Holmes v. United States

• Decision Date: 12 September 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2010–5119.,2010–5119.
• Citation: 113 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 395,657 F.3d 1303
• Parties: Timothy O. HOLMES, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.UNITED STATES, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

657 F.3d 1303

113 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 395

Timothy O. HOLMES, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.UNITED STATES, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 2010–5119.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

Sept. 12, 2011.

James Y. Boland, Venable LLP, of Washington, DC, argued for plaintiff-appellant. With him on the brief was Terry L. Elling.Richard P. Schroeder, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington DC, argued for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief were Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Harold D. Lester, Jr., Assistant Director.

Before PROST, SCHALL, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.SCHALL, Circuit Judge.

Timothy O. Holmes appeals the final decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissing for lack of jurisdiction his amended complaint asserting two separate breach of contract claims under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(1). Holmes v. United States, 92 Fed.Cl. 311 (2010). In his suit, Mr. Holmes alleged that the Department of the Navy breached two settlement agreements relating to Title VII ¹ employment discrimination actions that he had brought against the Navy. The court granted the government's motion to dismiss under Rule of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) 12(b)(1) for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that neither agreement could fairly be interpreted as mandating the payment of money damages for breach by the government. 92 Fed.Cl. at 321. In the alternative, the court ruled that, even if either agreement could fairly be interpreted as mandating money damages for breach, Mr. Holmes's suit was jurisdictionally barred by the six-year statute of limitations set forth at 28 U.S.C. § 2501. Id. The basis for the court's alternative ruling was its determination that Mr. Holmes, who acknowledged that his suit was filed outside the limitations period, was not entitled to the benefit of the accrual suspension rule. Id. at 320.

For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the settlement agreements at issue can fairly be interpreted as mandating the payment of money damages for breach by the government. We also hold that, at least insofar as the allegations in the amended complaint are concerned, Mr. Holmes has demonstrated entitlement to the benefit of the accrual suspension rule. We therefore reverse the decision of the Court of Federal Claims and remand the case to the court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Background

I

The pertinent facts are set forth in the amended complaint (“Am. Compl.”). See Samish Indian Nation v. United States, 419 F.3d 1355, 1364 (Fed.Cir.2005) (“Like the trial court, this court tests the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law, accepting as true all non-conclusory allegations of fact, construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.”).

Mr. Holmes is a disabled Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in December of 1990 after twelve years of military service. Am. Compl. ¶ 13. He was subsequently employed by the Navy as a yeoman storekeeper aboard the USNS Mars, a naval supply ship operated by the Military Sealift Command, Pacific Fleet. Id. ¶ 16. Mr. Holmes was terminated from his employment aboard the Mars on July 22, 1994, purportedly for performance reasons. Id. ¶ 20. On October 1, 1994, he filed a complaint with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging that he had been wrongfully terminated due to “false, malicious, and discriminatory accusations about his character and conduct aboard [the] USNS Mars.” Id. ¶ 21. In August of 1995, Mr. Holmes and the Navy executed an agreement (“1995 Agreement”) to settle the EEOC action. Id. ¶ 23. Under the terms of the 1995 Agreement, the Navy agreed (1) to remove from Mr. Holmes's Official Personnel Folder (“OPF”) all adverse performance evaluations pertaining to his employment with the Navy for the period of time he was aboard the Mars; (2) to remove all records of disciplinary action taken against him during his employment; and (3) to document his OPF to show that he had resigned for personal reasons on July 22, 1994. Id. ¶ 23.

In 1996, after requesting and receiving a copy of his personnel record, Mr. Holmes discovered that the Navy had not complied with its obligation under the 1995 Agreement to expunge adverse information from his OPF. Id. ¶ 24. He thereupon filed a second EEOC complaint alleging breach of the 1995 Agreement. Id. ¶ 25. In November of 1996, Mr. Holmes and the Navy signed an agreement (“1996 Agreement”) to settle the second EEOC action. Id. ¶ 26, Ex. A. Under the 1996 Agreement, the Navy agreed (1) to employ Mr. Holmes as a yeoman storekeeper; (2) to provide him transportation to his worksite; and (3) to document his OPF to show that he had resigned on July 22, 1994 for personal reasons. Id. ¶ 27, Ex. A ¶ 2.

In accordance with the 1996 Agreement, the Navy employed Mr. Holmes as a yeoman storekeeper aboard the USNS Guadalupe, beginning in January of 1997. Am. Compl. ¶ 28. After leaving the Guadalupe in July of 1997, Mr. Holmes served aboard the USNS Kilauea as a civilian storekeeper from September of 1997 to August of 1998. Id. ¶¶ 29, 30. Following his departure from the Guadalupe, Mr. Holmes was accused of stealing a government-owned refrigerator from his stateroom and selling it to another crew member. Id. ¶ 29. This accusation led the Navy to suspend Mr. Holmes from his job aboard the Kilauea for fourteen days. Id. ¶ 31. In response, Mr. Holmes filed a third EEOC complaint. In it, he asserted that the allegation of theft and the resulting suspension were the result of “discriminatory and retaliatory conduct against him during his service aboard the USNS Guadalupe.” Id. ¶ 32.

From October of 1998 to April of 1999, while his third EEOC complaint was pending, Mr. Holmes served as a civilian storekeeper aboard the USNS Niagara Falls. Id. ¶ 34. While aboard the Niagara Falls, he was accused of threatening a fellow crew member. As a result, the ship's captain proposed to remove Mr. Holmes from his position. Id. ¶ 35. After being notified of his proposed removal, Mr. Holmes resigned from his position aboard the Niagara Falls. Id. ¶ 36. According to Mr. Holmes, shortly after he resigned, he joined the Seafarers International Union (“SIU”) and obtained several temporary contract jobs aboard civilian supply vessels as a storekeeper. Id. ¶ 71.

On December 16, 1999, Mr. Holmes withdrew his third EEOC complaint. Thereafter, on February 22, 2000, he filed a civil action against the Navy in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The suit related to, inter aha, his fourteen-day suspension while aboard the Kilauea. Id. ¶ 37, Compl. for Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Reprisal at 3, Holmes v. Danzig, No. 00–01839 (C.D.Cal. Feb. 22, 2000). The case was subsequently transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Am. Compl. ¶ 37.

Mr. Holmes and the Navy signed an agreement settling the district court action on April 26, 2001 (“2001 Agreement”). Id. ¶ 38, Ex. B. Under the terms of the 2001 Agreement, the Navy agreed to pay Mr. Holmes $1,000 and to “take the necessary steps, within a reasonable time, to expunge from [Mr. Holmes's] Official Personnel File, the fourteen-day suspension” and “to provide the Marine Index Bureau (MIB) with a neutral reference for [Mr. Holmes].” ²Id., Ex. B ¶¶ 2–4. Pursuant to paragraph 17 of the agreement and a handwritten note by the Magistrate Judge at the bottom of the agreement, the district court retained jurisdiction for one year “for the purposes of resolving any dispute alleging a breach of [the 2001 A]greement.” Id., Ex. B ¶ 17, p. 5 ll.20–21; see Holmes, 92 Fed.Cl. at 314, 320–21. On July 11, 2001, the Navy stated in a letter to the Assistant United States Attorney handling the civil action that the Navy had taken the steps necessary to expunge Mr. Holmes's OPF and that it had asked the MIB to correct its records relating to Mr. Holmes. Am. Compl. ¶ 39.

Mr. Holmes requested and received copies of his personnel records from the Navy in May of 2006; the records indicated that the Navy had not documented his record to show that he resigned from the Navy for personal reasons effective July 22, 1994. Id. ¶¶ 41–42. Thereafter, in 2008, Mr. Holmes filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, seeking compensatory damages for the Navy's breach of the 1996 Agreement. Id. ¶ 53. On October 31, 2008, the district court dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, stating that Mr. Holmes's breach of contract claim was required to be filed in the United States Court of Federal Claims. Id. ¶ 56; Holmes v. Dep't of Navy, 583 F.Supp.2d 431, 433–34 (W.D.N.Y.2008).

II

Mr. Holmes filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims on April 9, 2009. In his amended complaint, filed on August 17, 2009, he alleged that the Navy had breached the 1996 Agreement by failing to document his OPF to reflect that he resigned from the Navy in 1994 for personal reasons. He also alleged that the Navy had breached the agreement by failing to expunge references to the circumstances of his discharge in 1994. He alleged that the Navy had breached the 2001 Agreement by failing to expunge references to the fourteen-day suspension. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 58–59, 61–64. As a result of these breaches, Mr. Holmes alleged, he had been largely unsuccessful in obtaining employment, and had not been able to obtain any employment since 2005. Id. ¶¶ 69–74. For the alleged breaches, Mr. Holmes sought monetary damages. Id. ¶ 75. The government moved to dismiss the amended complaint for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1) or, alternately, for failure to state a claim pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6). The government's jurisdictional motion made two separate arguments: (1) that Mr. Holmes had not established a money-mandating source...