LOUISIANA LAWSUIT NOT TOLLED BY CLAIM UNDER FTCA.

Louisiana's statute of limitations for a lawsuit against a contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers wasn't extended when the plaintiff filed an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 12.

The unsigned opinion in Drury v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers et al. and Jim Smith Contracting Co. Inc. (03-30161) affirmed a federal district judge's ruling.

Claiming Smith's work on behalf of the Corps damaged his property in 1993, Edward R. Drury filed an administrative claim under the FTCA on May 15, 1994 - as required before a lawsuit could be filed.

He filed suit against the United States on May 22, 1995, and amended it on March 7, 1996, to include state and federal claims against Smith.

A federal judge concluded Louisiana's two-year statute of limitations began to run on April 4, 1993, the latest date by which Smith was off Drury's land, so the lawsuit against Smith was time-barred.

Drury appealed, arguing filing the FTCA administrative claim qualified as interrupting the prescribed time limit.

The Fifth Circuit panel rejected the appeal.

Louisiana law calls for interruption when actions are commenced "in a court of competent jurisdiction and venue," it noted, but the definition doesn't include federally mandated administrative claims.

"No precedent or statute establishes that Drury's federal FTCA claim against the United States interrupts prescription of the state tort claims against Smith," the panel said.

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