Before 1946, it was impossible to sue the federal government for negligence because the government enjoys immunity against lawsuits from its citizens. This doctrine of sovereign immunity originated from traditional monarchy systems where the king enjoyed immunity against lawsuits.
The Federal Tort Claims Act
In 1946, U.S. lawmakers passed a law allowing citizens to access compensation for damages resulting from the actions or inactions of governmental bodies or employees. The law, known as Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), stipulates the circumstances under which a person can file a lawsuit against the government and the procedures for filing a claim.
Examples of situations where a person can file a claim against the federal government include when a person is hit by a federal agency vehicle such as the US Postal Truck. Such claims can also arise when a patient suffers severe injuries due to medical malpractice in a federally funded medical facility.
“No matter how it happens, anybody who suffers harm resulting from the negligence of a federal government employee or agency can sue and recover the rightful compensation,” says attorney Allen Tittle of the Tittle & Perlmuter law firm.
Case Scenario
An excellent example of where citizens have successfully filed and won a case against the federal government is in the mass shooting in a church in Sutherland Springs, TX, where 26 people lost their lives on November 5, 2017.
The shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, was a former Airman and had a prior conviction by the Air Force police for domestic violence, a felony offense. Even so, the Air Force failed to report the conviction to the FBI database, an action that would have disallowed him from owning firearms.
The attorneys used this failure to report as evidence of negligence against the federal government, which resulted in a federal judge ruling that the Air Force pay $230 million in damages to survivors and the families of the 26 that perished in the incident.
Filing an Administrative Claim
Before getting to the stage where you file a claim against the government, you must start by filing what is known as an administrative claim. The easiest way to file an administrative claim is through the federal government standard form 95 (SF95), which is available online.
When filling out the SF95, you must be careful with all facts about your case and the amount of compensation you seek. There is a two-year window for filing an administrative claim, so you must ensure you adhere to the timelines. After filing the administrative claim, the federal government has up to six months to respond, and they may choose to accept your claim or deny it.
If it rules to dismiss it, you will have six months from the date of the dismissal to file a lawsuit. There are situations where the federal government can take more than six months to make a ruling on your claim. In that case, there is no time limit as long as the responsible agency is still deliberating on if to allow or disallow your claim.
Filing a Lawsuit
If the agency doesn’t pay up, your next step should be filing a claim in a federal court. The value of your lawsuit must be equal to the value of your administrative claim unless you have new evidence to support a higher figure.
Once you file a claim, your case takes the same course any other case would, and if successful, you receive compensation for economic and non-economic damages. However, you can not recover punitive damages against the government.