Spruill v. Gervais

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedSeptember 20, 2023
Docket1:22-cv-00948
StatusUnknown

This text of Spruill v. Gervais (Spruill v. Gervais) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spruill v. Gervais, (D.N.M. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

JOHN SPRUILL,

Plaintiff, v. No. Civ. 22-948-JCH-KRS GEORGE GERVAIS and VILLAGE OF MAXWELL,

Defendants. AND

GEORGE GERVAIS,

Third-Party Plaintiff,

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE,

Third-Party Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER This case arises out of a slip-and-fall incident that occurred on the icy walkway outside a United States Post Office building. Plaintiff John Spruill filed a negligence suit in state court against the owner of the property, Defendant George Gervais (“Gervais”), who then filed a third- party complaint against his tenants, the United States and United States Postal Service (“USPS”), for negligence and breach of contract in failing to remove the snow and ice from the sidewalks and driveway. After removal, Third-Party Defendants United States and the United States Postal Service (collectively, the “United States Defendants”) filed a Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 5), arguing that Third-Party Plaintiff Gervais’ claims against them must be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The United States Defendants assert that the claims are jurisdictionally barred by sovereign immunity and the doctrine of derivative jurisdiction. Gervais responds that this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the claim, because the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 waived the USPS’s sovereign immunity and permitted claims against the USPS to be filed

in state court. The Court, having considered the motion, pleadings, briefs, law, and otherwise being fully advised, concludes that the motion to dismiss must be granted. I. BACKGROUND John Spruill was walking outside the United States Post Office in Colfax County, New Mexico, when he slipped and fell on an icy walkway, resulting in injuries. (Compl. ¶¶ 8, 13-17, ECF No. 1-2 at 5-6 of 74.) He filed suit against Gervais, the owner of the building housing the Post Office, and the Village of Maxwell for negligence in failing to warn Plaintiff of the icy walkway and in failing to inspect and maintain the sidewalk and parking areas by removing ice and snow. (See id. at 4-7 of 74.) Gervais subsequently filed a Third-Party Complaint against the

United States Defendants for (1) negligence, (2) breach of contract, (3) contribution, and (4) proportionate responsibility. (See Third-Party Compl., ECF No. 1-2 at 39-44 of 74.) According to the Third-Party Complaint, Gervais leased the property where the slip-and-fall occurred to the USPS, and the lease agreement specifically contained a clause that placed snow and ice removal duties on the USPS for the sidewalks, driveway, parking, and maneuvering areas where Mr. Spruill fell. (See id., ECF No. 1–2 at 40-41 of 74; Lease Agreement, ECF No. 1-2 at 54 of 74.) The United States Defendants removed the case under § 1442(a)(1) and § 1446 and asserted that sovereign immunity applies and there has been no waiver of immunity (Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1.) They then filed this Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. (See Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 5.) II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Federal courts are of limited jurisdiction, so there is a presumption against jurisdiction. Mineral Resources Intern. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 53 F.3d 305, 307 (10th Cir. 1995). The party asserting jurisdiction is proper in federal court has the burden of proving

subject-matter jurisdiction. Montoya v. Chao, 296 F.3d 952, 955 (10th Cir. 2002). “Motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction ‘generally take one of two forms: (1) a facial attack on the sufficiency of the complaint’s allegations as to subject matter jurisdiction; or (2) a challenge to the actual facts upon which subject matter jurisdiction is based.’” City of Albuquerque v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 379 F.3d 901, 906 (10th Cir. 2004) (quoting Ruiz v. McDonnell, 299 F.3d 1173, 1180 (10th Cir. 2002)). On a facial attack, the court presumes the truth of the allegations in the complaint. Id. Here, the United States Defendants focus solely on the legal questions of sovereign immunity and derivative jurisdiction and do not dispute the underlying facts. The Court will thus accept the general allegations in the complaint as true in resolving this motion.

III. ANALYSIS Section 1442(a)(1) permits the United States or any United States agency to remove an action against it in state court to a federal district court. 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1). Congress gave agencies the power to remove so that the federal court may adjudicate questions concerning the scope of federal authority and immunity. See City of Cookeville, Tenn. v. Upper Cumberland Elec. Membership Corp., 484 F.3d 380, 389 n.5 (6th Cir. 2007). Section 1442, however, cannot overcome other jurisdictional bars that prevent a district court from asserting jurisdiction. Id. “The statute merely allows the federal government to remove a case to federal district court; it does not determine whether the court has jurisdiction to hear it.” State Engineer of State of Nevada v. South Fork Band of Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, 339 F.3d 804, 809 (9th Cir. 2003). No party here disputes that the United States Defendants properly removed the case under § 1442(a)(1); instead, they dispute whether sovereign immunity and the derivative jurisdiction doctrine compel dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. A. The derivative jurisdiction doctrine applies to cases removed under § 1442

“It has long been established that removal jurisdiction is purely derivative in nature.” Goodrich v. Burlington Northern R.R. Co., 701 F.2d 129, 130 (10th Cir. 1983) (citing Arizona v. Manypenny, 451 U.S. 232, 242 (1981)). In Lambert Run Coal Co. v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R., the Supreme Court explained: “If the state court lacks jurisdiction of the subject-matter or of the parties, the federal court acquires none, although it might in a like suit originally brought there have had jurisdiction.” 258 U.S. 377, 382 (1922)). In other words, when a defendant removes a case under § 1442, the federal court may hear the plaintiff's claims only if the state court had jurisdiction to hear those claims. Williams v. Perdue, 386 F.Supp.3d 50, 53-54 (D.D.C. 2019). The doctrine has received criticism, and in 1985 Congress amended the general removal

statute by adding a new subsection, § 1441(e), to eliminate derivative jurisdiction for cases removed under § 1441. Reynolds v. Behrman Capital IV L.P., 988 F.3d 1314, 1321 (11th Cir. 2021); Bullock v. Napolitano, 666 F.3d 281, 286 n.2 (4th Cir. 2012). In 2002, Congress again amended § 1441, redesignating § 1441(e) as § 1441(f), which now reads: “Derivative removal jurisdiction.—The court to which a civil action is removed under this section is not precluded from hearing and determining any claim in such civil action because the State court from which such civil action is removed did not have jurisdiction over that claim.” 28 U.S.C.

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Spruill v. Gervais, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spruill-v-gervais-nmd-2023.