Dowton

MEMORANDUM *

Appellants Jimmie and Denise Dowton appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Appellee U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, (FSA). This case arises out of a suit in state court brought by Six Flags Inc., the Estate of Merle Hone, and the George Hone Testamentary Trust against the Dowtons. As part of that suit, the Dow-tons attempted to fix liability on the FSA and Bradley McMurtrey, a farm loan manager with the FSA, by bringing claims against them as third-party defendants. The federal defendants removed the case to district court. The district court issued several orders dealing with the Dowtons’ claims, culminating in a grant of summary judgment to the third-party defendants. The Dowtons appeal.

The Dowtons’ principal contention is that the district court erred in concluding that McMurtrey was a federal employee acting within the scope of his employment under the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act of 1988, 28 U.S.C. § 2679 (d)(2). The government certified that McMurtrey was acting within the scope of his employment at the time he made the challenged statements concerning the Dowtons’ financial condition. The…