Ruttenburg v. United States

65 Fed. Cl. 43, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 91, 2005 WL 757172
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 25, 2005
DocketNo. 03-2523C
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 65 Fed. Cl. 43 (Ruttenburg 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
Ruttenburg v. United States, 65 Fed. Cl. 43, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 91, 2005 WL 757172 (uscfc 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAMS, Judge.

Introduction

Plaintiff claims Defendant breached an alleged oral implied-in-fact contract and seeks damages of $61,200, plus interest. Plaintiff asserts that an official with the Indian Health Services (“IHS”) orally promised that if he took a position as a full-time psychologist with the Maniilaq Association in Kotzebue, Alaska, the IHS would pay Plaintiff the sum of $30,000 per year towards his student loan balance, plus thirty-one percent of that amount to be paid towards his income tax liability incurred due to the loan repayment. Plaintiff further asserts that Defendant’s subsequent conduet-an erroneous overpayment consistent with the alleged oral representations of the IHS representative but inconsistent with the terms of the written agreement executed by the parties — trans[45]*45formed the oral promise into an implied-in-fact contract that supercedes his written contracts with the IHS. In addition, Plaintiff asserts that the loan repayments and income tax contributions he received pursuant to the terms of the executed written contracts, which amounted to the yearly sum of $20,000 towards his student loan balance plus twenty percent of that amount applied to his income tax liability, constitute breaches of the alleged oral agreement.

In addition, Plaintiffs Complaint asserts a second cause of action for specific performance. Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiffs breach of contract cause of action for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted or in the alternative, seeks summary judgment. Defendant further moves to dismiss Plaintiffs cause of action for specific performance on the grounds that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over such a claim.

Defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiffs claim for breach of contract is granted. The Court finds that as a matter of law, there was no implied-in-faet contract between the parties and that the parties’ relationship was governed by the series of written contracts which were properly executed and adhered to by the parties. In addition, the Court grants Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs claim for specific performance because this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over such a cause of action.

Factual Background1

The IHS is an agency within the Public Health Service of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program (“IHSLRP”) is a program administered by the IHS. The IHSLRP was created pursuant to Section 108 of the Indian Health Care Services Act, (the “Act”), as amended, “in order to assure an adequate supply of trained health care professionals necessary to maintain accreditation of, and provide healthcare services to, Indians through, Indian health programs.” 25 U.S.C. § 1616a(a)(l). The Act further requires that all contracts between participating health care service providers and the IHSLRP be in writing and stipulates that such written contracts are not enforceable unless they are executed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or a duly authorized representative. 25 U.S.C. § 1616a(e)(l). Finally, the Act specifies that a health care provider can become a participant in the IHSLRP only upon “the Secretary and the individual entering into a written contract described in [the Act].” 25 U.S.C. § 1616a(e)(l).

In 1997, Plaintiff, Bruce Ruttenburg, was licensed as a psychologist by the State of California and employed in private practice in Santa Rosa, California. On October 10, 1997, Plaintiff applied to participate in the IHSLRP. Included in the application packet was a draft contract, which Plaintiff signed (the “1997 draft contract”). Immediately above the signature line, the 1997 draft contract states in bold, capital letters:

I UNDERSTAND THAT ANY FINANCIAL OBLIGATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARISING OUT OF THIS CONTRACT IS CONTINGENT UPON FUNDS BEING APPROPRIATED BY CONGRESS FOR THIS LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. THE SECRETARY OR HIS/HER AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE MUST SIGN THIS CONTRACT BEFORE IT BECOMES EFFECTIVE. FURTHER, I UNDERSTAND THAT ANY INDEBTEDNESS I INCUR PRIOR TO BOTH PARTIES, THE SECRETARY AND MYSELF, SIGNING THIS CONTRACT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY.

Defendant’s Appendix at 8.

Neither the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services nor an authorized representative of the Secretary ever signed the 1997 draft contract.

Plaintiff was not selected to participate in the IHSLRP in 1997 or 1998. Thereafter, in [46]*46March 1999, an IHS employee, Carla Mendoza, contacted Plaintiff regarding an opening for a full-time psychologist with the Maniilaq Association of Kotzebue, Alaska. Plaintiff claims that in April 1999, Ms. Mendoza orally represented that if Plaintiff took the position with the Maniilaq Association — in addition to the salary the Maniilaq Association would pay to him — IHSLRP would pay $30,000 per year of his student loan balances plus thirty-one percent of this amount toward his increased income tax liability. Plaintiff concedes that Ms. Mendoza further informed him that he would not be eligible to participate in the IHSLRP in 1999, because the program funding for the year was exhausted. Specifically, Plaintiff described his conversation with Ms. Mendoza:

Ms. Mendoza was identified as the specialist dealing with mental health provider applicants for IHSLRP and was the sole contact person for my participation in the Program. She advised that the loan repayment program of $30,000/31% would not be available to me for fiscal year 1999 even if I accepted the position at Maniilaq Association and began working there in 1999 because all of the available funds had been exhausted. I advised her that if I were to accept the Maniilaq position, I would have to begin working there on July 1, 1999. She and I had a discussion of the prospects for my receiving approval to participate in the program if I did accept the job at Maniilaq. Ms. Mendoza explained that Congress allocated the funds for the program on an annual basis, usually around November. She also explained that the IHS sites were rated for loan repayment by professional discipline and on an annual basis and that eligible applicants were awarded loan repayment based on the priority number assigned to their site by the IHS and the amount of funds that were made available by Congress. She advised that if I moved to Alaska and took a job with Maniilaq, I would be approved for loan repayment provided two conditions occurred first: first, that the Maniilaq Association would be deemed to be a qualified site by the IHS and second, that Congress re-funded the program. She advised that if these two conditions were met, the Indian Health Service would sign the contract I had already signed (for $30,000/31%) and I would receive the loan repayment proceeds as indicated in the contract. Ms. Mendoza indicated that she could certainly not guarantee the Maniilaq site would be approved for fiscal year 2000, but upon my direct questioning she did advise that the entity was a very high need area and that providers there had been consistently awarded loan repayment for at least the most recent 10 year period.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
65 Fed. Cl. 43, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 91, 2005 WL 757172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruttenburg-v-united-states-uscfc-2005.