Phillip Alberty v. United States, No. 22-1872 (8th Cir. 2022)
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Plaintiff sued the United States of America for injuries sustained from a fall on federal property. Specifically, he points to the General Services Administration’s (“GSA”) commitment to “making Federal buildings and facilities fully accessible to all people” and to “ensuring the full integration of individuals with disabilities who use [government] facilities.”He also asserts that the southwalk design violates the International Building Code (“IBC”) requirements for stairs.
The district court determined that Plaintiff’s tort claim was barred by the discretionary-function exception to the Government’s waiver of sovereign immunity for tort claims. The district court therefore dismissed Plaintiff’s suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained that because Plaintiff has not pointed to any statutes or mandatory regulations that sufficiently constrain the GSA’s discretion over the building’s design, he has failed the first step in overcoming the discretionary-function exception. Further, the court held that because Plaintiff has failed to show that the Government’s discretion was not susceptible to policy analysis, the discretionary function exception bars his claim.
Court Description: [Gruender, Author, with Loken and Grasz, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Federal Tort Claims Act. The design of the walkway at the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines fell within the discretionary-function exception to the Government's waiver of sovereign immunity to tort claims, and the district court did not err in dismissing the suit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction; GSA's discretion in the design was subject to policy analysis, as was its decision not to place warnings on the walkway.
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