Montenegro v. United States Coast Guard ( 2009 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FILED
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
JUL 31 2009
Sa 'k . . o· . and
Clerk Us
!strlct
Efrain Ante Montenegro, ) n ruptcy Courts
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. )
)
Civil Action No. 09 1455
United States Coast Guard, )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on initial review of plaintiff s pro se complaint and
application to proceed in forma pauperis, transferred from the Middle District of Florida. The
application will be granted and the complaint dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3) (requiring dismissal of an action "at any time" the Court determines
that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction).
Plaintiff is a prisoner at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, Ohio.
He alleges that members of the United States Coast Guard, while patrolling off the coast of
Ecuador, "shot and wounded [him] while he was serving as a crew member on a boat which was
stopped and searched during a drug interdiction." CompI. at 3. Plaintiff also alleges that the
Coast Guard members were "acting as Investigative or Law Enforcement Officers, and within the
scope of their employment by the United States[.]" Id. He seeks $10 million in monetary
damages.
A claim for monetary damages against the United States is cognizable under the Federal
Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq. Such a claim, however, is maintainable
only after the plaintiff has exhausted his administrative remedies by "first present[ing] the claim
to the appropriate Federal agency .... " 28 U.S.C. § 2675. This exhaustion requirement is
jurisdictional. See GAF Corp. v. United States, 818 F.2d 901, 917-20 (D.C. Cir. 1987); Jackson
v. United States, 730 F.2d 808, 809 (D.C. Cir. 1984); Stokes v. Us. Postal Service, 937 F. Supp.
11, 14 (D.D.C. 1996). The Court lacks jurisdiction to consider plaintiffs damages claim because
he has not indicated that he exhausted his administrative remedies. See Abdurrahman v.
Engstrom, 168 Fed.Appx. 445, 445 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (per curiam) ("[T]he district court properly
dismissed case [based on unexhausted FTCA claim] for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ").
Accordingly, the complaint will be dismissed. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum
Opinion.
~c~
Umte States District Judge
Date: July ~, 2009
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