Mahon v. United States, No. 12-2466 (1st Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseMichael Mahon sued the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) after falling from a second-story portico during a wedding reception at the Commandant’s House at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Massachusetts. Mahon later amended his complaint to add claims against Eastern National and Amelia Occasions, which contracted with the interior Department’s National Park Service to manage the House and handle the events. The district judge granted the government’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, concluding that the discretionary-function exception to the FTCA applied. The district judge subsequently granted Mahon’s motion for reconsideration and allowed discovery to go forward on the issue of whether the government’s relationship with Eastern National and Amelia Occasions was governed by a “concession contract,” which could have led the government to learn about the portico’s “impermissibly low railing,” thus placing the case beyond the discretionary-function exception’s reach. After discovery, the district judge dismissed the complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, concluding that, ultimately, Mahon’s case was within the ambit of the discretionary-function exception. The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the FTCA’s discretionary-function exception barred Mahon’s claims against the government.
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