Flores v. United States Department of Health and Human Services

FILED DEC 2 1 2011 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT clerk u s District & Ba k FoR THE DISTRICT or CoLUMBIA couné 151 ina 1)1;111¢101 'ioiillila Eric Flores, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) >*1 1 )| v. ) Civil Action No. h 2 ("' ) United States Department of Health and ) Human Services et al., ) ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM OPINION This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiffs pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperz`s. The application will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3) (requiring dismissal of an action "at any time" the Court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction). Plaintiff, a resident of El Paso, Texas, has submitted a "Federal Tort Complaint Against Torture" against the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Attomey General, and Sierra Medical Center in El Paso, Texas. The Court has previously transferred plaintiffs similarly styled actions to the appropriate federal district court in Texas. See Flores v. United Stales Attorney General, Civ. No, 11-0634 (UNA) (D.D.C. Mar. 29, 2011) (transferring case to the Westem District of Texas); Flores v. United States Atlorney General, Civ. No. ll- 0396 (UNA) (D.D.C. Feb. 17, 2011) (same). Because plaintiff has not indicated in the instant complaint that he has exhausted his administrative remedies under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2675, the Court will dismiss this action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Aba'urrahman v. Engstrom, 168 Fed.Appx. 445, 445 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (per curiam) ("[T]he district court properly dismissed case [based on unexhausted FTCA claim] for lack of subject matter jurisdiction."); GAF Corp. v. United Stales, 818 F.Zd 90l, 917-20 (D.C. Cir. l987) (fmding FTCA exhaustion requirement jurisdictional)_\ A separate Order ac s this Memorandum Opinion. United States District Judge DATE: December /ZO, 2011 ' After exhausting his administrative remedies, plaintiff should know from the previous transfer orders that the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas - not this Court ~ is the proper venue for litigating his FTCA claim. See 28 U.S.C. § l402(b) (establishing FTCA venue as "the judicial district where the plaintiff resides or wherein the act or omission complained of occurred.").