Daniel Allan Woirhaye v. United States

Appellant Daniel Woirhaye brought an action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Woirhaye seeks damages for injuries arising from a collision between the pickup truck he was driving and a Payloader operated by an employee of the Anaconda Job Corps Center, a federal agency. The district court dismissed the action on the ground that it was barred by the applicable limitations period. We affirm.

The controlling statutory provision is 28 U.S.C. § 2401 (b), which provides:

This appeal raises the question of what constitutes a final denial for purposes of the above provision.

I

The accident giving rise to the alleged injuries occurred on February 18, 1975. In June 1975, Woirhaye filed a timely claim for damages with the Department of Labor. On March 12, 1976, the claims officer mailed to Woirhaye’s attorney, Wade Da-hood, a registered letter stating that the claim had been denied. The last paragraph of that letter said:

On March 31, 1976, Woirhaye’s doctor sent Dahood a final medical evaluation of the injuries. Dahood wrote to the Labor Department on April 15, 1976, requesting information concerning the procedure for amending the claim to present the new…