Schmidt v. U.S., 89-1328
| Decision Date | 15 May 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 89-1328,89-1328 |
| Citation | 933 F.2d 639 |
| Parties | Phyllis SCHMIDT and Earl Schmidt, Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
John P. Madigan, Jr., St. Louis, Mo., for appellants.
James C. Wilson, Washington, D.C., for appellee.
Before BOWMAN, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and HUNTER, * District Judge.
On plaintiffs' petition for writ of certiorari, the United States Supreme Court vacated this panel's opinion in Schmidt v. United States, 901 F.2d 680 (8th Cir.1990). The Supreme Court remanded this case for further consideration in light of Irwin v. Veterans Administration, 498 U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 453, 112 L.Ed.2d 435 (1990). Schmidt v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 944, 112 L.Ed.2d 1033. We now reverse the order of the district court dismissing the Schmidts' complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remand this case for trial on the merits of the Schmidts' Federal Tort Claims Act claim.
The facts and procedural history of this case are fully set forth in our prior opinion. The issue before the district court was whether the Schmidts commenced their action within the statutory limitations period of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2401(b) (1988). The government raised this issue in a motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), challenging the district court's subject matter jurisdiction over the Schmidts' claim. The issue turned on the date of mailing by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of notice to the Schmidts of the final denial of their administrative claim, an event which commenced the running of the FTCA's statute of limitations.
The district court found that neither the Schmidts nor the government could establish the date on which the denial notice was mailed. The court noted that compliance with the statute of limitations was a jurisdictional prerequisite, and that the Schmidts bore the burden of establishing jurisdictional facts once the government challenged the court's subject matter jurisdiction. Because the Schmidts failed to establish the date on which the denial notice was mailed, the district court dismissed their complaint. This court affirmed.
Following our decision affirming the district court, the Supreme Court decided Irwin v. Veterans Administration, 498 U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 453, 112 L.Ed.2d 435 (1990). Irwin held that statutes of limitations in suits against the government are subject to equitable tolling. 498 U.S. at ----, 111 S.Ct. at 457, 112 L.Ed.2d at 444. Necessary to this expressed holding is an implied holding that strict compliance with the statute of limitations is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to suing the government. If the statute of limitations were jurisdictional, the court would have no power to consider tolling it. Prior to Irwin, the circuits divided over the question whether statutes of limitations on suits against the government were absolute jurisdictional limits. Compare, e.g., Powers v. United States, 390 F.2d 602, 604 (9th Cir.1968) with Milam v. United States Postal Service, 674 F.2d 860 (11th Cir.1982). The Supreme Court in Irwin stated that it "granted certiorari ... to resolve the Circuit conflict over whether late-filed claims are jurisdictionally barred." 498 U.S. at ----, 111 S.Ct. at 455, 112 L.Ed.2d at 441.
This court's holding in Schmidt was premised on the assumed jurisdictional nature of the FTCA's statute of limitations. 901 F.2d at...
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Smith v. U.S.
..."strict compliance with the statute of limitations is not a jurisdictional prerequisite to suing the government," Schmidt v. United States, 933 F.2d 639, 640 (8th Cir. 1991), for "[i]f the statute of limitations were jurisdictional, the court would have no power to consider tolling it," id.......
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