Mary Doe v. United States

HARRISON L. WINTER, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff, a military dependent, sues under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671, et seq. She alleges that the deviant sexual conduct of an Air Force clinical social worker, who was treating her for “blackouts,” made her a victim of medical malpractice. The district court ruled that the United States had not waived its sovereign immunity to plaintiff’s suit because the conduct complained of constituted an assault under applicable South Carolina law, and 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) preserves immunity from suit on “[a]ny claim arising out of assault____” The…