has the same effect as a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1).” Stalley v. Orlando Reg'l Healthcare Sys., 524 F.3d 1229, 1232 (11th Cir.2008).

The Supreme Court of the United States recently has elaborated upon several principles pertaining to the constitutional doctrine of standing:

Article III of the Constitution confínes the judicial power of federal courts to deciding actual “Cases” or “Controversies.” § 2. One

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972 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 2013 WL 5366964, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139482, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nunnelee-v-united-states-alnd-2013.