Susan Loye v. United States

MEMORANDUM

Susan Loye was seriously injured during a visit to Yosemite National Park. She lost her balance and fell off the edge of recently-constructed granite trail steps that led up from a nature trail to the popular Olmsted Point viewing area. Loye and her husband brought claims of negligent design and loss of consortium against the National Park Service (“Park Service”) under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346 (b), 2671-2680. The Loyes claim that the trail steps failed to comply with various building codes, ADA Accessibility Guidelines (“ADAAG”), and Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (“UFAS”), because the steps lacked handrails and were built with an unusual rise-and-run. The district court held that these claims were barred by the FTCA’s discretionary function exception, 28 U.S.C. § 2680 (a). Loye v. United States, 2011 WL 4841604 , at *1 (E.D.Cal.2011). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

The discretionary function exception protects the government from “[a]ny claim ... based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a federal agency or an…