Can I Sue the Federal Government?

 Our Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers frequently receives telephone calls from Florida residents about suing the federal government for a personal injury they suffered as a result of a federal government employee’s conduct. Generally, the federal government is immune from lawsuits filed by private citizens. However, under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), the federal government’s sovereign immunity privilege is waived to a limited extent. Under this act, if a federal government employee commits a negligent or wrongful act against a private citizen, or an omission when under the duty to do so, the injured party may commence a civil lawsuit to recover damages. There are other stipulations that must apply in order to sue the federal government for the negligence of one of its employees.

First, the employee must have been acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time of the incident. Also, it must have not been an intentional act, such as an assault and battery. Unless the intentional wrongdoing, for example-the assault and battery, was committed by a federal law enforcement or investigating officer. Therefore, if you were involved in a Florida automobile accident with a United States Postal Service worker-mailman, and suffered an injury, you should speak with one of our FortLauderdale accident injury attorneys as soon as possible to discuss your potential lawsuit.

One of our Fort Lauderdale motor vehicle accident lawyers can consult with you about the merits of your case and whether or not you have a valid legal claim to pursue under FTCA. Attempting to sue the federal government is often a challenge because there are various exceptions to FTCA and due to operation of law may bar your claim. Besides barring a private citizen’s claim based upon an intentional tort, it is generally recognized that servicemen and servicewomen cannot sue the federal government for injuries they receive incident to service, including some claims for medical malpractice.  Under the Feres doctrine, military personnel are prohibited from suing the federal government for medical injuries; however, there are some exceptions for the spouse or children of a serviceman or servicewoman.

As always, if you or a family member has been injured and believed that an employee of the federal government is responsible for causing your harm, you should contact our office to get the advice from one of our Fort Lauderdale federal tort claims attorneys. If the facts of your particular circumstances warrants further review and it appears to have legal merit to pursue an action against the federal government, our attorneys will work hard on your behalf to get you the compensation that the law entitles you to. Also, these types of actions are very technical and there are specific procedures which must be followed in order to help you prevail in your lawsuit. Among which includes providing timely notice to the agency that employed the person who caused your injury and naming the United States Government as the defendant in your lawsuit. Usually, claims filed under the FTCA must be commenced within 2 years of the incident.

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