Federal Tort Claims Act

Government entities are generally immune from suit.  However, in 1946 the United States Congress passed the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which provides a limited waiver of the United States’ immunity, allowing claims for damages “for injury or loss of property, or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred.”  28 U.S.C. § 1346(b).

According to the United States Department of Justice, which is charged with defending the United States against FTCA claims, “[s]uits often arise from medical care or treatment, regulatory activities, law enforcement, and maintenance of federal lands.”  http://www.justice.gov/civil/torts/ftcals/t-ftca.html.  These cases require attorneys with significant experience in federal court.  The trial lawyers at Grossman Roth, P.A., including two former Assistant United States Attorneys, have decades of experience trying cases before federal judges in the Southern District of Florida and around the country.  The FTCA cases successfully handled by the firm’s trial lawyers include:

• A $6 million settlement for a little girl who lost her legs and one of her arms, and the use of her other arm, as a result of a misdiagnosed cases of meningococcal meningitis at a United States Naval Hospital in Maryland.

• A $2 million verdict for the family of a mother killed when the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer she was living in after Hurricane Andrew failed to protect her during a subsequent storm.

• A $1.3 million verdict on behalf of the family of a child killed when he was run over in his driveway by a United States Postal Service truck.

• A $1 million settlement for a child injured by medical malpractice while being treated at a United States Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

If you or a loved one has been injured by the negligence of an employee of the United States Government, contact the Federal Tort Claims Act attorneys of Grossman Roth, P.A., today by calling 1-888-296-1681 for a free evaluation of your case.  Or, you can fill out the contact form on our website, and someone will contact you.