Groff v. U.S., 2006-5141.

• Decision Date: 03 July 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2006-5141.,No. 2007-5006.,2006-5141.,2007-5006.
• Citation: 493 F.3d 1343
• Parties: Christine Wells GROFF and Michael Wells, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellant. Laurie H. LaBare (on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated), Plaintiff-Appellant, v. United States, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

493 F.3d 1343

Christine Wells GROFF and Michael Wells, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellant.

Laurie H. LaBare (on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated), Plaintiff-Appellant, v. United States, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 2006-5141.

No. 2007-5006.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

July 3, 2007.

Peter Gray, Rider Bennett, LLP, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, argued for plaintiff-appellee in appeal 2006-5141. On the brief were Eric J. Magnuson, and Steven M. Sitek.

Timothy P. Mcilmail, Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellant in appeal 2006-5141. With him on the brief were Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, and Jeanne E. Davidson, Director. Of counsel were Rafael A. Madison, General Counsel, Victoria O'Brien, and Jason P. Cooley, Attorney Advisors, Office of General Counsel, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC.

Peter Gray, Rider Bennett, LLP, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, argued for plaintiff-appellant in appeal 2007-5006. On the brief was Joseph S. Lawder.

Timothy P. Mcilmail, Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee in appeal 2007-5006. With him on the brief were Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, and Jeanne E. Davidson, Director. Of counsel on the brief were Rafael A. Madison, General Counsel, Victoria O'Brien and Jason P. Cooley, Attorney Advisors, Office of General Counsel, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC.

Before MAYER, BRYSON, and PROST, Circuit Judges.

BRYSON, Circuit Judge.

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits Act ("PSOBA"), 42 U.S.C. § 3796 et seq., provides benefits to the relatives of public safety officers who are killed as the result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. The statute also provides benefits to public safety officers who are permanently disabled, id. § 3796(b), and educational benefits to dependents of federal law enforcement officers who are killed or disabled in the line of duty, id. § 3796d.

Congress has assigned administration of the benefit program to the Bureau of Justice Assistance ("BJA"), an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. Prospective beneficiaries submit claims to the BJA, and the BJA determines, under regulations issued pursuant to statute, whether the decedent was a public safety officer who died under circumstances that entitle the beneficiaries to an award under the statute. 42 U.S.C. § 3796(a). Judicial review of the BJA's decisions is available in the Court of Federal Claims. Demutiis v. United States, 291 F.3d 1373, 1376 (Fed. Cir.2002).

This is a consolidated appeal from two decisions of the Court of Federal Claims Groff v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 68 (2006), and LaBare v. United States, 72 Fed.Cl. 111 (2006). The two cases both involve challenges to BJA determinations denying death benefits to the relatives of pilots who were employed by private contractors and who died while rendering fire suppression assistance to public agencies. The BJA denied the claims for benefits. The BJA ruled that neither of the pilots was a "public safety officer" within the meaning of PSOBA, because both were employees of private companies and therefore were not "serving a public agency in an official capacity" at the time of their deaths. See 42 U.S.C. § 3796b(9)(A).

The Court of Federal Claims in the Groff case overturned the BJA's decision denying benefits, while the court in the LaBare case upheld the BJA's decision denying benefits. We hold that the BJA's decision should have been sustained in both cases. We therefore reverse the judgment in Groff and affirm the judgment in LaBare.

I

A

Lawrence Groff was employed as a helicopter pilot by San Joaquin Helicopters, a private company based in California. San Joaquin Helicopters entered into a contract with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide piloting services for fire suppression missions. The contract provided that the company's employees "shall act in an independent capacity and not as officers or employees or agents of the State of California," that the company would indemnify California and maintain liability insurance for activities performed pursuant to the contract, and that the company would pay and provide benefits for the pilots who performed services under the contract. The aviation procedures handbook of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection states that "[c]ontractors must understand that they are acting in an independent capacity in the performance of their service, and not as an officer, employee, or agent of the state."

While piloting a helicopter pursuant to the contract, Mr. Groff died as a result of a mid-air collision with another aircraft. Following his death, Mr. Groff's wife and stepson, Christine Wells Groff and Michael Wells, applied for PSOBA benefits. The BJA determined that, as the employee of a government contractor, Mr. Groff did not satisfy the PSOBA definition of "public safety officer," and it denied the claim. The claimants then requested and obtained a hearing at two additional levels of administrative review within the BJA, but the claim was denied at both levels. The hearing examiner and the Director of the BJA both wrote lengthy opinions explaining the reasons for the denial. In essence, both concluded, based on a legal position the BJA had adhered to for more than 20 years, that the employee of a private contractor does not qualify as a "public safety officer" within the meaning of PSOBA.

The claimants then sought review of the BJA's decision in the Court of Federal Claims. The court held that the BJA's decision was erroneous and granted the claimants' motion for judgment on the administrative record, awarding them $250,000 in benefits.

The court noted that PSOBA defines a "public safety officer" as "an individual serving a public agency in an official capacity," 42 U.S.C. § 3796b(9)(A), and that in a 1981 policy directive, the BJA stated that in order "to be serving a public agency in an official capacity, one must be an officer, employee, volunteer, or [in a] similar relationship of performing services as part of a public agency," and that to have such a relationship with a public agency, "an individual must be officially recognized or designated as functionally within or a part of the public agency." Measuring Mr. Groff's service against that test, the court found that he was not an "employee" of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, but that he was in a "similar relationship of performing services as part of" the California agency and that he was "officially recognized or designated as functionally within or a part of" that agency. Based on those findings and on the court's conclusion that the statute could not properly be construed to exclude all contract employees from coverage, the court held that the claimants were entitled to benefits based on Mr. Groff's death. The court therefore entered judgment for the plaintiffs for the death benefits payable under the PSOBA statute. The government has taken an appeal from that decision.

B

Craig LaBare was a pilot employed by Hawkins & Powers Aviation, Inc., a private aviation service. Hawkins & Powers Aviation entered into a contract with the U.S. Forest Service to provide airtankers for the suppression of fires. Under the contract, the company was responsible for aircraft equipment, maintenance, safety, and flight crews. The contract also stated that the company was required to obtain liability insurance and would "be responsible for all damage to property and to persons."

While Mr. LaBare was piloting an airtanker pursuant to the contract, the wings of his aircraft detached, causing a fatal crash. Following his death, his wife Laurie LaBare filed a claim for PSOBA benefits. The BJA denied the claim, on the grounds that Mr. LaBare, as the employee of a government contractor, was not a "public safety officer" serving a public agency "in an official capacity" within the meaning of PSOBA. Like the claimants in the Groff case, Ms. LaBare obtained a hearing and two levels of review within the BJA, but her claim was rejected, first by a hearing examiner and then by the Director of the BJA.

Ms. LaBare sought review in the Court of Federal Claims. The court, acting through a different judge from the one assigned to the Groff case, affirmed the BJA's decision.

The court in LaBare looked to whether the decision of the BJA denying Ms. LaBare's claim was supported by substantial evidence. The court noted that the BJA defined the term "public safety officer" in PSOBA to exclude employees of private companies, even if they were killed while working with public agencies and engaged in fire suppression.

The court observed that PSOBA did not define what it means to be "serving a public agency in an official capacity." Relying on this court's decision in Chacon v. United States, 48 F.3d 508 (Fed.Cir.1995), the trial court held that the BJA's interpretation of the statute, as expressed in prior decisions of the agency and summarized in a BJA publication, is entitled to deference under the principles of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). Under the BJA's interpretation of the statute, in order to qualify as a "public safety officer" the individual in question must be an "officer employee, volunteer, or similar relationship of performing services as a part of a public agency" and must be "officially recognized or designated as functionally within or a part of the public agency." In this case, the court concluded, substantial evidence supported the BJA's conclusion that Mr. LaBare, as an employee of a private...