APPEAL
FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF
MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. Mark G. Mastroianni, U.S. District Judge]
Thomas
M. Libbos, Katherine L. Lamondia-Wrinkle, and Thomas M.
Libbos PC on brief for appellant.
Carmen
M. Ortiz, United States Attorney, and Karen L. Goodwin,
Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.
Before
Lynch, Selya, and Thompson, Circuit Judges.
THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.
Preface
Errol
Holloway appeals the grant of summary judgment to the United
States in this action under the Federal Tort Claims Act
("FTCA"). Spying no reversible error, we affirm.
How
the Case Got Here[1]
We
reconstruct the chronology of events giving rise to this
litigation:
• June 22, 2012. Holloway is injured while
receiving treatment at Caring Health Center, Inc., a
federally funded healthcare facility in Springfield,
Massachusetts.
• April 8, 2014. Holloway - through his lawyer
- files an administrative claim with the Department of Health
and Human Services ("HHS"), using a Standard Form
95 ("SF 95"). But he fails to fill out the box for
a sum certain. Text in that box warns that "[f]ailure to
specify may cause forfeiture of your rights." Elsewhere
the form - occasionally using boldface, underlining, and
capitalized text - says that he had to provide a sum certain
for the claim to be considered "presented, " that
he had "two years" to present the claim, and that
"[f]ailure to completely execute this form or to supply
the requested material within two years from the date the
claim accrued may render your claim invalid."
• April 17, 2014. HHS acknowledges receiving
Holloway's SF 95 and requests medical records, itemized
bills, evidence of lost wages, and the like. . June 25,
2014. More than two years after the incident at Caring
Health Center, Holloway's lawyer submits medical bills,
employment records, and other documents.
• August 14, 2014. A paralegal in the HHS
general counsel's office calls Holloway's attorney,
mentions the missing sum certain, and asks counsel to submit
an amended SF 95 with the required sum certain. HHS then gets
an amended form requesting a sum certain in the amount of $3,
000, 000 for personal injuries.
• August 21, 2014. HHS denies Holloway's
claim, saying "[t]he evidence fails to establish that
the alleged injuries were due to the negligent or wrongful
act or omission of a federal employee ...