Matthew Laurence v. Department of the Navy U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development United States of America

Plaintiffs, 250 current and past residents of the Midway Village public housing complex in Daly City, California, appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the government in them suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1341 (b), 2671-80. Plaintiffs sought damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by the government in connection with the 1944 construction of Midway Village, national defense housing which later became a low-income housing project. The complaint alleges that the government negligently used soil contaminated with lampblack as landfill for the original facility. The published district court opinion fully discusses the suit’s background and the parties’ arguments. Laurence v. United States, 851 F.Supp. 1445 (N.D.Cal.1994).

The district court granted summary judgment to the government on two separate and independent grounds. One ground was that the challenged activity was performed by an independent contractor. Id. at 1452-53. Under the FTCA, the United States is subject to liability for the negligence of an independent contractor only if it can be shown that the government had authority to control the detailed physical performance of…