Sirnik et al v. United States Justice Department et al

Filing 10

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Paul W. Grimm on 2/14/2017. (kns, Deputy Clerk)(c/m 2/15/17)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
Southern Division
ANGELA SIRNIK,

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Plaintiff,

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v.
UNITED STATES JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT, etal.
Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. PWG-16-956

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MEMORANDUM OPINION
Angela Sirnik ("Ms. Sirnik"), a resident of Laurel, Maryland, filed a self-represented
complaint on behalf of herself and the daughter and stepson of Stanley Walter Sirnik, her husband,
who she alleges was killed in a 1992 Toyota 4Runner. Ms. Sirnik claims that a wrongful "death
sudden acceleration" case was filed in a Maryland court, but never went to trial. ECF NO.1. She
alleges that "due to negligence on the part of the United States Justice Department and National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, we file this complaint."l ld., p. 2.
The Court granted Ms. Sirnik's Motion for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, dismissed
the Complaint filed on behalf of Sabrina Sirnik and Brian Schwab without prej udice, construed the
Complaint as one filed under the Federal Tort Claim Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C.

S

1346(b), and

granted Ms. Sirnik additional time to file a supplemental complaint to set out the background facts of
her claim of negligence, the complaint's relationship to the State of Maryland, and to show that she

Ms. Sirnik's "motion for relief of wrongful death" alleged that her husband's accident
occurred in West Virginia in 1992. ECF NO.5.

timely exhausted her claims to the federal agency responsible for the activities giving rise to the
claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

S 2401(b).

Mem. Op., ECF No.7; Order, ECF NO.8.

Ms. Sirnik filed her supplemental complaint, naming the United States Justice Department,
the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, and the Office of the Inspector General as
Defendants and invoking the Court's federal question jurisdiction.

Am. CompI., ECF NO.9.

She

simply maintains, without providing any background facts, that the federal agencies are "responsible
for the activities giving rise to the claim." Id. at 4. Ms. Sirnik contends that she submitted an
administrative tort claim with the U.S. Department of Justice on March 2,2014, and her claim was
denied by letter on October 1,2015, because it was found to be "not compensable" as it alleged
"wrongful acts by individuals (local, national, and international Toyota corporations) who are not
federal employees.,,2 Id. at 5.
Ms. Sirnik filed this complaint regarding the 1992 death of her husband, who passed away in
a vehicular accident in West Virginia twenty-two years after the incident. Id. at 5-6. Sirnik has not
set out how the federal agencies named were directly responsible for her husband's death,3 nor does
she indicate how the West Virginia accident is connected to the State of Maryland. Further, it does

Ms. Sirnik claims that it was not her intention to file claims against those "individuals" such as
Rosenthal Toyota, Inc., Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Toyota Motor Distributors, Inc. and Toyota Motor
Corporation as she had filed a lawsuit against Toyota in 1992 in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County.

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Ms. Sirnik states that the Justice Department, as well as the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration, did not investigate Toyota accidents occurring in the early
1990s. She seemingly claims that her husband's 1992 accident is connected to more recent
discoveries involving the sudden acceleration problem discovered in Toyota vehicles sold from 2005
to 2010. At no point does Ms. Sirnik discuss how the discoveries apply to a Toyota truck purchased
in 1992. This tenuous allegation is insufficient to connect the named federal agencies with tortious
conduct.
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not appear that she timely filed her administrative claim with the Department of Justice.
complaint shall be dismissed.

Paul W. Grimm
United States District Judge

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The