Chadd v. United States

by
Robert Boardman was attacked by a male goat while hiking in the Olympic National Forest. The goat gored Boardman's leg with its horns and severed his femoral artery. Boardman died of the wound and Park officials subsequently destroyed the goat hours after the attack. Plaintiff, on her own behalf and as representative of Boardman's estate, filed suit against the Service under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 2674, alleging that Park officials breached their duty of reasonable care by failing to destroy the goat in the years leading up to Boardman’s death. Under step one of the two-step process for evaluating whether a claim falls within the discretionary function exception, the court concluded that the government's actions in this case are discretionary in nature. In this case, there was no extant statute, regulation, or policy directive that required Park officials to destroy the goat prior to Boardman’s death. Further, Park officials had discretion in deciding how to manage the problematic goat. Under step two of the discretionary function analysis, the court concluded that the discretionary function applies because the decision to use non-lethal methods to manage the goat was susceptible to policy analysis. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the claim based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the FTCA. View "Chadd v. United States" on Justia Law