Slip-and-Fall at a Federal Facility: Federal Tort Claims Act Case Resolved in Federal Court

Our client was working as a contract janitorial employee at a federal medical facility in middle Georgia when she slipped on a liquid that had been left standing in a kitchen area. Facility staff had not placed warning signs, and did not warn her verbally, despite knowing the hazard was there.

Because the property was federal, this could not be filed as an ordinary Georgia premises liability case. It required an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act before any lawsuit existed, and then suit against the United States in federal court rather than state court. We filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia and resolved the matter by stipulated compromise settlement under 28 U.S.C. § 2677.

There are a few takeaways from this case:

• Federal property changes the procedure entirely, not the law of liability. Georgia premises liability law still governed whether the United States was at fault — O.C.G.A. § 51-3-1 and the superior-knowledge standard from Robinson v. Kroger Co. But the route to get there was federal from start to finish.
• You cannot simply file suit. An administrative claim has to be presented to the correct federal agency first, and presenting it to the wrong agency can end the claim outright. Deadlines run differently than the ordinary two-year Georgia statute of limitations.
• The dollar figure you put on the administrative claim can cap your case. People who complete the form themselves, before they know the full extent of their injuries, routinely limit their own recovery permanently.
• Working on federal property does not mean workers’ compensation is your only remedy. Our client was employed by a private contractor. A workers’ compensation claim and a separate FTCA claim against the United States as property owner can both exist, and a compensation carrier may assert a subrogation interest in the recovery.

Middle Georgia has an unusually high concentration of federal property — VA medical centers, Robins Air Force Base, federal courthouses and post offices. If you were hurt on federal property or by a federal employee, tell a lawyer that on the first call, because it changes how the case has to be handled from day one.

Learn more about how we handle these claims on our Macon personal injury lawyer and Warner Robins personal injury lawyer pages.

Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. This page is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.