25-04-2025
Federal judge throws out claim against treasurer's office related to unclaimed property
SPRINGFIELD — A federal judge has rejected a Longmeadow man's lawsuit against the state treasurer's office.
In a memorandum and order March 25, Judge Mark G. Mastroianni of the U.S. District Court in Springfield wrote that plaintiff Thomas Narrigan lacked standing to seek relief. He also said the way Narrigan pled his case 'is barred by the Eleventh Amendment,' which exempts state officials from being sued.
Narrigan's case against Treasurer Deborah G. Goldberg claimed the state wasn't paying him adequate interest on his less-than $100 in unclaimed property, described in court documents as 'miscellaneous intangible property' and 'refunds.'
Massachusetts has over $3 billion in unclaimed property. The treasurer's office has returned more than $787 million in unclaimed property to its owners in the last five years. Narrigan has not 'sought to claim any of his property,' said the judge's March memo.
In August, Narrigan pleaded with Mastroianni not to dismiss his case after the state filed a motion to dismiss.
Narrigan's lawyers, Edward A. Broderick of Boston and Chicago attorneys Terry Rose Saunders and Arthur Susman, filed a class action lawsuit in January 2024 hoping to recoup money for all those with property held by the state — not just Narrigan.
Susman said they filed a notice of appeal on April 22 in the First Circuit. The attorney general's office declined to comment.
Mastroianni found that Narrigan did not sufficiently demonstrate the 'injury,' nor was he able to show a pattern or that the injury would recur.
The plaintiff, the memo said, does not 'bolster this allegation of past harm by indicating he intends to abandon property in the future, intends to claim his property from the government, or is otherwise likely to suffer a similar taking in the future.'
Narrigan, the judge found, instead argues that his harm is ongoing because the commonwealth still has his money.
'Plaintiff 'cannot manufacture standing merely by inflicting harm on (himself) based on (his) fears of hypothetical future harm that is certainly not impending,'' the memo said.
As for the 11th Amendment question — of sovereign immunity — the state did not waive its immunity, Mastroianni said.
State law provides a way for a property owner to 'obtain just compensation' in court for property that is taken by the state, he said.
The judge said his conclusion regarding 'injunctive relief' may have been different if Massachusetts refused to pay the interest when returning unclaimed property, he said.
'As a matter of law, (Narrigan)'s property was not taken. It was abandoned through his own neglect,' he said.
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