Terry v. United States

99 Fed. Cl. 384, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1709, 2011 WL 3555589
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided August 12, 2011·No. No. 11-97C·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND FINAL ORDER

BRADEN, Judge.

[387]*387I. RELEVANT FACTS.1

On November 17, 2009, Lawrence Terry (“Plaintiff’) prepaid for six months’ use of a post office box (the “PO Box”) located in the Columbia, South Carolina Post Office (“Columbia P.O.”). Compl. ¶ 1. On January 14, 2010, Plaintiff filed a Complaint at the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (“District Court”), alleging that Allen University was negligent in sending his transcripts to other universities. See Terry v. Allen Univ., No. 3:10-90 (D.S.C. filed Jan. 14, 2010). Plaintiff used the PO Box as his mailing address for this action. Compl. ¶ 1.

In February 2010, Plaintiff attempted to mail six letters to Bermuda using the PO Box as the return address. Id. On February 17, 2010, three of the six letters intended for Bermuda were returned to the PO Box for insufficient postage. Id. On March 5, 2010, documents sent by the District Court to the PO Box regarding Allen University were returned to the court as “undeliverable.” Id.

On March 23, 2010, Plaintiff called the District Court regarding the status of Allen University. Id. The District Court informed Plaintiff that he missed the deadline to respond to a motion, and attempts to contact him by mail were returned as “undeliverable to that address.” Id. On that same date, Plaintiff went to the Columbia P.O. to inquire as to why he was not receiving mail. Id. Employees at the Columbia P.O. told Plaintiff that he needed to speak to Hank, the employee in charge of opening and closing PO boxes, but Hank was not present. Id.

On March 24, 2010, Plaintiff returned to the Columbia P.O. to speak to Hank and the Columbia P.O. manager. Id. During that visit, Hank stated that he never labeled the PO Box, and told Plaintiff that he “do[es] it when [he] get[s] time to.” Compl. ¶ 1; see also Pl.Ex. C, D (Plaintiffs audio recording of his March 24, 2010 conversations at the Columbia P.O.). Plaintiff declined a refund for the cost of the PO Box offered by the Columbia P.O. manager because a refund “could never cover the stress [Plaintiff] went through.” Compl. ¶ 1; Pl.Ex. D. Plaintiff alleges that the only mail he received at the PO Box was the three returned letters intended for Bermuda. Compl. ¶ 1.

On March 25, 2010, Plaintiff filed an administrative tort claim with the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-80, for mislabeling the PO Box and causing him to miss a court deadline in Allen University. See Gov’t Ex. A1-A6.

On April 12, 2010, the District Court dismissed Plaintiffs January 14, 2010 Complaint in Allen University for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Terry v. Allen Univ., No. 3:10-90, slip op. at 2, 2010 WL 1463434 (D.S.C. Apr. 12, 2010).

On August 5, 2010, the USPS denied Plaintiffs administrative tort claim. See Gov’t Ex. A1-A6.

On August 11, 2010, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against the USPS in the District Court, alleging a claim of negligence for the USPS’s failure to properly label the PO Box. See Terry v. United States Postal Service, No. 3:10-2095 (D.S.C. filed Aug. 11, 2010). On November 22, 2010, the District Court dismissed the August 11, 2010 Complaint, holding that the Government had not waived sovereign immunity with respect to Plaintiffs claims. See Terry v. United States Postal Service, No. 3:10-2095, slip op. at 2-4 (D.S.C. Nov. 22, 2010). On January 6, 2011, Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of the August 11, 2010 Complaint to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

On January 7, 2011, Plaintiff filed another Complaint against the USPS in the District Court, based on the same facts as the August 11, 2010 Complaint. See Terry v. United States, No. 3:11-0057 (D.S.C. filed Jan. 7, 2011). On March 7, 2011, the District Court dismissed the January 7, 2011 Complaint in the interest of judicial economy and efficiency, because it was duplicative to the August 11, 2010 Complaint. See Terry v. United States, No. 3:11-0057, slip op. at 1-2 (D.S.C. Mar. 7, 2011).

[388]*388On March 21, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs August 11, 2010 Complaint. See Terry v. United States Postal Service, 418 Fed.Appx. 266 (4th Cir.2011).

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY.

On February 14, 2011, Plaintiff filed a Complaint (“Compl”) in the United States Court of Federal Claims against the USPS. The February 14, 2011 Complaint alleges that an employee of the USPS intentionally and in bad faith breached a contract with Plaintiff by failing to properly label the PO Box, causing Plaintiff to miss important mail regarding employment and court filings in other civil cases. Compl. ¶ 1. On February 17, 2011, the court granted Plaintiffs Motion For Leave To Proceed In Forma Pauperis.

On April 15, 2011, the Government filed a Motion To Dismiss (“Gov’t Mot.”), pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), (6) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”), together with Exhibits (“Gov’t Mot. Ex. A1-A41”). On April 20, 2011, by leave of the court, Plaintiff filed a Motion For Default Judgment, Or In The Alternative, Motion For Summary Judgment, together with Exhibits (“Pl.Ex. A-D”). On that same date, the court denied the Motion For Default Judgment and directed Plaintiff to indicate in his response to the April 15, 2011 Motion To Dismiss whether he would like to proceed with his Motion For Summary Judgment. On April 22, 2011, Plaintiff filed a Response (“PI. Resp.”), and, by leave of the court, a Motion To Amend The Complaint. On that same date, the court issued an Order staying consideration of Plaintiffs April 20, 2011 Motion For Summary Judgment until ruling on the Government’s April 15, 2011 Motion To Dismiss.

On May 6, 2011, the Government filed a Response to Plaintiffs April 22, 2011 Motion To Amend Complaint. On May 9, 2011, the Government filed a Reply (“Gov’t Reply”). On May 10, 2011, the court issued an Order granting Plaintiffs Motion To Amend Complaint. In addition, the court determined that, because the May 10, 2011 Amended Complaint only changed the named defendant and did not make any additional factual or legal allegations, the Government’s April 15, 2011 Motion To Dismiss was only moot to the extent that it argued the February 14, 2011 Complaint should be dismissed for failure to name the proper defendant. On June 13, 2011, by leave of the court, Plaintiff filed a Statement Of Additional Facts For Summary Judgment.

III. DISCUSSION.

A. Jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims is established by the Tucker Act. See 28 U.S.C. § 1491. The Tucker Act authorizes the court “to render judgment upon any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States, or for liquidated or unliq-uidated damages in cases not sounding in tort.” 28 U.S.C.

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Terry v. United States, 99 Fed. Cl. 384, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1709, 2011 WL 3555589 (uscfc 2011).

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