UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

_________________________________________ ) MICHAEL THOMAS LEWIS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 23-cv-01530 (APM) ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) _________________________________________ )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

I.

Plaintiff Michael Lewis, appearing pro se, brings claims against Defendant United States

of America under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), alleging that he has suffered property

loss resulting from various federal employees’ determinations regarding the dischargeability of his

student loans. Defendant moves to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for, among other things, lack of

subject matter jurisdiction (based on sovereign immunity) and issue preclusion. The court grants

Defendant’s motion to dismiss because it lacks jurisdiction.

II.

This case pertains to Plaintiff’s student loan obligations. In 1999, Plaintiff consolidated

his various student loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Consolidation Program. See

generally Compl., ECF No. 1 [hereinafter Compl.]. The Pennsylvania Higher Education

Assistance Authority (“PHEAA”) was the consolidated loan’s original guarantor. Compl., Exs.

Part 1, ECF No. 1-2, at 38. In 2005, Plaintiff filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy

Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Id. at 12. In 2006, the court granted him a discharge

from his student loan debt. Id. at 15. In 2006, Nelnet, the creditor of Plaintiff’s student loan debt, submitted a Proof of Claim form to the bankruptcy court. Id. at 28. In 2013, Plaintiff filed again

for bankruptcy. Id. at 32. Nelnet again filed Proof of Claim as to the loan in April of 2013. Id. at

33. Nelnet then transferred their interest in the loan to PHEAA. Id. at 32–33. In June of 2013,

PHEAA assigned its rights in the loan to Education Credit Management Corporation (“ECMC”).

Id. at 34. In October 2013, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled

that Plaintiff’s 2005 bankruptcy did not discharge his student loan debt, as he had not filed an

adversary proceeding to determine dischargeability “for undue hardship or upon any other

grounds.” Id. at 71.

Plaintiff claims that various officials’ subsequent conduct relating to these loans violated

the FTCA. Compl. at 4. First, he alleges that V. Wilson and Lora Brown, Department of Education

employees, acted wrongfully by claiming that his loans had not been discharged by his 2005

bankruptcy. Id. at 42–45. He also challenges the actions of Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, who

held that Plaintiff’s loans could not have been discharged in the absence of an adversary proceeding

demonstrating undue hardship. Id. at 47. Finally, Plaintiff charges Michael S. Taylor, a

Department of Education employee, with wrongfully denying Plaintiff’s administrative FTCA

claim. Id. at 48.

Plaintiff appears to contend that he was injured by these actions because his 2020 federal

tax refund of $7,284.00 was later paid to the Department of Education to satisfy this debt. Id. at

47. Additionally, he claims that Judge Van Tatenhove’s dismissal of his suit against PHEAA and

ECMC in the Eastern District of Kentucky injured him “by fraudulently denying [him] a rightful

money transfer of property upon a civil jury’s findings on multiple occasions through witness

tampering and obstruction of justice during those official civil proceedings.” Id. at 11–12.

2 III.

Federal courts are courts of limited subject matter jurisdiction that “possess only that

power authorized by Constitution and statute.” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am.,

(1994). Courts therefore must treat a challenge to subject matter jurisdiction as a

threshold issue. See Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Env’t,

, 94–95 (1998). In

determining its jurisdiction, courts must “assume the truth of all material factual allegations in the

complaint and construe the complaint liberally, granting the plaintiff the benefit of all inferences

that can be derived from the facts alleged.” Am. Nat’l Ins. Co. v. FDIC,

(D.C. Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). The court may look both to the allegations

set forth in the complaint as well as material outside of the pleadings. See Jerome Stevens Pharm.,

Inc. v. FDA,

(D.C. Cir. 2005). Pleadings “drafted by a pro se plaintiff” are

held to “less stringent standards that formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Tate v. Dist. of

Columbia,

(D.C. Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted).

IV.

Defendant argues that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction in this case because the

FTCA’s waiver of sovereign immunity is not applicable to Plaintiff’s claims. Def.’s Mem. in Supp.

of Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 19, at 5. The court agrees.

“Absent a waiver, sovereign immunity shields the Federal Government and its agencies

from suit.” FDIC v. Meyer,

(1994). A waiver of sovereign immunity is therefore

a “prerequisite” for subject matter jurisdiction over claims brought against the United States.

United States v. Mitchell,

, 212 (1983). The FTCA waives “‘sovereign immunity . . .

3 for certain torts committed by federal employees’ acting within the scope of their employment.”

Brownback v. King,

(2021) (citing Meyer, 510 U.S. at 475–76).

The FTCA sets forth six statutory waiver requirements that must be met to establish

jurisdiction.

The claim must be “[1] against the United States, [2] for money damages, . . .

[3] for injury or loss of property, or personal injury or death [4] caused by the negligent or wrongful

act or omission of any employee of the Government [5] while acting within the scope of his office

or employment, [6] under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be

liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred.”

(b). Here, each of Plaintiff’s claims is deficient as to at least one of these factors,

or for some other reason. The court does not have jurisdiction over any claim.

Wilson and Brown. The court lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s claims regarding the

conduct of agency employees Wilson and Brown because the complaint does not plausibly

establish that the United States, if a private person, would be liable under governing state law. In

FTCA cases, a complaint’s failure to present a “local private analog” for liability deprives a court

of subject matter jurisdiction. See Hornbeck Offshore Transportation, LLC v. United States,

, 507–08 (D.C. Cir. 2009). Plaintiff does not allege the applicable state law, or how the

challenged conduct would violate any such law. Thus, Plaintiff’s claims regarding Wilson and

Brown must be dismissed.

Judge Van Tatenhove. Plaintiff’s claims concerning Judge Van Tatenhove must be

dismissed as he is entitled to judicial immunity. See Atherton v. D.C. Off. Of Mayor,

(D.C. Cir. 2009) (“Because the nature of the adjudicative function requires a judge frequently

to disappoint some of the most intense and ungovernable desires that people can have, judges are

protected by absolute judicial immunity.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). In this case,

4 Plaintiff claims that Judge Van Tatenhove wrongfully or negligently caused him property loss by

dismissing his suit against PHEAA and ECMC in the Eastern District Court of Kentucky. Compl.

at 11. As this claim arises from the act of a judge, it is barred by judicial immunity.

Taylor. The court also dismisses Plaintiff’s claims regarding Taylor’s denial of his

administrative FTCA claim because that denial did not injure Plaintiff. Again, Plaintiff appears to

base his FTCA claims on two injuries—the IRS’ payment of his 2020 tax return towards his student

loan debt, and Judge Van Tatenhove’s dismissal of his suit against PHEAA and ECMC. See id. at

11, 47. As those injuries took place before the filing of the initial FTCA claim, it is unclear from

Plaintiff’s complaint what further property loss or injury Taylor’s denial caused. Without any basis

to claim that Taylor’s actions independently injured him, Plaintiff’s claim with regards to this

denial cannot meet the requirements of the FTCA. See Garnier v. United States,

, 228 (D. Mass. 2022) (noting that “it is unlikely that [a plaintiff] could ever make such a

showing where he at all times had the right to ask [the agency] to reconsider its denial of his

complaint, or to bring an action in court, which he chose to do”).

V.

For the foregoing reasons, the court grants Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 19.

A final, appealable order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

Dated: July 29, 2024 Amit P. Mehta United States District Court

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