United States v. Van Meter

In this action plaintiff seeks to recover for the damages to its property resulting from an alleged trespass and the wrongful taking of timber by the defendants. Defendant, Van Meter (hereinafter in this opinion referred to as “defendant”), has filed a counterclaim against plaintiff alleging that the timber was taken in reliance on wilful and negligent misrepresentations by an agent and servant of plaintiff.

Two motions are presently before the Court in this case. Plaintiff has filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaim, and defendant has filed a motion to amend his counterclaim by adding an allegation that the claim has previously been presented to the General Accounting office and the Controller General of the United States and has been denied.

The motion to dismiss presents the question of whether a defendant in *495 an action instituted by the United States may assert a cause of action against the United States by way of counterclaim, when the sovereign immunity of the United States would bar such an action if it were commenced in an independent proceeding. As a general rule, it has been held that the Government’s immunity from certain types of claims applies whether the…