Opinion

Fedor v. Ribicoff

  • 211 F. Supp. 520
Court
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
Filed
Oct 8, 1962
Status
Published
On the bench
Joseph S. Lord
Cited by
6 cases
Authority
More cited than 82.2%

The opinion

211 F.Supp. 520 (1962)

Joseph E. FEDOR

v.

Abraham A. RIBICOFF, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, United States of America.

Civ. A. No. 27194.

United States District Court E. D. Pennsylvania.

October 8, 1962.

W. J. Krencewicz, Shenandoah, Pa., for plaintiff.

Drew J. T. O'Keefe, Merna P. Bearman, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant.

JOSEPH S. LORD, III, District Judge.

In this matter, an appeal from a disallowance of a social security claim, plaintiff has moved for default judgment on the ground that the defendant has failed for more than a reasonable time to file an answer.

F.R.Civ.P. 55(e) provides: "No judgment by default shall be entered against the United States or an officer or agency thereof unless the claimant establishes his claim or right to relief by evidence satisfactory to the court." Clearly, mere failure on the part of the United States to answer is no ground for entry of judgment against it. If plaintiff proceeds to establish his claim, and then satisfies the court as to waiver of sovereign immunity and service on the defendant, judgment may be entered against the defendant despite failure to appear. Cf. Rank v. (Krug) United States, 142 F.Supp. 1 , (S.D.Cal., 1956). Having filed only his complaint, plaintiff's motion must be denied as premature.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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