Nicola v. National Park Service, 985 F. Supp. 2d 90

Plaintiff Nicola Merry, a Los Angeles resident, sues the National Park Service for negligence at Ford’s Theater from a June 16, 2011 incident.
Around 200 visitors were directed to a dim, narrow circular stairwell where Merry fell down 20 steps and was injured.
Merry was treated for extensive bruising, head injury, concussion, and underwent months of therapy; she later claimed disability from her injuries.
She exhausted administrative remedies in June 2012 and filed suit on January 7, 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
NPS moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6); Merry sought amendments, discovery time, and subpoenas, which were opposed.
The court granted dismissal under Rule 12(b)(1), finding the FTCA discretionary function exception forecloses the claim and that amendments would be futile.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the discretionary function exception bars the FTCA claim.	Merry argues the exception does not apply to alleged maintenance failures.	NPS contends lighting, signage, and crowd-control decisions are discretionary policy-based.	Yes; the discretionary function exception applies, warranting dismissal.

United States v. Gaubert, 499 U.S. 315 (1991) (elements of judgment trigger discretionary function protection)
Berkovitz v. United States, 486 U.S. 531 (1988) (judgment or choice-based conduct protected when public policy is involved)
Shuler v. United States, 531 F.3d 930 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (discretionary function immunity can shield governmental abuses of discretion)
Cope v. Scott, 45 F.3d 445 (D.C. Cir. 1995) (jurisdictional nature of discretionary function analysis; review is limited)
Hsieh v. Consolidated Engineering Servs., Inc., 698 F. Supp. 2d 122 (D.D.C. 2010) (two-part Gaubert test applied to determine applicability of discretionary function exception)
Loughlin v. United States, 286 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2003) (mandatory directives overcome discretionary-function shield)