Filed: Feb. 14, 2017
Latest Update: Feb. 14, 2017
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION PAUL W. GRIMM , District Judge . Angela Sirnik ("Ms. Sirnik"), a resident of Laurel, Maryland, filed a self-represented complaint on behalf of herself and the daughter and stepson of Stanley Walter Sirnik, her husband, who she alleges was killed in a 1992 Toyota 4Runner. Ms. Sirnik claims that a wrongful "death sudden acceleration" case was filed in a Maryland court, but never went to trial. ECF No. 1. She alleges that "due to negligence on the part of the United States J
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION PAUL W. GRIMM , District Judge . Angela Sirnik ("Ms. Sirnik"), a resident of Laurel, Maryland, filed a self-represented complaint on behalf of herself and the daughter and stepson of Stanley Walter Sirnik, her husband, who she alleges was killed in a 1992 Toyota 4Runner. Ms. Sirnik claims that a wrongful "death sudden acceleration" case was filed in a Maryland court, but never went to trial. ECF No. 1. She alleges that "due to negligence on the part of the United States Ju..
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
PAUL W. GRIMM, District Judge.
Angela Sirnik ("Ms. Sirnik"), a resident of Laurel, Maryland, filed a self-represented complaint on behalf of herself and the daughter and stepson of Stanley Walter Sirnik, her husband, who she alleges was killed in a 1992 Toyota 4Runner. Ms. Sirnik claims that a wrongful "death sudden acceleration" case was filed in a Maryland court, but never went to trial. ECF No. 1. She alleges that "due to negligence on the part of the United States Justice Department and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, we file this complaint."1 Id., p. 2.
The Court granted Ms. Sirnik's Motion for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, dismissed the Complaint filed on behalf of Sabrina Sirnik and Brian Schwab without prejudice, construed the Complaint as one filed under the Federal Tort Claim Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b), and granted Ms. Sirnik additional time to file a supplemental complaint to set out the background facts of her claim of negligence, the complaint's relationship to the State of Maryland, and to show that she timely exhausted her claims to the federal agency responsible for the activities giving rise to the claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2401(b). Mem. Op., ECF No. 7; Order, ECF No. 8.
Ms. Sirnik filed her supplemental complaint, naming the United States Justice Department, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, and the Office of the Inspector General as Defendants and invoking the Court's federal question jurisdiction. Am. Compl., ECF No. 9. She simply maintains, without providing any background facts, that the federal agencies are "responsible for the activities giving rise to the claim." Id. at 4. Ms. Sirnik contends that she submitted an administrative tort claim with the U.S. Department of Justice on March 2, 2014, and her claim was denied by letter on October 1, 2015, because it was found to be "not compensable" as it alleged "wrongful acts by individuals (local, national, and international Toyota corporations) who are not federal employees."2 Id. at 5.
Ms. Sirnik filed this complaint regarding the 1992 death of her husband, who passed away in a vehicular accident in West Virginia twenty-two years after the incident. Id. at 5-6. Sirnik has not set out how the federal agencies named were directly responsible for her husband's death,3 nor does she indicate how the West Virginia accident is connected to the State of Maryland. Further, it does not appear that she timely filed her administrative claim with the Department of Justice. The complaint shall be dismissed.
