Baltimore, MD — A federal judge has denied a motion by Peter Kilchenstein, a Maryland man suing the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), to increase his damages demand from $510,000 to $1,000,000 in a lawsuit stemming from a 2023 traffic collision involving a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) vehicle.
In a December 23, 2025 memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. (EA) [likely E. Anderson or similar placeholder; referenced as EA in docket] ruled that Kilchenstein had not demonstrated the “newly discovered evidence” or “unforeseen circumstances” required to raise his damages claim beyond the amount initially sought in his administrative filing with USPS.
Kilchenstein alleged that a USPS driver negligently caused a collision on April 27, 2023, resulting in significant pain, medical expenses, and emotional distress. After filing an administrative claim for $510,000, he later sought to amend his complaint to seek an additional $490,000, citing early retirement he claimed was caused by post-accident anxiety and discomfort driving near the crash site.
Judge [EA] found that the early retirement, which occurred more than two years after the initial claim, was voluntary and not the result of unforeseeable or newly emergent damages that would justify expanding the FTCA claim. The opinion also noted that Kilchenstein did not pursue psychological treatment or request a workplace accommodation before leaving his position.
Under the FTCA, plaintiffs may not seek damages in excess of their administrative claim amount unless they show newly discovered evidence or intervening facts not reasonably foreseeable at the time of the original filing. The court held that Kilchenstein did not meet that standard.
“Mr. Kilchenstein has not satisfied his burden of demonstrating newly discovered evidence to support nearly doubling his claim,” the judge wrote, emphasizing that the United States’ waiver of sovereign immunity under the FTCA must be “strictly construed.”
