Suing the Federal Government for Injury: The Federal Tort Claims Act

"Can you sue the government for an injury?"

If that question—or something like it—is what brought you here, you're in the right place.

Here's the short answer: When you've been hurt (or your property has been damaged or destroyed) by a federal employee's misconduct, you might be able to file a lawsuit for money damages. The controlling law is called the Federal Tort Claims Act (the FTCA or the Act). It provides the blueprint for personal injury or property damage cases against the United States.

We start by explaining what the FTCA is, and why it's absolutely essential that you follow it. From there, we'll walk you through the process of filing a claim and, if necessary, a lawsuit against the United States.

The Federal Tort Claims Act

When the early American states split from England, they took with them the English common law, a body of legal rules and customs. Under the common law, the sovereign—the king or queen—couldn't be sued without their consent. The monarch, it was said, could do no wrong, and thus enjoyed absolute sovereign immunity from suits for money damages.

The states, and later the newly-formed United States government, adopted this rule of sovereign immunity. Like the English Crown, American federal and state governments were immune from money damage lawsuits. Getting compensation when you'd been injured by the government meant convincing lawmakers to pass a "private law" awarding you money. It was a cumbersome process that took forever and, more often than not, involved political payoffs.

Congress Passes the Federal Tort Claims Act

Today, sovereign immunity remains the default rule, but there's an important twist. In 1946, Congress passed the FTCA, a law that waives—gives up—the federal government's sovereign immunity, but only for some kinds of claims.

If your claim isn't covered by the FTCA, the federal government retains its sovereign immunity, meaning you're almost certainly out of luck. When your claim is covered by the FTCA, you can file a lawsuit for money damages, but you have to follow special rules. If you don't follow those rules to the letter, your claim can be denied or dismissed.

The Act is codified at 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 (2025).

The FTCA in a Nutshell

The FTCA waives the federal government's sovereign immunity and makes the United States liable (legally responsible), "to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances," for certain "tort claims." (28 U.S.C. § 2674 (2025).) A "tort" is a wrongful act that causes injury, including both negligent (careless) and intentional wrongdoing like an assault or a battery.

You might have an FTCA claim if you were:

• injured by a federal government employee
• the employee was acting within the scope of their duties
• the employee was negligent or (for a limited group of employees) acted intentionally, and
• the negligent or intentional act caused you harm.

Federal Government Employees

This term includes:

• employees and officers of a federal agency
• members of the Armed Forces and, in some circumstances, the National Guard
• officers and employees of any federal public defender (legal aid) office, and
• people working in an official capacity, whether temporarily or permanently, on behalf of a federal agency.

(28 U.S.C. § 2671 (2025).)

Note, importantly, that federal contractors aren't considered to be federal employees under the Act. If you were hurt by a contractor's employee, you don't have an FTCA claim. But you can sue the contractor directly to collect damages for your injuries.

Scope of Duties

For the United States to be on the hook for an employee's misbehavior, the employee must have been:

• doing what they were hired by the government to do, and
• acting to further the government's interests.

An employee's negligent or intentional misconduct doesn't necessarily remove them from the scope of their duties. Suppose a VA nurse on the way to a home health visit gets distracted and runs a red light, causing an accident. The nurse was doing what they were hired to do and, at the time of the wreck, was acting to further the federal government's interests. They just acted carelessly.

By contrast, imagine if that nurse, in an act of road rage, pointed a gun at a motorcyclist and then forced them off the road, causing serious injuries. Was the nurse hired to assault others with a firearm or deliberately run others off the road? Clearly not. Those actions were outside the scope of the nurse's duties. (See Merlonghi v. United States, 620 F.3d 50 (1st Cir. 2010).)

Negligent or Intentional Misconduct

Most FTCA claims involve simple negligence. A government employee ignores a spill on the floor, causing a visitor to slip, fall, and break their wrist. Or a VA doctor negligently fails to diagnose an illness, putting a patient's life in jeopardy. Claims of negligent misconduct are the bread and butter, so to speak, of FTCA lawsuits.

The Act, at 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) (2025), specifically excludes from coverage a long list of intentional torts. But that same subsection immediately turns around and carves out an exception to that exclusion. The Act covers injuries intentionally caused by an "assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, abuse of process, or malicious prosecution" done by certain federal law enforcement and investigative employees.

Follow the Special Rules

Suing the government—any government—isn't like suing a private individual or a business. You must follow a variety of special rules and procedures. Many viable injury claims get sunk because the injured person wasn't aware of, or didn't follow, these rules.

The FTCA is no different. As we discuss below, you can't just haul off and sue the federal government in court. You first must file an administrative claim, and you have to do so within a special filing deadline. Once you've filed that claim, the government gets some time to investigate and evaluate it. Most cases settle at this stage, but a lot don't.

If your claim doesn't settle or is denied, you're allowed to file a lawsuit in court. But there's another special filing deadline for lawsuits, and it's very short. Miss that time limit and your claim is dead, meaning you've lost the right to collect damages for your injuries.

Let's turn our attention to the process of filing a claim and a lawsuit.

An Overview of the FTCA Process

While there can be a lot more to it, an FTCA claim generally involves seven steps. Your claim can end at any step. Do these steps in the order laid out below and don't skip any of them, even if the facts of your case make those steps seem unnecessary.

Here's an overview of the process:

• Step 1: Were you injured by a federal government employee? We discussed this step above. If the answer to this question is "yes," continue on to step 2. If the answer is "no," you can stop. The FTCA doesn't cover your claim. If the answer is "I don't know,"—and that might be the most correct answer—speak to an FTCA lawyer.
• Step 2: Was the employee acting within the scope of their duties? Again, we covered this above. A "yes" answer means you keep going, but a "no" sinks your case. There's a good chance you're not sure about this one. Should that be the case, get legal advice from an FTCA expert.
• Step 3: Was there negligent or intentional misconduct? Odds are you're bringing a negligence claim. But a claim for some kinds of intentional misconduct against some kinds of federal law officers will work, too. An FTCA lawyer can help you sort this step out.
• Step 4: Is your claim on the Act's excluded claims list? The FTCA has a list of excluded claims at 28 U.S.C. § 2680 (2025). If your claim is on the list, it's outside the Act and that means you're out of luck. Many of the exclusions are confusing and hard to understand. You'll probably need legal advice specific to your case.
• Step 5: File an administrative claim. If your claim survives the first four steps—or you've got a convincing argument that it does—this step is an essential precursor to suing the government. You must file an administrative claim (as discussed below), and you must do it correctly. An error here could mean that any lawsuit you later file gets thrown out of court.
• Step 6: Wait. The government gets a reasonable amount of time to investigate and consider your claim. The good news is that lots of claims settle at this step. The bad news is that lots of others don't. Regardless, you can't jump the gun and sue before the government's allotted time is up.
• Step 7: File a lawsuit in court. At this point, what's been mostly an informal process turns very formal and complex. In addition to the FTCA, your suit will be controlled by a dizzying array of rules, including the federal rules of civil procedure and the federal rules of evidence. Put simply, federal court is no place for amateurs. If your claim gets to this point, you should be represented by counsel. We discuss this step in more detail below.

Filing an Administrative Claim

When your injury claim is against a private person or a business, you can usually go straight to court. But before you can sue the United States, you must first file an administrative claim with the federal agency that you say caused your injury. For example, if you slipped and fell at a VA hospital, you'd file your administrative claim with the Veteran's Administration.

The easiest way to prepare your administrative claim is to use the government's Standard Form 95 (SF 95). That form isn't required, but it's the best way to make sure you provide the information that's necessary for the agency to consider your claim.

Lawyers and judges sometimes call this claim process "exhausting your administrative remedies." Here's how it works.

You must file your claim within two years. You have two years from the date you were injured (or your property was damaged) to file your administrative claim. (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b) (2025).) Miss the deadline and your claim will be rejected as untimely. You won't be able to file a lawsuit in federal court for money damages.

Include all the important facts and all damages in your claim. Your administrative claim should include enough facts to let the agency investigate and decide whether to make you an offer or deny it. Form SF 95 walks you through the information you must provide. Omitting necessary facts will assure a claim denial.

Also, be sure to specify the exact amount of money you're asking for. Don't lowball your claim, but don't demand an absurd amount, either. Absent unusual circumstances (discussed below), you can't ask for more money in your lawsuit than you asked for in your claim. But if you demand a million dollars to settle a claim involving $3,500 in medical bills, the agency won't take you seriously.

The agency has six months to respond. The government has six months to rule on your administrative claim. In some cases, the agency might "admit" your claim (that is, agree it's valid) and offer you some or all of the damages you requested. Or, the agency might deny your claim entirely, or offer you less than what you think it's worth. You're allowed to sue once the agency has denied your claim, in whole or in part. A denial must be in writing, and sent by certified or registered mail.

You don't have to sue until the agency rules on your claim. If the agency doesn't act on your claim within six months of the filing date, you can—but aren't required to—treat the failure to act as a denial and file a lawsuit. Alternatively, you can wait to sue until the government actually denies your claim.

As long as the federal agency is still considering your claim, there's no time limit for you to file a lawsuit. Stated a bit differently, the lawsuit-filing deadline (discussed below) only starts to run once the government actually denies your claim. (See 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a) (2025).)

Filing Your Lawsuit in Federal Court

You can sue the United States for your injuries or property damages when:

• at least six months have passed since you filed your claim but the government hasn't actually denied it, or
• the agency has actually denied your claim.

The statute of limitations for your lawsuit—the deadline by which you must file in court—doesn't start to run until the date the agency sends you written notice that your claim has been finally denied. From that date, you have just six months to get your lawsuit filed. (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b) (2025).) Miss that six-month deadline and your claim is legally dead. You can't collect damages for your injuries.

Here are some other important points about FTCA lawsuits.

Where you should file. You must file your lawsuit in the United States District Court, the main trial court where most federal lawsuits start. (28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1) (2025).) You can file in the federal judicial district (the geographic region) where you live or where your claim arose. (28 U.S.C. § 1402(b) (2025).)

For example, say you live in Kansas, but you slipped and fell in a federal building located in Kansas City, Missouri. You're allowed to file your case in the district court for the district of Kansas or for the western district of Missouri.

You're stuck with the demand in your administrative claim. You can't ask for more money in your lawsuit than you asked for in your administrative claim, unless you present newly discovered evidence to support the higher demand. You'll be required to show that the new evidence wasn't "reasonably discoverable" at the time you filed your claim. (28 U.S.C. § 2675(b) (2025).)

Expect a fight from the government if you try to claim more damages, and don't be surprised if the court is skeptical as well.

You're limited to compensatory damages. You're allowed to ask for compensatory damages—damages that compensate for losses like medical expenses, lost wages, costs of medical equipment, and pain and suffering. But with extremely rare exceptions, you can't be awarded punitive damages, and you're not allowed to recover prejudgment interest. (28 U.S.C. § 2674 (2025).)

Once you file your case in federal court, the process is like any other lawsuit.

Settling Your FTCA Claim

You have two opportunities to settle your FTCA claim. First, during the administrative claim process (see above), you'll have a chance to negotiate an out-of-court settlement with the agency attorney assigned to your case. Most FTCA cases settle at this stage.

If your claim doesn't settle at the administrative stage and you file a lawsuit, you'll get a second bite at the settlement apple with a new team of attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). Don't be discouraged if your case doesn't settle early. Once you file in court, DoJ lawyers will need time to evaluate the case, do some discovery, and consider possible defenses.

Keep in mind, too, that a lawsuit can settle at any point in the process—before, during, or even after trial.

Should You Represent Yourself or Get an Attorney?

If your case is factually simple, there aren't sticky legal issues like FTCA exclusions, and you aren't asking for a lot of money, it might not make financial sense to hire an attorney. Remember, though, that a lawyer can help you figure out how much your case is worth—and it might be worth more than you think.

Even when the facts of your case seem straightforward, the Act can be staggeringly complex and difficult to apply. Your best chance to clear the procedural hurdles and overcome the government's arcane legal defenses will come from having an experienced lawyer on your side.

As with any personal injury case, if your damages are substantial, you're likely to get a better result if you hire an attorney. Here's how to find the right lawyer for your FTCA case.