Section II. FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT
5-4.
GOVERNMENT IMMUNITY FROM TORTIOUS ACTS
a. "The King Can Do No Wrong." Initially, respondeat superior did not apply to
the US Government in its capacity as employer. Thus, the Government could not be
held accountable for the negligent acts of its employees. This immunity of Government
for the official acts of its officers, agents, and employees was a legacy of English
common law of sovereign immunity: "the King can do no wrong." The Government
could not be sued because no officer or employee of the Government had been
authorized to do unlawful acts. This meant that citizens suffering injuries had only two
equally unproductive avenues of redress. They could sue generally underpaid
Government employees directly, rather than suing the Government. Or, they could
petition Congress to grant a private Act on their behalf.
b. Partial Consent for the Government to be Sued. In modern times, the
fiction that the sovereign can do no wrong was abolished, to some extent, with the
passage of the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, giving partial consent for the Federal
Government to be sued for negligent torts of its employees while they are acting within
the scope of their employment. Under this Act, the US Government may be liable under
local law for negligent torts committed by Federal employees within the scope of their
employment, in the same way a private individual could be held liable. The Federal Tort
Claims Act can be considered another application of the respondeat superior doctrine
since it makes an employer, in this case the US Government, liable for certain negligent
acts of its employees.
FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT
US may be liable under local law.
For negligent torts.
Committed by Federal employees.
Within the scope of employment.
Just like a private individuals could be liable.
Figure 5-2. Federal Tort Claims Act.
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