Paige v. United States Air Force , 406 F. App'x 396 ( 2010 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT FILED
________________________ U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-11989 DEC 27, 2010
Non-Argument Calendar JOHN LEY
CLERK
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 4:09-cv-00182-WTM-GRS
JENA PAIGE,
llllllllllllllllllll l Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE,
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant-Appellee.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
________________________
(December 27, 2010)
Before CARNES, BARKETT and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jena Paige, proceeding pro se, appeals the dismissal of her tort claim against
the United States of America. Paige contends that the United States was negligent
in what she argues was her wrongful termination from the United States Air Force.
Although her complaint and brief are largely incomprehensible, liberally
construing them, see H&R Block E. Enters., Inc. v. Morris, 606 F.3d 1285, 1288
n.1 (11th Cir. 2010), she appears to have sued the United States under the Federal
Tort Claims Act. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2401, 2671–2680. One of the reasons
that the district court dismissed her complaint was because it found that her claim
is barred by the statute of limitations in the FTCA. See 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b).
“A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is
presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such
claim accrues . . . .” 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b). Paige was terminated from the Air
Force on June 2, 2006. She first filed her claim with the Air Force on May 18,
2009, which was denied, and she then filed this claim in the district court on
November 30, 2009. Because her claim against the United States is derived from
her termination from the Air Force, which took place on June 2, 2006, and she did
not file her claim for “torts negligence” within two years after her termination, her
claim is barred. See 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b); see also Phillips v. United States, 260
F.3d 1316, 1317 (“It is undisputed that under section 2401(b), a tort claim must be
presented to the appropriate federal agency within two years after the claim
accrues . . . .”).
2
Paige argues that a North Dakota statute of limitations should govern her
claim against the United States. Generally, however, “a court looks to state law to
define the time limitation applicable to a federal claim only when Congress has
failed to provide a statute of limitations for a federal cause of action.” Phillips,
260 F.3d at 1318 (quotations and citations omitted). Because Congress has
provided us with the FTCA’s two year statute of limitations, we do not look to
state law for the limitations period.1 See 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b).
AFFIRMED.
1
Paige also filed a “Notice of Motion to Amend Judgement of Jurisdiction From District
Court/ and To Notify To This Court The Plaintiff’s Attempt To Refill [sic] Pending Complaint.”
Although the body of her motion is as difficult to understand as its title, nothing in it changes the
fact that her claim is barred by the FTCA’s statute of limitations. See 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b).
Therefore her motion, to the extent it is a motion, is denied.
3