Edwin J. Blair v. Internal Revenue Service Department of the Treasury United States of America James Freitas Thomas Whatley

This appeal involves a claim brought by Edwin Blair under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-80 , for injuries suffered from an arrest by Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) agents. The district court dismissed the claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because Blair had failed to present an adequate claim to the IRS prior to instituting suit as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2675 (a). The court held that the claim was deficient because it failed to provide a sum certain in damages. Specifically, Blair’s submission made a claim for a sum certain for wage loss resulting from the injury, but also provided that medical expenses were still being incurred and did not provide a sum certain for medical expenses. The issue in this case is the adequacy of the claim form to provide jurisdiction under the FTCA. We hold that the district court had jurisdiction to adjudicate the wage loss claim, for which a sum certain was provided, though it did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the medical expenses claim for which no sum certain was provided. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with our opinion.

I.

Factual &…