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U.S. District Court
Listen to this articleWhere a plaintiff has brought an action against the United States Postal Service asserting a claim of negligence resulting from a vehicular collision, the complaint must be dismissed because the plaintiff did not timely file a completed administrative claim that included a sum certain of damages as required by the Federal Tort Claims Act.
“… Specifically, Defendant asserts that although Plaintiff submitted [a Standard Form 95] on January 28, 2021, a couple of months after the accident had occurred, she failed to include a ‘sum certain’ as to the alleged damages, meaning that her submission was non-compliant. … Thus, by the time Plaintiff filed a renewed claim, which included a sum certain, on February 1, 2023, the statute of limitations had run. …
“Here, Plaintiff failed to timely present a sum certain of damages, either through the SF-95 or through supplemental documents from which that sum could be ascertained, and her claim is accordingly time-barred. … Although the Court agrees that the purpose of the sum certain requirement is to provide notice of a claim, see supra, Plaintiff did not present any written documents from which USPS could determine a reliable sum of damages. … To the contrary, Plaintiff indicated in the relevant boxes on the SF-95 that she asserted $0.00 in damages. … While sympathetic to Plaintiff’s plight, the Court cannot, under the circumstances of this case, find that Plaintiff adequately pled that she gave USPS notice of a sum certain. …”
Ramos v. United States Postal Service (Lawyers Weekly No. 02-569-24) (9 pages) (Burroughs, J.) (Civil Action No. 23-cv-12848-ADB) (Dec. 6, 2024).
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