Faleni v. United States

Decision Date04 April 1949
Docket NumberCiv. 8068.
Citation125 F. Supp. 630
PartiesAgnes FALENI and Alfred Faleni, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

J. Vincent Keogh, U. S. Atty., by Morris K. Siegel, Asst. U. S. Atty., Brooklyn, N. Y., for motion.

Bernard L. Neumark, New York City, for plaintiffs.

RAYFIEL, District Judge.

This is a motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendant, dismissing the complaint herein, or, in the alternative, for an order dismissing the action, because the complaint fails to state a claim against the defendant upon which relief can be granted.

The action is brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1346, 2671 et seq., to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff, Agnes Faleni, as a result of the negligence of an employee of the defendant, and to recover damages sustained by the plaintiff Alfred Faleni, for medical expenses and services, and for loss of services resulting therefrom.

The complaint, in brief, alleges as follows:—that the plaintiff, Agnes Faleni, for some time prior to June 6, 1946, had been employed by the Ship's Service Department, United States Naval Air Station, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, as a laundry worker; that at about 5:30 p. m. on June 6, 1946, the said plaintiff, returning from work to her home, was a passenger on a Navy bus, owned and controlled by the defendant, and operated by one of its employees in the regular course of his employment; that the said employee operated and managed the bus in such a reckless and careless manner, and at such a dangerous rate of speed, as to cause it to swerve sharply around a curve in the road, and that by reason thereof she was thrown from the bus and sustained serious injuries.

The answer denies those allegations of the complaint, and, as a second separate and distinct defense, alleges, in substance, that the said Ship's Service Department was an agency and instrumentality of the United States of America, and, hence, the plaintiff, Agnes Faleni, was an employee of the defendant; that the bus was owned and controlled by the defendant, and was operated to transport employees of the Ship's Service Department to and from and between the said laundry plant and the gate at the entrance to the field; that the accident arose out of and in the course of said plaintiff's employment; that the defendant was covered by workmen's compensation insurance in the State Insurance Fund of the State of New York; and that the said plaintiff filed a claim for compensation thereunder, and, hence, is barred from any recovery in this action.

The following are the important points presented on this motion:

(1) was the plaintiff, Agnes Faleni, an employee of the United...

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8 cases
  • Holcombe v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Virginia
    • August 28, 1959
    ...Daniels v. Chanute Air Force Base Exchange, D.C.Ill., 125 F.Supp. 920. Defendant's brief suggests that the holding in Faleni v. United States, D.C.E.D.N.Y., 125 F.Supp. 630, is erroneous to the extent that it ignores the fact that an employee of a non-appropriated fund instrumentality is a ......
  • Jaeger v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • April 16, 1968
    ...277 F.2d 143 (4th Cir. 1960) and Daniels v. Chanute Air Force Base Exchange, 127 F.Supp. 920 (E.D.Ill.1955) with Faleni v. United States, 125 F. Supp. 630 (E.D.N.Y.1949). 15 See, e. g., New England Helicopter Service, Inc. v. United States, 132 F. Supp. 938 16 Alliance Assurance Co. v. Unit......
  • Pulaski Cab Company v. United States
    • United States
    • U.S. Claims Court
    • January 15, 1958
    ...the cases from courts that have considered phases of the problem of the United States' liability are not agreed. In Faleni v. United States, D.C., 125 F. Supp. 630, it was held that an employee of Ships Service, an activity closely akin to a Post Exchange, was not an employee of the United ......
  • Daniels v. Chanute Air Force Base Exchange, Civ. No. 1267-D.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Illinois
    • January 14, 1955
    ...of the United States to which the United States has not consented." The government has relied heavily upon two cases: Faleni v. United States, D.C., 125 F.Supp. 630, and Keane v. United States, 4 Cir., 272 F. 577. In the Faleni case the plaintiff was a civilian employee of the Ship Service ......
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