Paulk et al v. Tennessee Valley Authority

Filing 274

MEMORANDUM OPINION: The Court GRANTS TVA's Motion to Dismiss counts 1 & 2 for surviving plaintiffs, GRANTS TVA's Motion to Dismiss counts 1 for the wrongful death plaintiffs, DENIES TVA's Motion to Dismiss count 2 for the wrongful death plaintiffs and DENIES TVA"s Motion to Dismiss or Strike the wrongful death plaintiff's prayer for punitive damages as more fully set out therein. Signed by Judge Corey L Maze on 1/6/2025. Associated Cases: 5:22-cv-00015-CLM, 5:22-cv-00105-CLM, 5:22-cv-00114-CLM(LCB)

FILED
2025 Jan-06 PM 01:55
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
NORTHEASTERN DIVISION
GERALD PAULK, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 5:22-cv-15-CLM

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTH.,
Defendant.
JOSEPH MILES,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 5:22-cv-105-CLM

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTH.,
Defendant.
TOMMY JONES, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. 5:22-cv-114-CLM

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTH.,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Defendant Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) asks the court to
dismiss Plaintiffs’ two state-law counts and dismiss or strike Plaintiffs’
prayer for punitive damages. (Doc. 194). As explained within, the court rules:
1. Plaintiffs pleaded facts that invoke the court’s admiralty
jurisdiction and the special rules for general maritime claims;
2. Plaintiffs can invoke the TVA Act’s ‘sue-or-be-sued’ clause for
waiver of TVA’s sovereign immunity if TVA’s alleged wrongful
acts are commercial in nature; and,
3. Eleventh Circuit precedent allows wrongful death plaintiffs to
seek punitive damages by using Alabama law to supplement
1

the remedies provided by general maritime law. But to be
entitled to punitive damages, wrongful death plaintiffs must
prove “intentional or wanton and reckless conduct on the part
of [TVA] amounting to a conscious disregard of the rights of
others,” not just simple negligence.
In re Amtrak “Sunset Limited” Train Crash in Bayou Canot, Alabama, on
September 22, 1993, 121 F.3d 1421, 1427-28 (11th Cir. 1997).
The court thus GRANTS TVA’s Motion to Dismiss Counts 1 and 2 for
the surviving plaintiffs, GRANTS TVA’s Motion to Dismiss Count 1 for the
wrongful death plaintiffs, DENIES TVA’s Motion to Dismiss Count 2 for the
wrongful death plaintiffs, and DENIES TVA’s Motion to Dismiss or Strike
the wrongful death plaintiffs’ prayer for punitive damages.
I.
BACKGROUND
A.

Thacker and Congress’ waiver of TVA’s sovereign immunity

This is an admiralty case that involves the death and injury of more
than 20 people. As mentioned in the introduction, Eleventh Circuit precedent
says that the representatives of those who died may use Alabama law to seek
punitive damages on top of the remedies provided by general maritime law if
they can prove that the defendant acted either intentionally or recklessly and
wantonly when the defendant caused the victim’s death. In re Amtrak, supra.
But TVA is different than most defendants; it is a federally-owned
corporation entitled to sovereign immunity from all money awards unless
Congress waives the immunity. The parties point to two Congressional Acts
for the waivers that could apply here: the Suits in Admiralty Act of 1920
(“SAA”) and the TVA Act of 1933. (“TVA Act”). The parties say the choice
matters because the TVA Act treats TVA like a private corporation that is
subject to punitive damages under In re Amtrak, while the SAA treats TVA
like the federal government and provides covered entities with immunity
from punitive damages. See Kasprik v. United States, 87 F.3d 462 (11th Cir.
1996).
2

1. SAA: Assume that a Government agent or property causes injury on
navigable waters, thus invoking the court’s admiralty jurisdiction. The SAA
waives sovereign immunity for the United States and all federally-owned
corporations if the same acts by a private individual or property would invoke
the court’s admiralty jurisdiction. 46 U.S.C. § 30903. The SAA allows the
Plaintiff to file “a civil action in admiralty in personam” against the United
States or a federally-owned corporation. Id. TVA argues that this is the only
action available to Plaintiffs in admiralty cases against TVA.
2. TVA Act: When Congress created the TVA, it said that “the
Corporation . . . [m]ay sue and be sued in its corporate name.” 16 U.S.C. §
831c(b). Plaintiffs argue that this broad ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause allows them
to sue TVA like a private corporation, rather than a government entity.
3. Thacker: As stated, the court agrees with Plaintiffs that the broad
‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause controls. Much of the court’s reasoning stems from
the Supreme Court’s decision in Thacker v. TVA, 587 U.S. 218 (2019). Gary
Thacker was driving his boat on the Tennessee River when he struck a power
line that TVA workers were raising from the river. Thacker was injured, and
he cited the TVA Act’s sue-and-be-sued clause to invoke this federal court’s
jurisdiction to hear his state-law claims, free from sovereign immunity. See
Thacker v. TVA, Case No. 5:15-cv-1232 (ALND July 23, 2015) (doc. 1)
(complaint). But this court and the Eleventh Circuit still held that TVA was
immune from Thacker’s suit by grafting a “discretionary function” exception
like the one found in the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) onto the TVA
Act’s waiver of sovereign immunity, then finding that the workers’ challenged
actions were “a matter of choice.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 222-23.
The Supreme Court unanimously reversed. The Court noted that the
TVA’s sue-and-be-sued clause “serves to waive sovereign immunity otherwise
belonging to an agency of the Federal Government,” unless there is an
exception “‘specifically provided in the statute itself.” 587 U.S. at 223 (quoting
16 U.S.C. § 831c). Congress did not include the “discretionary function”
exception in the TVA Act, so courts could not graft it on. Id.
Sounds easy. “But that is not quite the end of the story because in
Federal Housing Administration v. Burr, 309 U.S. 242, 60 S.Ct. 488, 84 L.Ed.
3

724 (1940), the Court recognized that a sue-and-be-sued clause might contain
‘implied exceptions.’” Thacker, 531 U.S. at 224. The Court then laid out the
two Burr exceptions:
The Court in that case permitted a suit to proceed against a
government entity (providing mortgage insurance) whose organic
statute had a sue-and-be-sued clause much like the TVA Act’s.
And the Court made clear that in green-lighting the suit, it was
doing what courts normally should. Sue-and-be-sued clauses, the
Court explained, ‘should be liberally construed.’ Those words ‘in
their usual and ordinary sense,’ the Court noted, ‘embrace all
civil process incident to the commencement or continuance of
legal proceedings.’ Burr, 309 U.S., at 245–246. And Congress
generally ‘intend[s] the full consequences of what it sa[ys]’—even
if ‘inconvenient, costly, and inefficient.’ Id., at 249. But not quite
always, the Court continued. And when not—when Congress
meant to use the words ‘sue and be sued’ in a more ‘narrow
sense’—a court should recognize ‘an implied restriction.’ Id., at
245. In particular, Burr stated, a court should take that route if
one of the following circumstances is ‘clearly shown’: either the
‘type[ ] of suit [at issue is] not consistent with the statutory or
constitutional scheme’ or the restriction is ‘necessary to avoid
grave interference with the performance of a governmental
function.’
Id. (cleaned up and highlight added). The Supreme Court remanded the case
for this court to determine whether TVA’s negligent conduct (i.e., raising the
power line) was “governmental or commercial in nature.” Id. at 229. If this
court deemed the conduct “commercial—the kind of thing any power company
might do—the TVA [could not] invoke sovereign immunity. In that event, the
TVA’s sue-and-be-sued clause renders it liable to the same extent as a private
party.” Id. If this court instead found that TVA was acting in a
“governmental” capacity, this court would still have to find that Congress
waived TVA’s immunity unless the court also found that protecting TVA from
Thacker’s lawsuit was “necessary to avoid grave interference” with TVA’s
performance of that governmental function. Id.
4

While Thacker is not binding because Gary Thacker did not invoke
Rule 9(h), its rationale drives the court’s opinion. The TVA Act does not
contain a sovereign immunity exception for admiralty cases or punitive
damages. So this court must find that Congress waived TVA’s immunity from
the supplemental state law punitive damages allowed by Eleventh Circuit
precedent, see In re Amtrak, supra, unless one of the Burr exceptions applies:
(1) TVA was acting in its governmental capacity, and subjecting
it to state law punitive damages would gravely interfere with
TVA’s performance of that governmental function, or
(2) Subjecting TVA to state law punitive damages is inconsistent
with a statutory or constitutional scheme.
Thacker, 587 U.S. at 224-28. The court thus frames its recitation of the facts,
then its legal discussion, around these issues. Because TVA filed its motion
under Rule 12, the court recites the facts as Plaintiffs pleaded them and
views those facts in a light most favorable to Plaintiffs.
B. The TVA
Congress created the TVA in 1933, giving it “much of the essential
freedom and elasticity of a private business corporation.” 1 6AC, ¶ 11 (quoting
Pub. L. No. 73-17, 48 Stat. 58 (1933). Over the next 90 years, TVA used its
corporate freedom to become the largest public power company in the United
States, supplying electricity to more than 8.6 million customers across seven
states. TVA is self-sufficient, bringing in more than $7 billion annually as of
2005.
TVA also has custody and control of nearly 300,000 acres of federally
owned reservoir property and 470,000 acres of inundated property. 6AC, Ex.
5 at 1. TVA manages its land under various plans and regulations “to protect
the integrated operation of the TVA reservoir and power systems, to provide
for appropriate public use and enjoyment of TVA public land and to provide
for continuing economic growth in the Valley.” Id. at 2.
1 There are three groups of Plaintiffs: Paulk, Miles, and Jones. All three have filed virtually identical

amended complaints. See Doc. 186 (Miles), 187 (Paulk), 190 (Jones). Following the parties’ lead, the
court directs all cites and quotes to the Paulk Plaintiffs’ Sixth Amended Complaint (doc. 187)(“6AC”).

5

C. The 1963 Indenture
TVA owns much of the land around the Tennessee River near
Guntersville Reservoir. As explained more thoroughly in a previous opinion
(doc. 53), TVA deeded some of its property to Jackson County, Alabama in
1963 (6AC, Ex. 1), about 18 acres of which was designated for developed
recreation (6AC, Ex. 2). The County built the Jackson County Park and
Marina on the deeded property, although part of the Marina is located on
property that TVA still owns.
TVA retained certain responsibilities related to the property. Relevant
here, Section 26a of the TVA Act requires TVA to approve construction or
other work along the Tennessee River that might affect river navigation or
flood control. See 16 U.S.C. § 831y-1. So in the 1963 deed, TVA required the
County to obtain TVA’s approval of any structures or improvements on the
deeded property. TVA reserved the right to enter the property to perform
inspections of any structures. TVA also specified that it would be liable for
personal injuries, property damage, or loss of life or property caused by TVA’s
sole negligence.
D. Building and Maintaining Dock B
Jackson County built Dock B (a fixed and covered dock) at the Marina
in 1999. Plaintiffs allege that TVA has owned, managed, or controlled Dock B
ever since. 6AC, ¶ 36.
When the County built Dock B, it had to get TVA’s approval under
TVA’s implementing regulations, which apply to boat docks (among other
things). 18 C.F.R. § 1304.301(a). The TVA regulations require that all
electrical panels and wiring comply with all relevant codes and statutes and
be maintained to prevent public hazards. 18 C.F.R. § 1304.301. The
regulations also allow TVA to determine whether the County was properly
maintaining the dock and its electrical system and cancel the County’s
permit if TVA determined it was not. 18 C.F.R. § 1304.406.
TVA permitted Dock B upon its construction in 1999. A tornado hit the
Marina in April 2009, requiring the County to rebuild Dock B. Later that
month, because of electrical problems at other locations, TVA told the County
6

that it had to have a certified electrician inspect the electrical systems
located on TVA property and certify that the systems meet the National
Electric Code. 6AC, Ex. 7. TVA reminded the County of this obligation in
August 2009. 6AC, Ex.8.
Plaintiffs allege that in the years that followed, TVA knew that the
Marina docks “continued to be dangerous.” 6AC, ¶ 56. TVA knew, for
example, that an engineer determined that Dock A’s electrical system did not
meet the NEC code and that the County had twice rejected bids to fix it. TVA
knew these things, in part, because TVA reviewed the bids. 6AC, Ex. 12. TVA
also knew that boat owners were complaining about the Dock’s electrical
system.
Plaintiffs allege that TVA also inspected the docks during these years.
Based on these inspections, TVA knew about several issues that could result
in a lethal fire on Dock B, including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Dock B’s electrical system created a fire hazard;
Dock B housed non-operational boats and grills with propane tanks;
The Marina did not have an emergency safety plan in case of fire;
Dock B lacked smoke or fire detectors;
Dock B’s roof lacked fire and smoke vents and burn-out panels;
Dock B lacked a sprinkler system;
Dock B did not have an escape boat, safety skiff, or floatation device;
Dock B did not have a system to alert emergency personnel; and,
The shore power box was locked, so residents could not shut off the
electricity in case of emergency.

In short, Plaintiffs allege that TVA knew that conditions were ripe for an
electrical fire that neither boat residents nor County officials were prepared
to respond to—making any such fire potentially deadly.
E. The Dock B fire
Just after midnight on January 27, 2020, the Dixie Delight houseboat
caught fire. The Dixie Delight was berthed in Dock B, slip 36—the closest slip
to shore. The fire engulfed the Dixie Delight, then spread to the dock and
neighboring vessels. Because the fire started in the closest slip to the shore,
7

the fire blocked residents of all other Dock B boats from reaching the shore.
Several died, either by fire or drowning. Many others were injured. More
than 30 boats burned and sank.
F. Plaintiffs’ claims
Plaintiffs plead five claims against TVA, two under state law (Counts 12) and three under general maritime law (Counts 3-5). In all three maritime
claims, Plaintiffs state that “this cause of action is brought pursuant to
General Maritime Law” and “this count pleads an admiralty or maritime
claim under Rule 9(h) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” 6AC, ¶¶ 94-95
(Count 3), 103-04 (Count 4), 114-15 (Count 5).
As for jurisdiction, Plaintiffs plead that the court has subject matter
jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) because this is “a civil case of
admiralty or maritime jurisdiction.” 6AC, ¶ 12. Should the court find
admiralty jurisdiction lacking, Plaintiffs alternatively plead jurisdiction
under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1337(a), claiming that the court has original
jurisdiction over their state-law claims because TVA is a federally-owned
corporation and thus their claims arise under a law of the United States.
Plaintiffs mention punitive damages only once, in their prayer for relief
“[o]n behalf of the wrongful death beneficiaries.” 6AC, ¶ 128. Specifically,
Plaintiffs ask the court to award: “Pecuniary damages under General
Maritime Law in amounts to be determined at trial, including . . . Alabama
state law wrongful death supplemental remedies under Ala. Code § 6-5-410
and/or Ala. Code § 6-5-390 for punitive damages allowed under Yamaha
Motor Corp. v. Calhoun, 516 U.S. 199 (1996).” Id.
G. TVA’s motion
As mentioned, shortly after the Supreme Court decided Yamaha Motor
Corp., the Eleventh Circuit held that the representative of a deceased victim
may seek punitive damages under Ala. Code § 6-5-410, as a supplement to
the pecuniary award offered by the general maritime law to the personal
representatives of non-seafarers. In re Amtrak, 121 F.3d at 1427-28; see also
Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. v. Garris, 532 U.S. 811 (2001)
(clarifying that the remedies available in wrongful death cases are available
8

in negligence-based wrongful death cases, as well as unseaworthiness cases).
TVA does not challenge In re Amtrak in its motion, meaning that TVA
accepts that private corporations that act wantonly can be sued for punitive
damages in a wrongful death admiralty case. Rather, TVA asks the court to
make three rulings that would require the court to treat TVA differently than
private corporations—even if TVA were acting like a private corporation:
1. The court is exercising its admiralty jurisdiction;
2. The SAA provides the exclusive waiver of sovereign immunity
in admiralty cases; and thus,
3. The court must dismiss Plaintiffs’ claim for supplemental
state-law punitive damages because the SAA does not waive
sovereign immunity from punitive damages.
(Doc. 194). The court starts, as it must, with jurisdiction.
II.
JURISDICTION
The court sits in admiralty under 28 U.S.C § 1333(1) because Plaintiffs
(a) pleaded facts that meet both elements of the Grubart test and (b)
expressly designated three counts as pleading general maritime claims.
1. Grubart test: Plaintiffs must satisfy two elements to invoke the
court’s admiralty jurisdiction: locality and connection to maritime activity.
See Grubart v. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., 513 U.S. 527, 534 (1995). In
Sisson v. Ruby, 497 U.S. 358 (1990), the Supreme Court held that both
elements were met when a non-commercial boat caught fire while docked at a
marina, damaging the marina and other nearby vessels.
The same is true here. Plaintiffs meet the locality element because they
allege the fire started on a vessel that was in navigable waters, docked at a
marina. Plaintiffs show a connection to maritime activity because, as the
Supreme Court put it:
the storage and maintenance of a vessel at a marina on navigable
waters is substantially related to ‘traditional maritime activity’
given the broad perspective demanded by the second aspect of the
9

test. Docking a vessel at a marina on a navigable waterway is a
common, if not indispensable, maritime activity. At such a
marina, vessels are stored for an extended period, docked to
obtain fuel or supplies, and moved into and out of navigation.
Indeed, most maritime voyages begin and end with the docking of
the craft at a marina.
Sisson, 497 U.S. at 367.
2. Rule 9(h) election: Rule of Civil Procedure 9(h) says that if admiralty
is the only basis for federal jurisdiction, then Plaintiffs’ claims are necessarily
general maritime claims. The same rule says that if a claim could fall within
the court’s admiralty jurisdiction and another source of subject matter
jurisdiction (e.g., diversity or federal question), then Plaintiffs can choose
whether to designate their claims as maritime claims.
Plaintiffs say they had a choice between admiralty and federal question
jurisdiction; TVA says the SAA required Plaintiffs to invoke admiralty
jurisdiction. The court needn’t decide who is right because Plaintiffs
expressly designated Counts 3-5 as general maritime claims under Rule 9(h)
and pleaded 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1) as the main basis of this court’s subject
matter jurisdiction. So the court is sitting in admiralty because of Counts 3-5,
and the court has supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ state-law claims
(Counts 1-2) thanks to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). The question now is whether TVA
has sovereign immunity against supplemental state law remedies.
III.
WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY
The Constitution does not expressly grant the federal government with
immunity from suits. Rather, the federal government’s immunity stems from
the common law, see United States v. Clark, 33 U.S. (8 Pet.) 436, 444 (1834).
which extends sovereign immunity to corporations owned by the federal
government. See Fed. Land Bank v. Priddy, 295 U.S. 229, 231 (1935).
As arbiter of the common law, the Supreme Court has held that
Congress (acting as the sovereign) can waive federal sovereign immunity “to
whatever extent it wishes,” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 226, even if the result is
10

“inconvenient, costly, and inefficient.” Id. at 224. As explained below, the
court finds that, in the TVA Act, Congress waived TVA’s immunity from the
legal remedies that private businesses face if Plaintiffs can prove that TVA
was acting like a commercial business. Because Plaintiffs allege facts that
would show that TVA was acting like a commercial business, Plaintiffs can
seek the same supplemental state law remedies the Eleventh Circuit permits
against private businesses. See In re Amtrak, supra.
The court starts by explaining why Plaintiffs could properly claim the
waiver Congress provided in the TVA Act’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause over the
waiver Congress provided in the SAA for admiralty claims against the United
States and federally-owned corporations.
A.

The TVA Act’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause controls any conflict.

Congress is aware that the SAA and TVA Act provide distinct waivers
of sovereign immunity, as Congress excepted claims arising from both acts
from the FTCA’s waiver of sovereign immunity for tort damages caused by
federal employees:
The provisions of this chapter and section 1346(b) of this title
shall not apply to . . .
(d) Any claim for which a remedy is provided by chapter 309 of
311 of title 46 relating to claims or suits in admiralty against the
United States; [and,]
(l) Any claim arising from the activities of the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
28 U.S.C. § 2680. If possible, the court must read these waiver statutes in
harmony, assuming that Congress knew about existing waivers each time it
passed a new one. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The
Interpretation of Legal Texts § 39, p. 252 (“laws dealing with the same
subject—being in para materia (translated as “in a like manner”)—should if
possible be interpreted harmoniously”).
But sometimes conflicts arise. And if the conflict cannot be reconciled,
the “more recent or specific statutes should prevail over older or more general
ones.” Savage Serv. Corp. v. United States, 25 F.4th 925, 933 (11th Cir. 2022);
11

see also Scalia & Garner, Reading Law § 28, p. 183 (“If there is a conflict
between a general provision and a specific provision, the specific provision
prevails.”). This canon applies to the SAA. For example, the Eleventh Circuit
applied the ‘general/specific’ canon to find that Plaintiffs cannot invoke the
SAA to file an otherwise viable admiralty claim against the United States for
oil removal damages because the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”) sets forth
a more comprehensive, on-point remedial scheme for spill-related damages.
See Savage Serv. Corp., 25 F.4th at 938-43.
The same canon dictates that the TVA-specific ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause
controls if it conflicts with the SAA’s general waiver for all federally-owned
corporations. Three factors bolster application of the canon here. First, the
latter-enacted TVA Act contains a repeal clause: “[a]ll acts or parts of acts in
conflict with this chapter are repealed, so far as they affect operations
contemplated by this chapter.” 16 U.S.C. § 831aa. The repeal clause shows
that Congress intended the TVA-specific sue-and-be-sued waiver trump any
existing statute that might shield TVA. See Savage Serv. Corp., 25 F.4th at
941 (noting that OPA’s “notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law”
clause was evidence that Congress intended OPA “to take precedence over
any preexisting or subsequently-enacted legislation on the same subject,”
including the SAA). Second, Congress knew how to except admiralty claims
filed under the SAA from the scope of TVA’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ waiver—as
Congress later did in the FTCA—but chose not to. Third, the Supreme Court
rebuked this court the last time it grafted an immunity exception from
another statute on to the TVA Act’s sue-and-be-sued clause. See Thacker,
supra.
Because the court finds that the TVA Act’s sue-and-be-sued clause
provides the more specific immunity waiver, the court finds that if there is an
irreconcilable conflict between the scope of the immunity waivers Congress
provided in the SAA and TVA Act, then the TVA Act’s specific permission to
sue TVA for the same remedies faced by a private business trumps the SAA’s
alleged preclusion of otherwise-available punitive damages claims. 2
2 The court assumes without deciding two of TVA’s premises that Plaintiffs do not directly challenge:

(1) TVA is a “federally-owned corporation” subject to the SAA, 46 U.S.C. § 30902, and (2) binding
Eleventh Circuit precedent holds that the SAA does not waive a government entity’s sovereign
immunity for punitive damages. See Kasprik v. United States, 87 F.3d 462 (11th Cir. 1996).

12

B.

If the wrongful death Plaintiffs can prove their alleged facts,
then the TVA Act waives TVA’s sovereign immunity from the
supplemental state law punitive damages they seek.

Having decided that the TVA Act’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause provides
the relevant waiver, the court next determines whether the TVA Act allows
Plaintiffs to seek supplemental state-law punitive damages by using the
same two-step approach the Supreme Court used in Thacker: (1) does the
TVA Act contain an express exception for admiralty cases or punitive
damages, and if not, (2) do either of the Burr implied exceptions apply?
1. The TVA Act does not expressly except admiralty cases or
punitive damages from its waiver of sovereign immunity.
The first step is straight forward. The TVA Act says that “[e]xcept as
otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, the Corporation [m]ay sue and
be sued in its corporate name.” 16 U.S.C. § 831c(b). “The TVA Act contains no
exceptions relevant to tort claims,” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 223, or tort
remedies. Nor did Congress add a provision that excepts a “claim for which a
remedy is provided by chapter 309 of 311 of title 46 relating to claims or suits
in admiralty against the United States,” as it later did when writing the
FTCA. 28 U.S.C. § 2680. So the court must assume that Congress knew about
the SAA and chose not to apply it to maritime claims against TVA when TVA
acts commercially and is then sued in its corporate name.
Because the TVA Act does not expressly prohibit Plaintiffs from
seeking supplemental state law remedies when suing TVA in its corporate
name, the court must allow their supplemental punitive damage claims to go
forward unless one of the Burr implied exceptions applies:
when Congress meant to use the words “sue and be sued” in a
more ‘narrow sense’—a court should recognize ‘an implied
restriction.’ Id., at 245, 60 S.Ct. 488. In particular, Burr stated, a
court should take that route if one of the following circumstances
is ‘clearly shown’: either the ‘type[ ] of suit [at issue is] not
consistent with the statutory or constitutional scheme’ or the
restriction is ‘necessary to avoid grave interference with the
performance of a governmental function.’ Ibid.
13

Thacker, 587 U.S. at 224. The court takes them in reverse order.
2. TVA has not clearly shown that the court must dismiss
Plaintiffs’ punitive claims to avoid a grave interference with
TVA’s performance of a governmental function.
TVA must “clearly show[]” that permitting Plaintiffs to seek
supplemental state law remedies could impose a “grave interference with the
performance of a governmental function.” Id. In Thacker, the Supreme Court
noted that “a suit challenging a commercial act will not ‘gravely’—or indeed,
at all—interfere with the ‘governmental functions’ Burr cared about
protecting.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 227. Accepting Plaintiffs’ pleaded facts as
true, the court finds that Plaintiffs’ lawsuit challenges a commercial act, so
Burr’s second implied exception cannot apply. Id.
When the Supreme Court remanded Thacker, it told this court to
determine whether TVA’s “conduct [was] commercial—the kind of thing any
power company might do.” Id. at 229. If this court found that TVA “act[ed]
like any other company producing and supplying electric power” then “the
TVA’s sue-and-be-sued clause renders it liable to the same extent as a private
party.” Id. at 228-29.
Plaintiffs allege that TVA’s wanton conduct stems from TVA’s
management of a dock on the Tennessee River shoreline. TVA does not
challenge that managing a dock is commercial behavior. Rather, TVA accepts
that Plaintiffs’ alleged facts suggest TVA was performing the commercial role
of a “wharfinger” (i.e., one who owns or operates a wharf, dock. or pier) (doc.
195, p. 10-11), when arguing that this court has admiralty jurisdiction
because the dock fire that stemmed from TVA’s alleged acts “has a potentially
disruptive impact on maritime commerce.” Sisson, 497 U.S. at 362-63.
Further, TVA’s management of the Tennessee River shoreline is “the
kind of thing any power company might do.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 229. For
example, Alabama Power (a subsidiary of the publicly-traded Southern
Company) similarly manages shorelines along Alabama rivers, including
docks and piers. See Alabama Power Shorelines, www.apcshorelines.com (last
visited January 2, 2025). Because Plaintiffs allege facts that would show that
TVA was acting like a private power company or dock owner, Plaintiffs “may
14

proceed as they would against a private company.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 227.
Unless, of course, TVA can clearly show that subjecting it to supplemental
state law punitive damages is “not consistent with the statutory or
constitutional scheme.” Id. at 224 (quoting Burr, 309 U.S. at 245).
3. TVA has not clearly shown that Plaintiffs’ punitive claims
are inconsistent with a statutory or constitutional scheme.
A. Constitutional scheme: In Thacker, the Supreme Court rejected the
argument that Congress’ withholding of the discretionary function exception
from TVA violated separation of powers. Thacker, 587 U.S. at 226. TVA offers
no new argument for a constitutional violation here, so the court finds that
TVA has not clearly shown that applying state law to supplement Plaintiffs’
general maritime remedies would violate the Constitution.
B. Statutory scheme: Nor does TVA argue that subjecting it to
supplemental state law remedies is inconsistent with the TVA Act’s statutory
scheme, with good reason. As the Supreme Court explained in Thacker,
Congress wrote the TVA Act’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause to treat TVA like a
commercial business when TVA acts like a commercial business. Thacker,
587 U.S. at 226-27. Allowing the wrongful death Plaintiffs to proceed with a
supplemental claim under Alabama’s wrongful death statute tracks the TVA
Act’s scheme by placing TVA in the same shoes as a private business that
committed the same wanton act.
TVA instead points to the SAA’s statutory scheme, arguing that
allowing TVA to proceed outside the SAA would conflict with Congress’ intent
that all admiralty actions against federally-owned corporations be governed
by the SAA. The court rejects this argument for two reasons.
First, Congress can make exceptions. Even if Congress intended the
SAA to cover all federally-owned corporations when it passed the SAA in
1920, Congress decided to treat TVA differently when it passed the TVA Act
in 1933. Not only can Congress carve out exceptions to sweeping rules, it
often does: “[t]he most common example of irreconcilable conflict—and the
easiest to deal with—involves a general prohibition that is contradicted by a
specific permission[.]” See Scalia and Garner, Reading Law § 28, p. 183. As
the Court noted in Thacker, Congress is apt to expand the liability of federal
15

entities that Congress “launched into the commercial world” and “authorized
to engage in business transactions with the public.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 227
(quoting Burr, 309 U.S. at 245). Again, that’s the point of the ‘sued-and-besued clause’: federal entities that are allowed to conduct business with the
public “should have the same amenability to judicial process as a private
enterprise would under like circumstances.” Id.
Second, allowing the wrongful death Plaintiffs to seek supplemental
state law remedies does not frustrate the SAA’s scheme. Before the SAA, if a
merchant vessel was involved in an accident, it could be seized and its
operator could be sued in state or federal court. See Johnson v. U.S. Shipping
Bd. Emergency Fleet Corp., 280 U.S. 320, 325-26 (1930) (explaining the SAA’s
history); Brady v. Roosevelt, 317 U.S. 575, 579-81 (1943) (same). These
lawsuits often proceeded against the government vessel in rem. Congress
passed the SAA to (a) protect the Government’s vessels from being seized—
and thus being taken out of public service—and (b) give injured parties the
ability to seek maritime damages in personam in case there was nothing to
recover in rem—e.g., the vessel was worthless or destroyed. And the point of
requiring Plaintiffs to file suit under the SAA exclusively was to ensure that
the United States was subject to a uniform set of rules because “[d]irectly or
indirectly, the money required to pay a judgment against any of the
defendant in these cases would come out of the United States. It is the real
party affected in all of these actions.” Johnson, 280 U.S. at 326-37 (citing
current 46 U.S.C. § 30913).
TVA has not clearly shown that allowing the wrongful death Plaintiffs
to seek supplemental state law punitive damages is inconsistent with the
SAA’s scheme. Plaintiffs are proceeding in admiralty in personam, which is
the benefit Congress gave Plaintiffs. No government property has been seized
or is at risk of being forfeited, which is the benefit Congress gave the United
States. And TVA—not the United States—is the “real party affected” by this
case, id., so the need for uniform rules when suing the Government is not
present.
—
To sum up, Thacker teaches that “suits based on a public corporation’s
commercial activity may proceed as they would against a private company;
16

only suits challenging the entity’s governmental activity may run into an
implied limit on its sue-and-be-sued clause.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at 227. If
proved true, Plaintiffs’ pleaded facts would show that TVA’s acts were
commercial in nature. Thacker thus requires the court to allow Plaintiffs to
“proceed as they would against a private company,” id., because TVA has not
clearly shown an express or implied exception to its ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause.
4. Neither the SAA’s plain language nor the Fifth Circuit’s 1937
Sevin decision dictate that the SAA is exclusive, and
following the SAA could cause reversible errors.
TVA argues that the SAA provides the exclusive immunity waiver in
admiralty cases, so the TVA Act has no role to play. But the SAA’s waiver
provision is permissive (may be brought), not mandatory (shall be brought):
In a case in which, if a vessel were privately owned or operated,
or if cargo were privately owned or possessed, or if a private
person or property were involved, a civil action in admiralty could
be maintained, a civil action in admiralty in personam may be
brought against the United States or a federally-owned
corporation.
46 U.S.C. § 30903(a) (highlight added). Read plainly, Section 30903 allows
Plaintiffs to bring a claim against covered governmental entities by waiving
their immunity. But nothing in the SAA’s text requires a Plaintiff to file suit,
and nothing in the text says Plaintiffs can only file suit under the SAA if they
choose to sue. The SAA’s only exclusivity provision is § 30904, which prevents
Plaintiffs from suing the Government entity and “the officer, employee, or
agent whose act or omission gave rise to the claim.” But TVA rightly
acknowledges that § 30904 plays no part here. (Doc. 232, p.9).
To be fair, TVA doesn’t rely on the SAA’s text to support exclusivity.
Rather, TVA argues that the Supreme Court’s decisions in Johnson and
Brady, plus the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Sevin v. Inland Waterways Corp.,
88 F.2d 988 (5th Cir. 1937), require this court to hold that the SAA is
exclusive any time a federally-owned corporation is sued in a case that could
be filed in admiralty. But none of these cases deal with the TVA and its
enabling act, so none are directly on point.
17

Of the three cases, only the Fifth Circuit’s 1937 decision in Sevin deals
with a sue-and-be-sued clause. In 1924, Congress created the (now-defunct)
Inland Waterways Corporation (“IWC”) and tasked the Secretary of War with
governing and directing its operation of ships. See Inland Waterways
Corporation Act of 1924, 43 Stat. 360, June 3, 1924 (“IWC Act”). The IWC Act
included the same waiver language at issue here: “The corporation [m]ay sue
or be sued in its corporate name.” IWC Act § 5(b).
An IWC seaman contracted tuberculosis because of poor conditions on
an IWC vessel. Sevin, 88 F.2d at 988-89. He sued IWC under the Jones Act,
which allows seamen to bring maintenance and cure claims at law, before a
jury. The IWC countered that, because the United States owned 100% of its
capital stock, the SAA trumped the Jones Act, meaning that the seaman
could not seek a remedy at law before a jury. The Fifth Circuit sided with the
IWC, finding that the SAA was an exception to the Jones Act’s general rule—
i.e., seamen can generally bring maintenance and cure claims at law, except
against the United States and federally-owned corporations. Id. at 989.
The Fifth Circuit then decided that the IWC’s sue-and-be-sued clause
changed nothing:
By section 5(b), 49 U.S.C.A. § 155(b), the corporation may sue and
be sued in its corporate name. The act does not say how it may be
sued. It would be suable as other corporations are sued,
notwithstanding its public ownership, if there were no law to the
contrary. But there was in force, and still is, the Suits in
Admiralty Act of March 9, 1920, which deals with vessels ‘owned
by the United States or by any corporation in which the United
States or its representatives shall own the entire outstanding
capital stock or in the possession of the United States or of such
corporation or operated by or for the United States or such
corporation,‘ and with the method of suits arising thereabout.
The act does not confine itself to vessels of corporations in which
the United States then owned the entire stock, but uses the
future tense ‘shall own,‘ and the Inland Waterways Corporation
falls clearly within the words. The act controls such suits against
this corporation as are within its terms.
18

Id. (citations omitted). The Circuit’s reasoning supports TVA’s argument that
the SAA applies here despite TVA’s ‘sue-and-be-sued’ clause.
But Sevin’s laconic treatment of the IWC’s sue-and-be-sued clause in
1937 predates the Supreme Court’s reading of sue-and-be-sued clauses in
Burr (1940) and its progeny, each of which requires that Congress’ use of sueand-be-sued waivers be “liberally construed,” despite the general rule that
courts construe sovereign immunity waivers narrowly in favor of the
sovereign. See Thacker, 587 U.S. at 224; FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 480
(1994); Loeffler v. Frank, 486 U.S. 549, 544 (1988); Franchise Tax Bd. of
California v. USPS, 467 U.S. 512, 517-18 (1984); Reconstruction Finance
Corp. v. J.G. Menihan Corp., 312 U.S. 81, 84 (1941). Because the Fifth Circuit
did not have the benefit of Burr and its progeny, it did not conduct the Burr
analysis that led the Supreme Court to unanimously reverse the lower courts
in Thacker. Similarly, because Burr had not been released, the Fifth Circuit
did not recognize that by “including a sue-and-be-sued clause in its charter,
Congress has cast off the [corporation’s] cloak of sovereignty and given it the
status of a private commercial enterprise.” Loeffler, 486 U.S. at 556.
To the point: the Supreme Court’s decisions in Burr, Loeffler, Meyer,
and particularly Thacker have undermined Sevin to the point of abrogating
any binding effect that Sevin might have on TVA. Without conducting any
analysis of whether the IWC was acting in a commercial or governmental role
as required by Burr, the Fifth Circuit treated the IWC like a government
entity rather than a private commercial enterprise and thus vested the IWC
with privileges and immunities that a commercial business would not enjoy.
Sevin would be reversed and remanded for further proceedings if released
today. And citing Sevin to hold that the TVA is cloaked in the protections
afforded government entities under the SAA would steer this case into a
head-on collision with Supreme Court dictates. Here are two obvious ones.
1. Discretionary function exception: In Thacker, the Supreme Court
unanimously reversed the Circuit Court for grafting the FTCA’s discretionary
function exception on to the TVA’s sue-and-be-sued clause. Guess what
exception our Circuit applies to claims brought under the SAA? That’s right,
the Eleventh Circuit is among “the majority [of circuits] holding that the
SAA’s waiver of immunity is subject to the discretionary function exception.”
19

Mid-S. Holding Co. v. United States, 225 F.3d 1201, 1204 (11th Cir. 2000); see
also 2 Schoenbaum, Admiralty & Maritime Law, § 20:1, n.75 (collecting
cases). The court is confident that if it holds this case falls under the SAA,
TVA will ask the court to apply the discretionary function exception—despite
the Supreme Court reversing the lower courts for doing so in Thacker—
because that’s exactly what TVA asked this court to do on remand in
Thacker. See Thacker, ALND Case No. 5:15-cv-1232 (doc. 109, p. 10).
2. The Liability Floor: The Supreme Court has made clear that “[w]hen
we determined [in Burr] that the particular suit or incident of suit fell within
the sue-and-be-sued waiver, we looked to the liability of a private enterprise
as a floor below which the agency’s liability could not fall.” Meyer, 510 U.S. at
482. The Court cited this “floor” language in Thacker when stating that, when
TVA acts like a commercial business, TVA cannot “escape the liability a
private enterprise would face in similar circumstances.” Thacker, 587 U.S. at
227. Binding circuit precedent dictates that a private enterprise would face
supplemental state law punitive damages if it was in TVA’s shoes. See In re
Amtrak, supra. Holding that TVA is subject to the SAA, and that the SAA
does not waive sovereign immunity from punitive damages, would allow TVA
to slide under the liability floor faced by a private enterprise facing the same
claim—in direct contradiction to the Supreme Court’s statements in Burr,
Meyer, and Thacker.
—
On top of these known problems, applying the SAA will surely generate
questions the courts have yet to face. For example, who pays? TVA is selfsufficient, and the parties say TVA must pay any judgment or settlement it
owes Plaintiffs. But the SAA requires that “[t]he proper accounting officer of
the United States shall pay a final judgment, arbitration award, or
settlement on presentation of an authenticated copy” and that payment
“shall be made from an appropriation or fund available specifically for the
purpose.” 46 U.S.C. § 30913(a), -(b) (emphasis added). If no such fund exists,
then the Treasury must pay out of unappropriated funds. 46 U.S.C. §
30913(b). Read plainly, the SAA requires the taxpayers—not TVA—pay for
TVA’s negligent maritime-related acts. That’s a substantial financial benefit
that private power companies would not receive under the same
20

circumstance. It also flies in the face of Congress’ intent for TVA’s sue-andbe-sued clause: “When the TVA or similar body operates in the marketplace
as private companies do, it is as liable as they are for choices and judgments.”
Thacker, 587 U.S. at 227-28 (emphasis added).
Rather than run head-on into these and other issues, the court holds
that Plaintiffs “may proceed as they would against a private company”
because, as pleaded, TVA was acting like a private company. Thacker, 587
U.S. at 227. That means none of the privileges or waiver exceptions given to
governmental entities by the SAA applies to TVA here, and the court refuses
to graft any of them onto TVA’ sue-and-be-sued waiver.
IV.
MOTION TO DISMISS & MOTION TO STRIKE
With that, the court turns to TVA’s requests: (1) dismiss Count 1,
which pleads a negligence claim under Alabama law, (2) dismiss Count 2,
which pleads a wantonness claim under Alabama law; and, (3) dismiss or
strike Plaintiffs’ request for supplemental state-law punitive damages under
Alabama’s wrongful death statutes, Ala. Code §§ 6-5-390, 6-5-410.
Each request stems from the rule that general maritime law preempts
state law that materially alters or conflicts with the uniformity created by
maritime law, but allows state law that supplements or fills gaps in maritime
law. See Schoenbaum, Admiralty and Maritime Law, §§ 4:4, 4:5. Below, the
court applies this rule to Counts 1-2 and the wrongful death Plaintiffs’ prayer
for supplemental state-law punitive damages. To make it easier, the court
separates TVA’s requests by Plaintiff type: Part A for those who survived the
Dock B fire and seek remedies for personal injury and property damage, and
Part B for the representatives of those who did not survive the fire.
A.

The court dismisses Counts 1 and 2 for the surviving Plaintiffs.

In Count 1, Plaintiffs plead that TVA’s negligence under state law
caused the surviving Plaintiffs’ physical injury and property damage. 6AC, ¶
72-73. In Count 2, they plead that TVA’s wantonness under state law caused
the same damages. Id. ¶ 83, 89. In Counts 4 and 5, Plaintiffs plead that the
same negligent and wanton acts caused the same damage, only this time they
21

plead it under general maritime law and they invoke Rule 9(h) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure. And in their prayer for relief, the surviving
Plaintiffs list eight categories of damages, without pleading whether the
remedy is provided by maritime law, state law, or both. 6AC, ¶ 129. Nor do
the surviving Plaintiffs plead that any of their requested remedies
supplement the remedies provided by maritime law.
As pleaded, the surviving Plaintiffs seek the same remedies under the
same legal theories in Counts 1-2 as they do in Counts 4-5; the court simply
needs to choose which law governs, general maritime or state. As explained
in Section II, the court sits in admiralty so general maritime law governs
where it exists. While the court agrees with Plaintiffs that state law can
provide supplemental remedies, see, e.g., Yamaha Motors Corp., 516 U.S. at
207, 214-16, the surviving Plaintiffs do not identify in their complaint what
supplemental remedies they seek, or what gap in maritime law their state
law claims fill. Nor do they provide this information in their response to
TVA’s present or previous motion. See (Docs. 127, 221).
The court thus dismisses Counts 1 and 2 for the surviving Plaintiffs.
But the court does so without prejudice in case the surviving Plaintiffs can
point to a supplemental state law remedy that they pleaded in the operative
complaint; they can establish that no federal maritime rule governs; or, they
can show that state interests predominate. See Great Lakes Ins. SE v.
Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC, 601 U.S. 65, 70-71 (2024); Schoenbaum,
Admiralty & Maritime Law §§ 4:4; 4:5
B.

The court dismisses Counts 1 and 2 for the wrongful death
Plaintiffs but allows them to seek supplemental state law
punitive damages.

The same background applies to the wrongful death Plaintiffs, except
the wrongful death Plaintiffs expressly plead that state-law punitive
damages supplement general maritime remedies: “Alabama state law
wrongful death supplemental remedies under Ala. Code § 6-5-410 and/or Ala.
Code § 6-5-390 for punitive damages allowed under Yamaha Motor Corp. v.
Calhoun, 516 U.S. 199 (1996).” 6AC, ¶128(a)(9).

22

As explained, Eleventh Circuit precedent allows the wrongful death
Plaintiffs to seek supplemental punitive damages under Alabama’s wrongful
death statute, as long as the court applies the general maritime law’s
standard for wanton conduct and apportionment of liability:
Accordingly, as the federal maritime interests present in this
action outweigh Alabama’s interests in having its wrongful death
statute apply in its entirety, we hold that the district court erred
in applying the Alabama wrongful death statute to the wrongful
death claims in this action insofar as such Alabama statute
provides for the recovery of punitive damages for simple
negligence only and prohibits apportionment of fault and
damages among joint tortfeasors.
In the case of American Dredging Co. v. Lambert, 81 F.3d 127,
130 (11th Cir. 1996), this Court held that Yamaha, supra,
extended the right of recovery in wrongful death cases to the
nonpecuniary remedies afforded by the Florida Wrongful Death
Act to actions for wrongful death to non-seamen occurring in
state territorial waters. The plaintiffs in the wrongful death
actions have available to them the remedies provided in Moragne
v. States Marine Lines, 398 U.S. 375, 90 S.Ct. 1772, 26 L.Ed.2d
339 (1970). In addition, although such plaintiffs cannot recover
punitive damages for simple negligence, they may recover
punitive damages upon a showing of ‘intentional or wanton and
reckless conduct” on the part of defendants amounting to “a
conscious disregard of the rights of others.’ CEH, Inc. v. F/V
Seafarer, 70 F.3d 694, 699 (1st Cir. 1995). This is because the
standard of liability necessary for the recovery of punitive
damages is governed by admiralty law. Alabama law provides
only the remedy which under Yamaha is now available to these
wrongful death claimants in admiralty.
In re Amtrak, 121 F.3d at 1427 (highlights added). As shown in the yellow
highlight (“in its entirety”), some application of Alabama’s wrongful death
statute is allowed, so the court cannot dismiss the wrongful death Plaintiffs’
state-law claims in their entirety. As shown in the blue highlighting, the role
23

of Alabama’s wrongful death statute is limited to providing the supplemental
remedy, not the legal standard.
Following the Circuit’s wording as best it can, this court will allow the
wrongful death Plaintiffs to proceed with Count 2 (state-law wantonness),
only to the extent that Alabama law provides a supplemental remedy for
TVA’s wanton conduct. When determining whether Plaintiffs are entitled to
supplemental relief under Count 2, the court will apply the general maritime
standard for punitive damages: Plaintiffs must prove that TVA engaged in
“intentional or wanton and reckless conduct” that amounted “to a conscious
disregard of the rights of others.” Id. The court will dismiss the rest of Counts
1 and 2, without prejudice for the same reasons and with the same conditions
mentioned for the surviving Plaintiffs’ claims under Counts 1 and 2.
V.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the court GRANTS TVA’s motion to dismiss Counts
1 and 2 for the surviving Plaintiffs. The court dismisses these counts without
prejudice. The court GRANTS TVA’s motion to dismiss Count 1 for the
wrongful death Plaintiffs. This dismissal is without prejudice. The court
DENIES TVA’s motion to dismiss Count 2 for the wrongful death Plaintiffs
to the extent that Count 2 allows them to seek punitive damages, and the
court DENIES TVA’s motion to dismiss or strike the wrongful death
Plaintiffs’ prayer for supplemental state law punitive damages.
Done on January 6, 2025.
_________________________________
COREY L. MAZE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

24