Sepulveda v. United States of America

Filing 26

MEMORANDUM re MOTION for Relief from Judgment 25 (Order to follow as separate docket entry)Signed by Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo on 08/03/15. (ma)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
GEORGE SEPULVEDA,
Plaintiff
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

CIVIL NO. 1:14-CV-0749
(Judge Rambo)
(Magistrate Judge Carlson)

MEMORANDUM
Before the court is a motion for relief from judgment or order pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) (Doc. 25), filed by Plaintiff, George
Sepulveda. Sepulveda disagrees with the memorandum and order of this court filed
on July 14, 2015 (Doc. 23 and 24), in which this court denied Sepulveda’s request to
reopen the captioned law suit and denied his request for equitable tolling. For the
reasons that follow, the motion will be denied.
I.

Background
Sepulveda filed a law suit pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act

(FTCA), 28 U.S.C. § 2675 et seq. The magistrate judge to whom the matter was
referred opined that because Sepulveda mistakenly filed his law suit in the wrong
forum, he should be entitled to equitable tolling. This court found that Sepulveda did
not file in the wrong forum but that his first complaint was prematurely filed and the
second complaint was not timely filed (see Doc. 23). The government’s motion to
dismiss was granted without prejudice to the plaintiff to file a new suit. (Doc. 17.)
On May 22, 2015, Sepulveda filed a motion for reconsideration (Doc.
18). That motion was denied on July 14, 2015 (Docs. 23 and 24). The present motion

for relief from judgment alleges that the order of July 14, 2015 (Doc. 24) should be set
aside because the United States has committed fraud and official interference.
II.

Discussion
Sepulveda sought relief (equitable tolling) pursuant to United States v.

Wong, ____ U.S. _____, 2015 WL 1808750 (April 22, 2015), which held that claims
under the FTCA were subject to equitable tolling. While the decision on Wong was
pending, two other open cases in this district were stayed. Sepulveda claims that his
case should have been stayed also.
In the memorandum dismissing the motion to reopen (Doc. 23), it was
noted that the order of dismissal in this case dated November 18, 2014, was a final
order that was not appealed, as opposed to the two cases that were open cases. In the
instant motion, Sepulveda claims that the government knew that Wong was pending,
as well as the court personnel, and that Sepulveda’s lack of knowledge forced him to
abandon his claim.
Sepulveda cites to Hedges v. United States , 404 F.3d 744 (3d Cir. 2005),
for the proposition that his case should have the advantage of equitable tolling. The
court held that where the limitations period is not considered to be jurisdictional,
“equitable tolling applies when a plaintiff has ‘been prevented from filing in a timely
manner due to sufficiently inequitable circumstances.’ ” (Id. at 751), citing Seitzinger
v. Reading Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 165 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir. 1999). The inequitable
circumstances occur “(1) where the defendant has actively misled the plaintiff
respecting the plaintiff’s cause of action; (2) where the plaintiff in some extraordinary
way has been prevented from asserting his or her rights; or (3) where the plaintiff has
timely asserted his or her rights mistakenly in the wrong forum.” (Hedges, 404 F.3d
at 751 (citation omitted).
2

III.

Conclusion
None of the above factors meet the considerations of the Hedges case.

The fact that the government may have known about the pendency of the Wong case
does not mean they misled Sepulveda, prevented him from asserting his rights, or that
Sepulveda mistakenly filed in the wrong forum. The motion filed pursuant to Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) will be denied. An appropriate order will be issued.
s/Sylvia H. Rambo
United States District Judge
Dated: August 3, 2015.

3