Galvan v. United States
| Decision Date | 15 July 2013 |
| Docket Number | CASE NO. 1:12-CV-1698 AWI DLB |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
| Parties | AGUEDA GALVAN, SOPHIA ARCE [a minor], Plaintiffs v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., Defendants |
Sophia Arce was delivered to Agueda Galvan ("Plaintiffs") on September 29, 2010, by Dr. Brock at Doctors Medical Center. As a result of negligent examination, Plaintiff Galvan had to be induced into labor more than five weeks before her due date; Plaintiff Arce sustained birth injuries including respiratory system underdevelopment. Plaintiff Arce was required to stay in post-natal intensive care for one month, and Plaintiff Galvan suffered injuries to her reproductive system.
On May 26, 2011, the United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") received an administrative claim from Plaintiff Galvan and on June 6, 2011, HHS received an administrative claim from Plaintiff Arce. On September 13, 2011, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in Stanislaus County Superior Court against Dr. Brock, Doctors Medical Center, Advanced Imaging Center, and Golden Valley Health Centers ("Golden Valley") for medical malpractice. The action was removed to federal court on December 16, 2011, as Civ. Case No. 11-2079. Golden Valley isa federally funded healthcare facility; Defendant United States was substituted as the proper defendant in place of Golden Valley and Dr. Brock. On June 11, 2012, the United States made a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that the case was filed prematurely and so failed the administrative exhaustion requirement of the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA. On October 11, 2012, the court granted the motion, remanding the case to Stanislaus County Superior Court for adjudication of the claims against the remaining defendants in that case.
On October 16, 2012, Plaintiffs filed the present case, again claiming medical malpractice; Plaintiffs explicitly cited to the FTCA and the Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act as the bases of subject matter jurisdiction. On December 19, 2012, the United States made a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that the second case was filed too late and thus barred by the FTCA. Plaintiffs filed an opposition and the United States filed a reply that included additional evidence. The matter was taken under submission without oral argument. However, as this motion deals with subject matter jurisdiction, the court permitted additional briefing from both sides to address the new materials contained in the reply.
Fed. Rule Civ. Proc.12(b)(1) allows a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It is a fundamental precept that federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Limits upon federal jurisdiction must not be disregarded or evaded. Owen Equipment & Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 374 (1978). The plaintiff has the burden to establish that subject matter jurisdiction is proper. Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994); Chandler v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 598 F.3d 1115, 1122 (9th Cir. 2010). This burden, at the pleading stage, must be met by pleading sufficient allegations to show a proper basis for the court to assert subject matter jurisdiction over the action. McNutt v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 298 U.S. 178, 189 (1936); Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(1). A Rule 12(b)(1) jurisdictional attack may be facial or factual. Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004).
"In a facial attack, the challenger asserts that the allegations contained in a complaint areinsufficient on their face to invoke federal jurisdiction." Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004). When a defendant challenges jurisdiction "facially," all material allegations in the complaint are assumed true, and the question for the court is whether the lack of federal jurisdiction appears from the face of the pleading itself. Whisnant v. United States, 400 F.3d 1177, 1179 (9th Cir. 2005); Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 362 (9th Cir. 2004); Thornhill Publishing Co. v. General Telephone Electronics, 594 F.2d 730, 733 (9th Cir. 1979).
Rule 12(b)(1) attacks on jurisdiction can be factual, permitting the court to look beyond the complaint. White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214, 1242 (9th Cir. 2000). "[I]n a factual attack, the challenger disputes the truth of the allegations that, by themselves, would otherwise invoke federal jurisdiction." Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004). Once the moving party has converted the motion to dismiss into a factual motion by presenting affidavits or other evidence properly brought before the court, the party opposing the motion must furnish affidavits or other evidence necessary to satisfy its burden of establishing subject matter jurisdiction. Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004); Savage v. Glendale Union High School, Dist. No. 205, Maricopa County, 343 F.3d 1036, 1040 n.2 (9th Cir. 2003). In resolving a factual attack on jurisdiction, the district court may review evidence beyond the complaint without converting the motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment. Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 2004). "No presumptive truthfulness attaches to plaintiff's allegations, and the existence of disputed material facts will not preclude the trial court from evaluating for itself the merits of jurisdictional claims." Thornhill Publishing Co. v. General Telephone Electronics, 594 F.2d 730, 733 (9th Cir. 1979). However, in the absence of a full-fledged evidentiary hearing, disputed facts should be resolved in favor of the non-moving party. Rhoades v. Avon Products, Inc., 504 F.3d 1151, 1156 (9th Cir. 2007); Dreier v. United States, 106 F.3d 844, 847 (9th Cir. 1996); Greene v. United States, 207 F.Supp.2d 1113, 1119 (E.D.Cal. 2002).
The FTCA "vests the federal district courts with exclusive jurisdiction over suits arisingfrom the negligence of Government employees." Jerves v. United States, 966 F.2d 517, 518 (9th Cir. 1992). Claims of medical malpractice against federally-funded health care facilities and their employees acting in the scope of their employment must be pursued against the United States under the FTCA. See 42 U.S.C. § 233(g). The United States asserts that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because Plaintiffs have not complied with the administrative exhaustion time limits set out by the FTCA:
A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun within six month after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.
28 U.S.C. § 2401(b). Though the statute is plainly written as a disjunctive, the Ninth Circuit has construed the language to require satisfaction of both time limits. Dyniewicz v. United States, 742 F.2d 484, 485 (9th Cir. 1984) ( ). Failure to satisfy Section 2401(b) requirements deprives a court of subject matter jurisdiction. Marley v. United States, 567 F.3d 1030, 1038 (9th Cir. 2009); see also Warren v. United States Dep't of Interior Bureau of Land Management, 724 F.2d 776, 778 (9th Cir. 1984) (en banc) ().
The United States asserts Plaintiffs have not met the second part of Section 2401(b) as a final agency denial was mailed on January 24, 2012 but Plaintiffs did not file this present suit until October 16, 2012. Doc. 16, Part 1, United States Brief, 2:19-24. The United States has provided copies of the denial letter itself and a certified mail return receipt showing that Yanira Menjivar, a receptionist who works in the building where Plaintiffs' counsel has offices, signed for the denial letter. Doc. 21, Part 2, Exs. A and B.
Plaintiffs assert that they did not actually receive the final denial letter (surmising that it must have been lost in the process of being routed to counsel's office). Doc. 20, PlaintiffsOpposition, 3:1-6. Plaintiffs argue that actual receipt is required to trigger the six month deadline based on the requirements of due process. Doc. 25, Plaintiffs Supplement, 3:20-4:10. The Ninth Circuit has specifically rejected Plaintiffs' argument in an earlier case. Berti v. V.A. Hospital, 860 F.2d 338, 340 (9th Cir. 1988) (). The opinion notes that the statutory language specifically references "mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim" as the key date that starts the six month limitations period. 28 U.S.C. §2401(b). In this case, the United States has provided proof that they sent the letter by U.S. Postal Service Certified Mail on January 24, 2012. Doc. 21, Part 2, Ex. A. Plaintiffs' suit, filed October 16, 2012, is time barred.
In the alternative, Plaintiffs make arguments that sound in equity (concerning the United States's earlier silence on the issue of the denial letter and implicitly raising the length of time the prior case was pending), touching upon the theories of equitable tolling or estoppel. Doc. 25...
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