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LITIGATION REPORT

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

1. [[underlined]] Swanson [[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] United States [[/underlined]]

On November 8, 1982, plaintiffs filed suit for $150,000, under the Federal Tort Claims Act.  Their complaint arises as a result of injuries sustained by Edna Swanson, who allegedly fractured her ankle when her heel got caught in one of the drainage grates at the National Zoological Park.  Edna Swanson had submitted an administrative claim for $100,000, but submitted only $1,250 in medical expenses; her husband, Peter Swanson, submitted a $50,000 administration claim for loss of consortium. The Institution denied both claims on August 30, 1982, after its proposed settlement offer of $4,000 and invitation to negotiate further upon receipt of additional medical evidence were ignored.  The U. S. Department of Justice is handling the defense of this case for the Institution.

[[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, after one postponement, was held on December 17, 1982.  The report of the hearing officer is expected by early February.

3. [[underlined]] Jones[[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] Smithsonian Institution [[/underlined]]

This is an appeal to the U. S. Court of Claims, filed January 8, 1982, from a ruling by the Merit Systems Protection Board affirming the Smithsonian Institution's decision to reject as untimely the efforts of a former employee to appeal in 1981 his discharge from Smithsonian service in 1976.  A motion for an order transferring the case to the regular docket of the Court and setting a schedule for further proceeding, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the Institution, was granted on April 5, 1982.  A motion to delay further proceedings until mid-January 1983, pending settlement discussions, is currently before the Court.