Woodruff v. U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Workers Compensation Program

• Decision Date: 10 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 90-7323,90-7323
• Citation: 954 F.2d 634
• Parties: Linda WOODRUFF, as Administratrix of the Estate of Gordon R. Woodruff, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION PROGRAM, George E. Rivers, etc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 634

954 F.2d 634

Linda WOODRUFF, as Administratrix of the Estate of Gordon R Woodruff, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS COMPENSATION PROGRAM, George E. Rivers etc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 90-7323.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Feb. 10, 1992.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc

Denied April 9, 1992.

Joel E. Dillard, Baxley, Dillard & Dauphin, Birmingham, Ala., James P. Smith, Huntsville, Ala., for plaintiff-appellant.

Frank W. Donaldson, U.S. Atty., Herbert J. Lewis, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Birmingham, Ala., Jeffrica Jenkins Lee, Robert S. Greenspan, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civil Div., Appellate Staff, Washington, D.C., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Before FAY and COX, Circuit Judges, and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Linda Woodruff, as Administratrix of the Estate of Gordon R. Woodruff, appeals a judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (1) granting summary judgment to the defendant, the United States, and (2) dismissing her late husband's Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA") complaint against the United States for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The amended complaint alleged that the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board ("the ECAB"), a subdivision of the Department of Labor, deprived her husband, Gordon Woodruff, of due process of law and violated a clear statutory mandate when it found that he was eligible to receive compensation benefits under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act ("FECA"), 5 U.S.C. § 8101 et seq., thereby denying him the right to pursue a tort claim under FTCA. The three primary questions before us are (1) whether 5 U.S.C. § 8102(a) contains a clear statutory mandate which was violated by the ECAB in this case, (2) whether Woodruff was denied an FTCA cause of action without due process of law and (3) whether the ECAB violated the separation of powers doctrine. We agree with the district court that there was no violation of a clear statutory mandate, that Woodruff was not deprived of due process and that the ECAB did not violate the separation of powers doctrine. We therefore affirm the district court's dismissal of the action.

Since the facts of this case are not in dispute, the grant of summary judgment and dismissal of the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction are questions of law which are reviewable de novo on appeal. Morrison v. Washington County, Ala., 700 F.2d 678, 682 (11th Cir.1983).

I. BACKGROUND

The Federal Employees' Compensation Act

Enacted in 1916, FECA provides workers' compensation coverage for federal civilian employees who are injured while in the performance of their duties. 5 U.S.C. § 8102(a). ¹ It is the exclusive remedy against the United States for any federal employee whose injuries or death fall within the scope of the statute, and precludes recovery in another direct judicial proceeding or under a federal tort liability statute. 5 U.S.C. §§ 8116(c) ² and 8173. ³

The Secretary of Labor is authorized to administer FECA, to promulgate rules and regulations to aid its administration and to decide all questions arising under the statute. 5 U.S.C. §§ 8145 ⁴ and 8149. ⁵ Under the authority granted in § 8145(2), the Secretary has delegated responsibility for FECA management to the Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs ("OWCP").

After being presented with a claim by an employee, the Director must make final findings of fact and decide whether the employee is entitled to compensation under FECA. 5 U.S.C. § 8124(a). ⁶ The Director's determination can be appealed by the employee to the ECAB, an appellate arm of the Department of Labor. 5 U.S.C. § 8149. ⁷ The ECAB is bound to follow applicable law and the rules and regulations of the Secretary, but its decisions on the claims of individual employees are final. Id.

The Secretary's decision to award or deny compensation to a particular claimant is not subject to judicial review. 5 U.S.C. § 8128(b). ⁸ Conclusions of law and fact made by the Secretary or the ECAB are also immune from judicial review. Id.

Facts

Gordon R. Woodruff was a civilian employee of the United States Army stationed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. His office was located in a particular building on the base, but he was occasionally required to travel to other locations around the base to perform special tasks. He was also assigned a regular unpaid lunch break between 11:00 to 11:30 A.M. each working day, during which he was free to travel off-base to eat or perform personal errands.

On February 26, 1987, Woodruff's supervisor directed him to obtain signatures on a document from three persons stationed at three separate worksites on the base. Before leaving his office, Woodruff told another supervisor that he would take a longer than usual lunch hour while procuring these signatures so that he could travel off the base to purchase a coat.

By 11:00 that morning, Woodruff had obtained the first two signatures on his list. He then decided to begin his lunch hour, and headed onto the main road leading out of the army base. His destination was nearby Huntsville, Alabama, where he intended to purchase the coat.

Before Woodruff could leave Redstone Arsenal, however, a military bus ran through a red light and crashed into his car. As a result of this collision, Woodruff suffered severe injuries that left him incapacitated and that required treatment in a rehabilitation center for three years. Woodruff never recovered from his injuries, and died during the pendency of this appeal.

Woodruff's FECA Claim

Woodruff's wife applied for FECA benefits for her husband on March 2, 1987, a few days after the accident. After filing the application, Mrs. Woodruff retained an attorney who told her that her husband might have a cause of action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671 et seq. ⁹ He also advised her that the FTCA action would be barred if she accepted FECA benefits. The attorney then sent two letters to the representative of the Workmen's Compensation Office at Redstone Arsenal, the first on March 5, 1987 and the second on March 30, 1987, seeking to withdraw the Woodruffs' application for FECA benefits.

However, after conducting "extensive legal research and factual investigation," the attorney decided that there might be a substantial question of FECA coverage. Brief for Appellants at 12. For this reason, he requested on April 4, 1987 that the OWCP formally process and consider Woodruff's FECA claim.

On September 14, 1987, the OWCP found that Woodruff was eligible for FECA benefits because he had been injured while in the performance of his duties. The OWCP relied upon the "premises rule" in making this determination. The "premises rule" states that "as to employees having fixed hours and places of work, injuries occurring on the premises of the employing establishment, while the employee is going to or from work, before or after working hours, or at lunch time are compensable." Annette Stonework, 36 ECAB 306 (1983); see generally 1 Arthur Larson, The Law of Workmen's Compensation § 15 (1990) (discussing the "premises rule" in the context of state workers' compensation law). Applying the "premises rule" to the facts of this case, the OWCP found that Woodruff was injured while still on the premises of Redstone Arsenal and while he was on his way to lunch. Consequently, it concluded that he was eligible for FECA compensation.

Woodruff exercised his right of appeal under § 8149 and requested that the ECAB either comply with his initial request to withdraw his FECA claim or deny the relief awarded by the OWCP. The ECAB agreed with the OWCP that Woodruff's injuries were compensable under FECA. It stated that "[i]t is a general rule of workers' compensation law that, as to employees having fixed hours and place of work, injuries occurring on the premises of the employing establishment, while the employees are going to or from work, before or after working hours, or at lunch time are compensable." Gordon R. Woodruff, No. 89-390 (ECAB May 26, 1989). The ECAB found that the main base road where Woodruff incurred his injuries benefitted his employer as the primary route into and out of the base for anyone wishing to conduct business there. This "nexus" between the place of the injury and the benefit the property provided to his employer was sufficient to classify the main base road as the premises of the employer. Having found that the injuries occurred on the premises of his employer, the ECAB found that the second part of the "premises rule" was satisfied because Woodruff was injured during his lunch hour. Therefore, the appellate panel held that he was eligible for FECA coverage since he received his injuries while in the course of employment: i.e., he was injured on his employer's premises and while on his way to lunch. It affirmed the OWCP's decision that he was eligible for FECA benefits. The ECAB issued its final order on October 26, 1989, denying Woodruff's petition for rehearing. Gordon R. Woodruff, No. 89-390 (ECAB October 26, 1989).

Woodruff's FTCA claim

During the pendency of his FECA claim, Woodruff filed an action pursuant to FTCA in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The FTCA waives the immunity of the United States for liability to suits in tort. The Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 (1988). The original FTCA complaint sought damages against the United States arising from the alleged negligence of the bus driver who had crashed into Woodruff's automobile. After the ECAB affirmed the OWCP decision awarding FECA benefits to Woodruff, he amended his FTCA complaint to allege that the ECAB violated a clear statutory mandate requiring it to follow applicable law (Count II), that the ECAB deprived him of due process and violated...