Ayers v. United States

• Decision Date: 20 September 2001
• Docket Number: PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,No. 00-5993,DEFENDANT-APPELLEE,00-5993
• Citation: 277 F.3d 821
• Parties: (6th Cir. 2002) EDNA AYERS, ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF ROY L. HARDIN, DECEASED,, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Argued:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 821

277 F.3d 821 (6th Cir. 2002)

EDNA AYERS, ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF ROY L. HARDIN, DECEASED, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE.

No. 00-5993

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

Argued: September 20, 2001

Decided and Filed: January 17, 2002

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Frankfort. No. 00-00011--Joseph M. Hood, District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Paul A. Casi, II (argued and briefed), William B. Hoffman, Hoffman & Casi, Louisville, KY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Dell W. Littrell, Asst. U.S. Atty., Lexington, KY, Debra J. Kossow (argued and briefed), U.S. Department of Justice, Torts Branch, Civil Division, Washington DC, David W. Ogden, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Immigration, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: Nelson and Moore, Circuit Judges; Katz, District Judge.^*

OPINION

Katz, District Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Edna Ayers ("Ayers"), as administratrix of the estate of Roy L. Hardin ("Hardin"), filed suit under the Suits in Admiralty Act, 46 U.S.C.App. §§ 741-752 ("SAA") and the Federal Torts Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 ("FTCA") against Defendant-Appellee the United States. Ayers alleged that the negligent operation of Lock and Dam No. 2 ("Lock No. 2") on the Kentucky River by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") led to the drowning death of decedent Hardin, Ayers' son. The United States filed a motion to dismiss. The district court held that the action came within its admiralty jurisdiction, was therefore barred by the statute of limitations, and granted the motion to dismiss. We affirm.

I. Background

Lock and Dam No. 2, located at mile 31 on the Kentucky River, is owned and operated by the United States through its agency, the Corps. Lock No. 2 consists of a lock, to allow vessel passage on the river, and a dam, to maintain a navigable water level. The area downstream of Lock No. 2, near Lockport, Kentucky, is a popular swimming area.

On August 3, 1997, Hardin was swimming approximately one hundred yards from the downstream discharge area of Lock No. 2, when the lock master began "locking through" two pleasure craft. "Locking through" the craft entailed opening the downstream discharge end of Lock No. 2, resulting in turbulence from the sudden and rapid release of water. Plaintiff alleges that this turbulence pulled Hardin under the water and caused him to drown. Plaintiff also alleges that the lock master negligently failed to warn others of his intent to operate Lock No. 2. Following Hardin's drowning, the two pleasure craft left Lock No. 2 and proceeded downstream on the Kentucky River without delay.

On June 28, 1999, Ayers filed an administrative claim for wrongful death with the Corps, pursuant to the FTCA. On July 19, 1999, an attorney for the Corps acknowledged receipt of the claim and stated that the matter would be investigated. On July 29, 1999, Ayers was informed by facsimile letter that the administrative claim had not been properly filed because it lacked necessary documents demonstrating authorization to file the claim. The facsimile also stated, "The claim has not been properly presented and the statute of limitations continues to run." In response to the Corps' facsimile, that same day Ayers sent a new administrative claim containing the proper authorization and recognizing that the six-month period for the United States' response to the claim would run from the date of the new claim.

There was no final disposition of Ayers' claim within the prescribed six-month period. On February 11, 2000, Ayers filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In her Complaint, Ayers alleged only that her action arose under the FTCA. On June 7, 2000, Ayers filed an Amended Complaint alleging that her action arose under the FTCA or, in the alternative, under the SAA.

The United States filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The district court, applying Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527 (1995), held that Ayers' action was before the court pursuant to its admiralty jurisdiction under the SAA and that the suit was untimely due to Ayers' failure to file her complaint within the two-year period allowed by 46 U.S.C.App. § 745. The district court also rejected Ayers' argument that the SAA's limitations period was subject to equitable tolling. The district court granted the motion to dismiss, and Ayers' appeal to this court followed. In her appeal, Ayers claims that her action was timely brought under the FTCA, or, in the alternative, that equitable tolling of the SAA's limitations period is appropriate based on her filing of an administrative complaint coupled with representations allegedly made by Corps attorneys concerning the tolling of the statute of limitations.

II. Standard of Review

"A district court's dismissal of claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is reviewed de novo on appeal." Good v. Ohio Edison Co., 149 F.3d 413, 418 (6th Cir. 1998) (citing Kruse v. Village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, 74 F.3d 694, 697 (6th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 818 (1996)).

III. Discussion

(A) Admiralty Jurisdiction

"Claims for which a remedy is available under [SAA] are not cognizable under FTCA." Pearce v. United States, 261 F.3d 643, 647 (6th Cir. 2001) (quoting Estate of Callas v. United States, 682 F.2d 613, 619 n.7 (7th Cir. 1982)); 46 U.S.C.App. § 740. "The [SAA] permits suits in admiralty against the United States '[i]n cases where . . . if a private person or property were involved, a proceeding in admiralty could be maintained.'" Pearce, 261 F.3d at 647 (quoting Faust v. South Carolina State Highway Dep't, 721 F.2d 934, 938 n.2 (4th Cir. 1983)).

Prior to 1972, the existence of admiralty jurisdiction was determined by the locality test. Where "the wrong occurred on navigable waters, the action was within admiralty jurisdiction; if the wrong occurred on land, it [wa]s not." Executive Jet Aviation v. City of Cleveland, 409 U.S. 249, 253 (1972). In Executive Jet, the Court held that a determination of admiralty jurisdiction required inquiry into the "relationship of the wrong to traditional maritime activity." Id. at 261. Later in Foremost Ins. Co. v. Richardson, 457 U.S. 668 (1982), the Court stressed that admiralty jurisdiction existed only where the tort "had a significant connection with traditional maritime activity." Id. at 674. The Foremost Court found that the "significant connection" requirement was satisfied by "[t]he potential disruptive impact of a collision between boats on navigable waters, when coupled with the traditional concern that admiralty holds for navigation," id. at 675, despite the fact that neither of the vessels involved in the Foremost collision was engaged in commercial activity. Thereafter, in Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358 (1990), the Court held that maritime jurisdiction was appropriate when a potential hazard to maritime commerce arises out of an activity that bears a substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity. See id. at 363-367.

The Supreme Court most recently addressed admiralty jurisdiction in Jerome B. Grubart, Inc. v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527 (1995). In Grubart, the Court held that admiralty jurisdiction existed over claims concerning flooding of buildings in downtown Chicago; the flooding had allegedly resulted after a crane situated on a barge on the Chicago River was used to drive piles into the riverbed above a tunnel. See id. at 529. The Grubart Court applied the Sisson test and stated that "[A] party seeking to invoke federal admiralty jurisdiction . . . over a tort claim must satisfy conditions both of location and of connection with maritime activity." Id. at 534.

To determine if the location requirement has been satisfied, a court examining jurisdiction "must determine whether the tort occurred on navigable water or whether injury suffered on land was caused by a vessel on navigable water." Id. Where there is some dispute as to the causation of an injury, a court may look to general tort principles of "proximate cause." Id. at 536-37.

The "connection test" requires a two-part inquiry. First, the court is required to "'assess the general features of the type of incident involved' to determine whether the incident has 'a potentially disruptive impact on maritime commerce.'" Grubart, 513 U.S. at 534 (quoting Sisson, 497 U.S. at 363, 364 n.2) (internal citations omitted). This assessment must be made by means of "a description of the incident at an intermediate level of possible generality." Grubart, 513 U.S. at 538. Having characterized the incident, we are then required to ask "whether the incident could be seen within a class of incidents that posed more than a fanciful risk to commercial shipping." Id. at 539.

To satisfy the second prong of the "connection test," the court "must determine whether 'the general character' of the 'activity giving rise to the incident' shows a 'substantial relationship to traditional maritime activity.'" Grubart, 513 U.S. at 534 (quoting Sisson, 497 U.S. at 365, 364 and n.2)). That is, the court "ask[s] whether a tortfeasor's activity, commercial or noncommercial, on navigable waters is so closely related to activity traditionally subject to admiralty law that the reasons for applying special admiralty rules would apply in the suit at hand." Grubart, 513 U.S. at 539-40. We apply Grubart below.

(B) The Location Requirement

The parties do not dispute that the portion of the Kentucky River in which Hardin was swimming when he drowned constitutes a navigable waterway, nor do they dispute that the lock master was "locking through" two pleasure craft just prior to Hardin's accident. Appellant argues, however, that these facts are insufficient to satisfy the location requirement for a number...