Woman loses lawsuit over letter that told her son had died -- he didn't

DULUTH, Minn. -- A Minnesota woman has lost her lawsuit over a letter that erroneously told her that her son had died in Iraq.

Joan Najbar of Duluth, Minn., sent a letter to her son, Sam Eininger, in September 2006. It was returned several weeks later, stamped "DECEASED."

With the help of the Red Cross, Najbar was able to determine that her son wasn't dead. Eininger, a Minnesota National Guard member, served 22 months in Iraq.

Najbar sued the United States in 2009, claiming she experienced emotional distress and lost income.

But U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz dismissed the case last week, saying federal law didn't give him the legal authority to decide the controversy raised in Najbar's complaint and that he lacked jurisdiction in the case.

Earlier, she filed a claim for $118,000 in damages from the U.S. Postal Service in 2008 that was twice denied. A letter from the Postal Service said its investigation found no negligence.

"This happened while he was ... being shot at in Baghdad. That's not OK ... not to even say oops or sorry," Najbar, a clinical social worker, said shortly after she filed the suit.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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