Jason Blais v. United States, No. 21-2495 (8th Cir. 2022)
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A carrier for the United States Postal Service was involved in an automobile accident that killed another motorist. He had already completed his delivery route and returned undeliverable mail to the post office. Plaintiff, the trustee for the motorist’s heirs, sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The district court found that the employee was not acting within the scope of employment at the time of the accident. It dismissed the FTCA claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal. The court explained that the FTCA waives federal sovereign immunity for injuries ‘caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable. While Plaintiff cites cases imposing or contemplating vicarious liability where employees cause accidents while driving personal vehicles, those cases did not find that employees were acting within the scope of employment because they were driving their own vehicles. Rather, they observe that an employer is not relieved of liability because the employee was driving his or her own car.
Because the employee was not within the scope of employment at the time of the accident, the FTCA does not waive federal sovereign immunity. Thus, the district court properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Gruender and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Federal Tort Claims Act. The United States Postal Service employee involved in the fatal accident which killed plaintiff's decedent had completed his delivery route and was on his way home at the time of the accident; as a result, he was not acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident, and the district court did not err in dismissing plaintiff's FTCA claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. [ June 15, 2022 ]
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