Ponomarenko

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PAVEL PONOMARENKO, et al., Case No. 24-cv-07913-VC

Plaintiffs,

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO

v. DISMISS WITH LEAVE TO AMEND

JEFFREY GALENS, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 6 Defendants.

The motion to dismiss is granted with leave to amend. In its notice of removal, the government certified that Galens was acting within the scope of his federal employment at the time of the conduct alleged. Dkt. No. 1, Notice of Removal ¶ 4 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2)). So the United States, not Galens or the Department of Veterans Affairs, is the proper defendant under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which is the only means for the plaintiffs to get around sovereign immunity on their negligence claim. 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b); see also Kennedy v. U.S. Postal Service, 145 F.3d 1077, 1078 (9th Cir. 1998) (“The FTCA is the exclusive remedy for tort actions against a federal agency. . .”). But the complaint does not speak to whether the plaintiffs have complied with the FTCA’s exhaustion requirements, which is required for this Court to exercise subject matter jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a); see also Brady…