Sheridan v. United States

Sheridan v. United States, 487 U.S. 392 (1988), was a U.S. Supreme Court case concerning what constitutes a claim "arising out of" an assault or battery within the meaning of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). The Supreme Court held that the FTCA's intentional tort exception did not apply. Background Naval medical aide Carr became intoxicated after his shift, and three of his co-workers found him face down on a hospital floor. They attempted to bring him to the emergency room, but he broke away and showed that he had a gun. The three co-workers fled and did nothing more. The intoxicated serviceman then fired several single shots into a car on a public street near Bethesda Naval Hospital and injured plaintiffs and damaged their car. Lower courts While 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) of the Federal Tort Claims Act gives individuals the right to sue the federal government, the government is generally not liable for intentional torts committed by its employees, as 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) takes away that right for injuries arising out of assault or battery. However, the plaintiffs argued that the co-workers were the negligent party in allowing Carr to continue in his drunken stupor. The government would have been liable under Massachusetts law, and the government would have been liable if Carr were not a government employee. However, the District Court held that because Carr was a government employee, prior Fourth Circuit precedent was a bar to recovery. The Fourth Circuit upheld the decision of the trial court. Opinion of the Court In a majority opinion by Justice Stevens, the Court noted that the injury arose from two claims: negligence by Carr's co-workers and assault by Carr.