Brittany Seacor v. HHS - other (1995)

Brittany Seacor filed a petition under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The specific vaccine administered and the alleged injury are not described in the available case document, which concerns only the timeliness of petitioner's motion for review.

Special Master Elizabeth Wright issued a decision denying petitioner's claim on March 17, 1995. Under 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-12(e)(1), petitioners have thirty days from the special master's decision to file a motion for review in the Court of Federal Claims.

Petitioner's thirty-day deadline thus fell on April 17, 1995. April 17, 1995 was Patriots' Day — a Massachusetts state legal holiday.

Petitioners were located in Boston, Massachusetts. Although the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., was open for business on April 17, 1995, petitioners' motion for review was not received by the court until April 18, 1995 — one day after the apparent deadline.

Respondent moved to dismiss the motion for review as untimely. Senior Judge Margolis, writing for the Court of Federal Claims on September 28, 1995, denied respondent's motion to dismiss and held that the motion for review was timely.

The court relied on Rule of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) 6(a), which extends a filing deadline when the last day falls on a "legal holiday." The court held that Patriots' Day qualifies as a "legal holiday" within the meaning of RCFC 6(a) because it is a recognized Massachusetts state legal holiday — and the fact that the Court of Federal Claims itself was open on that day was not dispositive. The effect of RCFC 6(a) was to extend petitioners' deadline from April 17 to April 18, 1995, making the motion for review timely.

Respondent's motion to dismiss was denied and the motion for review was permitted to proceed.