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[[underlined]] LITIGATION REPORT [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]] NEW CASES [[/underlined]]:

1.  [[underlined]] Rabenovets v. Montgomery County, Maryland, et al. [[/underlined]]

On August 17, 1982, Montgomery County, Maryland, as third-party plaintiff, named the Smithsonian Institution as a third-party defendant in a replevin action pending in the District Court for Montgomery County, Maryland.  The issue before the court pertains to the ownership of a historical three-inch platinum medallion, issued as a commemorative in 1932 by the U. S. Mint at the request of the "U. S. Commission for the Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington."  Records of that Commission indicate that one of only three such medals ever issued was given to the Institution.  The Institution has no record of receiving the medallion as reported by the Commission.  Montgomery County, Maryland, is in possession of one of the three medals, and believes it to be the one destined for the Institution but possibly lost or stolen prior to delivery.  The first-party plaintiff is the administrator of the estate of one of approximately six prior possessors of the medallion.  It is anticipated that the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland will attempt to remove the action to the federal district court and will assist the Institution in establishing a claim of ownership of the medallion.

[[underlined]] CASES PREVIOUSLY REPORTED [[/underlined]]:

2. [[underlined]] Abraham [[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] United States [[/underlined]]

This suit, filed in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia in December 1980, is brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging wrongful death of plaintiff's daughter.  The daughter disappeared while serving as a volunteer field assistant on a scientific expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology to Ramah Bay, Labrador, in August 1976.  The administrative tort claim filed in this matter was denied in June 1980.  Plaintiff seeks $3 million in compensatory damages, along with other relief.  It is the Institution's belief that this accident is covered by the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, which is an exclusive remedy.  By law, questions concerning the scope of the Act must be referred to the Secretary of Labor for resolution.  A motion to this effect was filed by the Smithsonian, and on June 10, 1981, the Court stayed the proceeding with instructions to the plaintiff to initiate a claim with the Secretary of Labor within sixty days.  The claim was filed on July 24, 1981, and on January 8, 1982, the U. S. Department of Labor issued its opinion that the accident is covered by the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.  On February 5, 1982, the plaintiff requested the Department of Labor to reconsider its decision; the request was denied on June 1, 1982.  Plaintiff subsequently requested a hearing on the matter of the denial of his application for reconsideration of the January 8, 1982, decision, which hearing has been set for September 23, 1982.

Transcription Notes:
Reviewed