Valdez v. United States

365 F. Supp. 3d 1181
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedFebruary 1, 2019
DocketNo. 18-cv-597 RB-KK
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 365 F. Supp. 3d 1181 (Valdez v. United States) 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
Valdez v. United States, 365 F. Supp. 3d 1181 (D.N.M. 2019).

Opinion

ROBERT C. BRACK, SENIOR U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on Defendant United States's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 5) and Plaintiff Sonya Valdez's Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint and Memorandum in Support (Docs. 12; 13). Plaintiff alleges that her postal carrier failed to deliver packages and letters to her address, resulting in economic harm to her and her family. The United States counters that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because claims against United States Postal Service employees related to the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of mail are exempt from the Federal Tort Claims Act and are thus barred by sovereign immunity. After considering the submissions of the parties and relevant law, the Court will grant Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint and grant Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

*1183I. Factual Background and Procedural History

On May 29, 2018, Plaintiff filed suit against Patricia Chacon, her mail carrier, in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Doc. 1-1 at 2-4.) The original complaint alleged that Ms. Chacon "started picking and choosing what packages to deliver and what packages to send back," and that Plaintiff lost money after packages were returned to the sender as undelivered. (Id. at 2.) She alleged that Ms. Chacon "has been tampering with our mail" and "refused to deliver mail to my address." (Id. at 3.) Plaintiff also stated that she filed two complaints with the United States Postal Service (USPS), but the USPS failed to investigate the claims. (Id. )

The United States removed the action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a) because it had been brought "against a federal employee acting under the color of office ... [and] appears to be controlled by the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq. " (Doc. 1 at 2.) Thus, it "is an action over which the United States District Court has exclusive jurisdiction." (Id. ) Following certification by the United States Attorney that Ms. Chacon was acting within the scope of her federal employment at the time of the events alleged in the Complaint, the United States was substituted as the proper party defendant pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1). (See Docs. 4 at 1-2; 4-1 at 1.)

On August 2, 2018, the United States (Defendant) moved to dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). (Doc. 5 at 1.) Defendant argues that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the Complaint for two reasons: (1) Plaintiff's claims fall under the "postal matter" exception to the FTCA and are thus barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity (see id. at 1-3); and (2) even if Plaintiff's claims did fall properly under the FTCA, she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies before bringing suit as required by the FTCA (see id. at 3-4). Plaintiff did not respond to the Motion to Dismiss.

On September 17, 2018, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint. (Doc. 10.) The Amended Complaint reemphasizes the allegations that Ms. Chacon "knowingly [and] willingly failed to deliver packages to Plaintiff's address which caused financial loss." (Id. at 2.) It also includes copies of two online complaints (labelled Exhibits 1 and 2) that Plaintiff submitted to the USPS Office of Inspector General Hotline, which include more specific details describing Ms. Chacon's alleged misconduct. (See id. at 4-7). Exhibit 1 alleges that Ms. Chacon refused to deliver mail addressed to anyone in the household other than Plaintiff, and as a result Plaintiff lost $ 180 because Ms. Chacon twice returned a package containing auto parts to the sender because they were addressed to Plaintiff's husband, and the auto parts were nonrefundable. (See id. at 4-5.) Plaintiff also alleges that she and her husband confronted Ms. Chacon about her failure to deliver their mail and following that interaction, Ms. Chacon retaliated against them by only delivering mail that was addressed to Plaintiff's mother. (See id. at 5.) The Amended Complaint elaborates on Plaintiff's claim that she reported the incidents to the USPS. (Id. at 2 ("USPS was contacted by myself over a dozen times in hopes to resolve matters. I was ignored ....").) Exhibit 2 is a copy of a subsequent email to USPS requesting a response to her initial complaint. (Id. at 7.)

Approximately one month after filing the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff filed a belated Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint (Doc. 12) and Memorandum *1184in Support (Doc. 13), stating that she "did not fully understand the legal implications of [her] pro se responsibility in filing an Amended Complaint." (Doc. 12 at 1.) Defendant does not oppose Plaintiff's motion to refile the Amended Complaint as the operative complaint. (Doc. 14 at 1.) A party seeking leave to amend its pleading outside the time allowed for amendments as a matter of course may do so "only with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Rule 15(a)(2) provides that "[t]he court should freely give leave when justice so requires[,]" to allow "the maximum opportunity for each claim to be decided on its merits rather than on procedural niceties." Hardin v. Manitowoc-Forsythe Corp.

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Bluebook (online)
365 F. Supp. 3d 1181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valdez-v-united-states-nmd-2019.