United States Federal Circuit

In a dispute concerning the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims in actions brought by Miller Act sureties against the United States, 40 U.S.C. section 3131(b), judgment of the trial court is reversed where: 1) there is no Tucker Act jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. section 1491, since the surety’s claim is not an equitable subrogation claim because the United States made the subject payments before it received notice of the contractor’s default; 2) the United States’ waiver of sovereign immunity under the Tucker Act does not extend to impairment of suretyship claims against it beyond the theory of equitable subrogation; and 3) a surety’s claim against the United States arising from a takeover agreement which the government and surety have entered into for the completion of a bonded contract following the principal obligor’s default fall within the scope of the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), 41 U.S.C. section 601 et seq., such that the Claims Court lacks jurisdiction over a surety’s takeover agreement claim where the surety has failed to satisfy the CDA’s jurisdictional prerequisites.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/03/2011
• Published 08/03/2011

Judges

• DYK

Court

• United States Federal Circuit

Counsel