Marilyn Moe v. United States

The Government appeals the district court’s denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction in this Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) action. Because we hold that psychological injury accompanied by physical injury, regardless of the order in which they occur, is within the scope of the Federal Employee’s Compensation Act (“FECA”), the district court lacked jurisdiction over Marilyn Moe’s claim. We vacate and remand to the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

Moe, a federal employee, was an administrative assistant at a medical facility on the Fairchild Air Force Base. On June 20, 1994, Dean Melberg, a recently discharged Air Force serviceman, went on a shooting rampage at the medical facility. He killed four people and wounded twenty-three others before he was killed.

During the shooting, Moe ran from the facility, putting herself into Melberg’s direct line of fire. Although Moe was not shot, she suffered from Posh-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the shooting incident. Her PTSD aggravated her preexisting ulcerative colitis, requiring the removal of her colon.

Moe timely filed an administrative claim under the FTCA. When her administrative claim…