Claim for Payment of Atonement Fee Levied by Foreign Court

GAO was asked to decide whether a claim for reimbursement of an atonement fee levied by a German court on an Army employee was appropriate for submission to Congress. The claimant was in charge of a warehouse leased by the Army when a door at the warehouse fell and killed a German citizen. Subsequently, he was charged with negligent homicide by a local German prosecutor. Although the Army Staff Judge Advocate's Office in Germany attempted to persuade the prosecutor to relinquish criminal jurisdiction over the defendant, he was tried by a German court. At the trial, the claimant's English-speaking German counsel concurred in a motion that the proceeding be dismissed if an atonement fee was levied against the claimant and the other defendants. The German court granted the motion to dismiss and imposed an atonement fee. The claimant's expenses for counsel were reimbursed. However, GAO held that there was no statutory authority for reimbursement of an atonement fee levied on an Army employee by a foreign court resulting from criminal charges in which the employee was the defendant. Also, the claim did not contain the necessary elements of an extraordinary nature, unusual legal liability, or equity to authorize its submission to Congress. Accordingly, the claim was denied.