Rittgers v. United States

131 F. Supp. 3d 644, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122513, 2015 WL 5456744
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedSeptember 15, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 2:15-CV-94
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 131 F. Supp. 3d 644 (Rittgers v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rittgers v. United States, 131 F. Supp. 3d 644, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122513, 2015 WL 5456744 (S.D. Tex. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

NELVA GONZALES RAMOS, District Judge.

Before the Court is United States of America’s (the Government’s) “Motion to Dismiss Complaint for Lack of Jurisdiction Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and for Failure to State a Claim Under Fed.R.CiV.P. 12(b)(6) or In the Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment” (D.E. -10), along with Plaintiff, Colbert Rittgers’s (Rittgers’s) Response (D.E. 14) and the Government’s Reply (D.E. 15). For the reasons set out below, the Court declines to convert the motion to one for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. The Rule 12 motion to dismiss is GRANTED.

A. Rittgers’s Claims and the Arguments for Dismissal

Rittgers filed suit against the Government and the Honorable .John McHugh, Secretary, Department of the Army (Army) regarding issues related to his employment at the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD). Rittgers complains that, while conducting an investigation of the matter, the Government disclosed to Rittgers’s co-workers private information related to criminal accusations against Rittger involving child pornography found on his CCAD-allocated computer space. D.E. 3. He also complains of the Army’s use of his personal information (polygraph test results) and criminal investigation record without his effective consent in CCAD employment-related administrative actions taken against him. The claim contends that the Government and Army set out on a course to disclose private facts about Rittgers to the public. Id.

Ultimately, the child pornography criminal charges against Rittgers were dismissed without prosecution, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to proceed. However, because his private information was disclosed, Rittgers claims to have suffered mental and emotional distress along with lost or diminished financial opportunities. He sues for violation of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, and under the Federal Tort Claims .Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b) and 2679(a), for invasion of privacy-false light, defamation-plus or stigma-plus, abuse of process, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. D.E. 3.

The Government1 filed its motion. to dismiss (D.E. 10), arguing that this Court [648]*648does not have subject matter jurisdiction or that Rittgers has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted because:

• Rittgers did not file his claims within the statute of limitations of the Privacy Act;
• Rittgers did not file his claims within the statute of limitations of the FTCA;
• FTCA exceptions require dismissal based on sovereign immunity for claims arising out of libel, or slander, such as invasion of privacy by false light, defamation-plus, stigma-plus, and intentional infliction of emotional distress; and/or
• Rittgers’s FTCA claims are preempted by the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. § 8116(c) et seq.

D.E. 10.

B. The Standards of Review

The Supreme Court has admonished courts to be linguistically precise when dismissing claims in order to be clear whether the dismissal is truly one for lack of jurisdiction or if it simply involves a fatal claim-processing defect. Union Pacific R. Co. v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen General Committee of Adjustment, Cent. Region, 558 U.S. 67, 81-82, 130 S.Ct. 584, 175 L.Ed.2d 428 (2009). Defects in claims-processing, while they may be violations of mandatory prerequisites for relief, do not necessarily implicate a court’s “adjudicatory domain” — its jurisdiction. Id. Because the jurisdictional classification brings with it a difference in the order of decision, the standard of review,' and sometimes the prejudicial effect of any decision, the Court first determines which of the Government’s claims are jurisdictional.

The motion paints the bases for dismissal with a broad brush, seeking dismissal on each basis under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of jurisdiction or alternatively under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim- upon which relief may be granted, without concern for which route the decisional process must take. For the reasons set out below, the Court finds that only the FTCA exception and FECA preemption claims are jurisdictional.

1. Rule 12(b)(1) Challenge to Jurisdiction Standard of Review

When a Rule 12(b)(1) motion is filed together with other Rule 12 motions, the court should address the jurisdictional attack before addressing any attack on the merits. Ramming v. United States, 281 F.3d 158, 161 (5th Cir.2001), cert. denied sub nom., Cloud v. United States, 536 U.S. 960, 122 S.Ct. 2665, 153 L.Ed.2d 839 (2002). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) requires dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction if the court lacks statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case. Home Builders Ass’n of Miss., Inc. v. City of Madison, 143 F.3d 1006, 1010 (5th Cir.1998).

The btirden of proof is on the party asserting jurisdiction — Rittgers, here. Ramming, 281 F.3d at 161. In examining a Rule 12(b)(1) motion, the district court is empowered to consider matters of fact that may be in dispute. “Lack of subject matter jurisdiction may -be found in any one of three instances: (1) the complaint alone; (2) the complaint supplemented by undisputed' facts evidenced in the record; or (3) the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court’s resolution of disputed facts.” Id. [649]*649(citing Barrera-Montenegro v. United States, 74 F.3d 657, 659 (5th Cir.1996)).

2. Rule 12(b)(6) Failure to State a Claim Standard of Review

The test of pleadings under Rule 12(b)(6) is devised to balance a party’s right to redress against the interests of all parties and the, court in minimizing expenditure of time, money, and resources devoted to meritless claims. Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 558, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). In a Rule 12(b)(6) context, the burden of proof is on the party challenging the claim — the Government, here.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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131 F. Supp. 3d 644, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 122513, 2015 WL 5456744, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rittgers-v-united-states-txsd-2015.