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Plaintiff appealed the dismissal of her personal injury claim. A U.S. Postal Service vehicle allegedly ran over plaintiff’s foot. Plaintiff’s mother sent a claim form to the USPS. A year later, plaintiff’s counsel sent a demand letter. After the USPS denied liability, plaintiff filed suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The government moved to dismiss, arguing that plaintiff had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies. The district court agreed and dismissed the case.
Where the FTCA’s presentment requirement merely obligated a claimant to notify a federal agency of the maximum value of the asserted claim, and the statute also allowed claimants to recover more than originally sought based on newly discovered evidence, plaintiff had complied with administrative remedies by sending a demand letter with a range of damages described as a “very conservative estimate.”
Judgment is reversed and remanded.
A.M.L. v. U.S. (MLW No. 79520/Case No. 21-3176 – 6 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Wollman, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, Doty, J. (Paul W. Rogosheske, of South St. Paul, MN, for appellant) (Gregory G. Booker, AUSA, of Minneapolis, MN, for appellee)
