Avril v. United States, 26593.

Decision Date06 June 1972
Docket NumberNo. 26593.,26593.
Citation461 F.2d 1090
PartiesMichael Alan AVRIL and Gloria Melanie McMullen, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Thomas J. Jeffers, Jr. (argued), Montrose, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants.

David H. Anderson, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Frederick M. Brosio, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., William D. Keller, U.S. Atty., Los Angeles, Cal., for defenant-appellee.

Before BARNES and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges, and SCHNACKE, District Judge.*

SCHNACKE, District Judge:

Appellants brought suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act for damages allegedly sustained when a Post Office vehicle negligently collided with a motorcycle owned and driven by Avril on which McMullen was a passenger. Their amended complaint, which is the one before us, alleges the filing by each of claims under 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a) with officials of the then Post Office Department and the expiration of six months without action thereon.

Copies of the claims as filed on Standard Form 95 were brought before the court below on defendant's request for admissions. In each case a space on the form entitled "Amount of Claim" was left blank. This omission was called to appellants' attention by the Department, but the forms were left unchanged in this respect.

Defendant moved to dismiss the action on the ground that since the claims did not state the money damages claimed in a sum certain they were fatally defective and therefore the action was precluded by § 2675(a). The court below agreed, granted the motion and dismissed the action.

28 C.F.R. § 14.2, a general provision on filing claims, provides:

"For purposes of the provisions of Section 2672 of Title 28, United States Code, a claim shall be deemed to have been presented when a Federal agency receives from a claimant, his duly authorized agent or legal representative, an executed Standard Form 95 or other written notification of an incident, accompanied by a claim for money damages, in a sum certain for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death alleged to have occurred by reason of the incident." (Emphasis supplied.)

39 C.F.R. § 912.5, specifically applying to claims involving the Post Office Department, provides:

"Manner of Filing Claims. Claim must be filed on Standard Form 95 which may be obtained from postmaster, postal inspectors, and local postal establishments."

Standard Form 95, referred to in each of these regulations, contains a conspicuous space in the upper right-hand corner for filling in the amount of the claim, broken down as...

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    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania
    • 1 Julio 1974
    ...by 28 CFR § 14.2(a). Such a demand does not constitute a valid administrative claim. Bialowas v. United States, supra; Avril v. United States, 461 F.2d 1090 (C.A.9, 1972); Jordon v. United States, 333 F.Supp. 987 (E.D.Pa.1971), aff'd 474 F.2d 1340 (C.A.3, These deficiencies in submitting th......
  • Harper v. United States Dep't Of Interior
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Idaho
    • 12 Noviembre 2021
    ... ... Harper's claim to the Department set forth a specific ... dollar amount of damages. See Blair , 866-67; see ... also Avril v. United States , 461 F.2d 1090, 1091 ... (9 th Cir. 1972). Therefore, Defendants' motion ... to dismiss the FTCA Claims is granted ... ...
  • Harper v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Idaho
    • 12 Noviembre 2021
    ...that Harper's claim to the Department set forth a specific dollar amount of damages. See Blair, 866–67, ; see also Avril v. United States, 461 F.2d 1090, 1091 (9th Cir. 1972). Therefore, Defendants’ motion to dismiss the FTCA Claims is granted. However, to the extent Harper still has time t......
  • Walker v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Georgia
    • 23 Septiembre 1977
    ...v. United States, 517 F.2d 1328 (6th Cir.). Such a claim is a nullity and does not toll the running of the statute. Avril v. United States, 461 F.2d 1090 (9th Cir.). Here, however, plaintiff made a claim for $20,000 which was received by Customs on May 16, 1973. The record does not reveal t......
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