Salter v. US

• Decision Date: 31 March 1995
• Docket Number: 93-A-1248-S.,Civ. A. No. 92-A-0926-S
• Citation: 880 F. Supp. 1524
• Parties: Charles G. SALTER, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant. Carol SALTER, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Alabama

880 F. Supp. 1524

Charles G. SALTER, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.

Carol SALTER, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant.

Civ. A. Nos. 92-A-0926-S, 93-A-1248-S.

United States District Court, M.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

March 31, 1995.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Larry Clyde Jarrell, Troy, AL, James P. Rea, Hogan, Smith, Alspaugh, Samples & Pratt, Birmingham, AL, for plaintiffs.

Stuart Gerson, Washington, DC, Kenneth E. Vines, Redding Pitt, U.S. Atty., U.S. Attys. Office, Montgomery, AL, Heidi E. Weckwert, Phyllis Jackson Pyles, James G. Touhey, Jr., Michael T. Truscott, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Torts Branch, Civ. Div., Frank W. Hunger, Asst. Atty. Gen., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Washington, DC, for U.S.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ALBRITTON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This cause is now before the court for consideration of the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendant, the United States of America (hereinafter "Defendant") on January 26, 1995. For the reasons stated below, the court finds that the Defendant's Motions for Summary Judgment are due to be DENIED.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case grew out of events which occurred within the course of operations of the Southern Boll Weevil Eradication Program ("Program"). The Program is a cooperative effort by the federal government, several state governments, and cotton producers to eradicate the boll weevil, a cotton-destroying pest.

Each state participating in the Program has a nonprofit corporation known as a foundation. Each foundation consists of cotton growers, state regulators, and technical advisors. The various state foundations send representatives to the regional Southeastern Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation ("Foundation"). Each year, the Foundation signs a "Cooperative Agreement" with the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ("APHIS"). The Program is conducted in accordance with the Cooperative Agreements which specify the duties assigned to the Foundation and the duties assigned to APHIS. The Foundation pays approximately seventy percent of the Program's operating expenses, and the federal government pays the remaining thirty percent of the expenses.

From 1987 until 1990, Charles G. Salter ("Salter") worked in the Program as an employee of the Foundation. Salter alleges that while working in the cotton fields in and around Coffee County, Alabama, he was exposed to excessive amounts of pesticides which caused him to suffer mental, emotional, and physical injuries. Salter timely filed a claim for his injuries with APHIS which failed to make a final disposition of the claim within the time allowed by law.

On July 30, 1992, Salter and his wife (collectively "Plaintiffs") filed suit for money damages in this court against the Defendant under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq., alleging claims based on negligence and misrepresentation. Mrs. Salter claimed damages for loss of consortium.

The substance of Salter's negligence claim is that APHIS employees (who are, more broadly speaking, employees of the Defendant, the United State of America) negligently failed to provide him with the equipment that he needed to safely perform his work in the cotton fields. Salter also claims that APHIS employees negligently trained him on how to perform his work in the fields. Salter claims that the APHIS employees' negligence resulted in his exposure to pesticides which caused him mental, emotional, and physical injury.

On September 29, 1992, Defendant filed a pleading entitled Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summary Judgment. By an order dated April 26, 1993, the court dismissed Count Two, Salter's claim for misrepresentation. The court dismissed without prejudice Count Three, Carol Salter's claim for loss of consortium, because Carol Salter had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. By the same order, the court allowed Salter to conduct further discovery for the purpose of supporting Count One, Salter's negligence claim.

On October 12, 1993, Carol Salter filed a complaint under the Federal Tort Claims Act for loss of consortium. Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summary judgment which incorporated by reference the Memorandum in Support of a similar motion pending in Salter's case. The court denied this motion on May 16, 1994. On that date, the court also entered an order consolidating Carol Salter's complaint with her husband's pending case pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 42(a).

On May 16, 1994, this court also entered an order denying the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative for Summary Judgment as it applied to Salter's suit. In the portion of this order which addressed Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, this court found that Salter's claim was not barred by the discretionary function exception, the misrepresentation exception, or the contractor exception. Thus, this court concluded that it had jurisdiction over Salter's negligence claim. The remainder of the opinion explained this court's finding, that a genuine issue of material fact precluded summary judgment on the basis of the evidence and briefs then before the court.

On September 28, 1994, the Defendant filed answers to the Plaintiffs' complaint. In December 1994, the Defendant asked this court to extend the deadline for filing dispositive motions, and this court granted that request. On January 26, 1995, the Defendant filed two Motions for Summary Judgment.

The first of these motions seeks a grant of summary judgment in favor of the Defendant on Salter's negligence claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Defendant argues that it is entitled to summary judgment because it did not owe a duty of care to Salter and because Salter's alleged contributory negligence bars any recovery for the Defendant's negligence.

The second motion seeks summary judgment in favor of the Defendant on Carol Salter's claim for loss of consortium which arises out of injuries allegedly suffered by Salter due to the Defendant's negligence. The Defendant contends that Carol Salter's action is barred by the statute of limitations because she did not file an administrative claim within two years of the date on which the cause of action accrued.

Plaintiffs filed responses to both of Defendant's Motions for Summary Judgment. Plaintiffs argue that the Defendant did owe Salter a duty and that the Defendant breached that duty in a way that caused Salter to suffer injuries. Plaintiffs contend that Salter was not contributorily negligent or in the alternative, that there is a material question of fact concerning contributory negligence that makes summary disposition of this case inappropriate. Additionally, Carol Salter contends that her claims are not barred by failure to timely file an administrative claim.

III. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c), summary judgment is appropriate "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The party asking for summary judgment "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue, of material fact." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. The movant can meet this burden by presenting evidence showing there is no dispute of material fact, or by showing the nonmoving party has failed to present evidence in support of some element of its case on which it bears the ultimate burden of proof. Id. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. at 2552.

Once the moving party has met its burden, Rule 56(e) "requires the nonmoving party to go beyond the pleadings and by his own affidavits, or by the `depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,' designate `specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. To avoid summary judgment, the nonmoving party "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). On the other hand, a court ruling on a motion for summary judgment must believe the evidence of the nonmovant and must draw all justifiable inferences from the evidence in the nonmoving party's favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2513-14, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

After the nonmoving party has responded to the motion for summary judgment, the court must grant summary judgment if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. The Federal Tort Claims Act

The doctrine of sovereign immunity bars claims for money damages against the United States except in cases where the United States consents to be sued. See, e.g., United States v. Mitchell, 445 U.S. 535, 538, 100 S.Ct. 1349, 1351, 63 L.Ed.2d 607 (1980); United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 769, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941); Stanley v. Central Intelligence Agency, 639 F.2d 1146, 1156 (5th Cir.1981); Blanchard v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 341 F.2d 351, 357 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 829, 86 S.Ct. 66, 15 L.Ed.2d 73 (1965).¹ When it enacted the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"),² Congress consented to suits against the United States for certain causes of action sounding in tort, but only under the terms...