Opinion ID: 1521174
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Action Pursuant to Orders

Text: The trial court instructed the jury in part that a police officer is not relieved of responsibility, merely because he acts at the order of a superior officer. An employee [who,] acting at a command of an employer or superior[,] has converted or assisted in converting the property of another[,] is liable to that person. This instruction accurately reflects the common law rule that a legally responsible person is liable for his torts. 86 C.J.S. Torts § 32 (1954). The employment relationship may, under the doctrine of respondeat superior, extend liability for torts committed by an employee within the scope of his employment to the employer, but does not relieve the employee of individual responsibility for his acts. See W. Prosser, The Law of Torts § 52, at 315 (4th ed. 1971). Nor did appellants' employment as law enforcement officers shield them from liability for their tortious acts. [A] government officer, like any other person, is liable at common law for his torts, even if they are committed within the scope of his employment. Carter v. Carlson, 144 U.S. App.D.C. 388, 391, 447 F.2d 358, 361 (1971), rev'd in part on other grounds sub nom. District of Columbia v. Carter, 409 U.S. 418, 93 S.Ct. 602, 34 L.Ed.2d 613 (1973). In Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971), where federal agents acting under color of their authority had allegedly violated the petitioner's Fourth Amendment rights by entering his apartment, searching, and arresting him without a warrant, the Court held that petitioner had stated a valid claim for money damages. That damages may be obtained for injuries consequent upon a violation of the Fourth Amendment by federal officials should hardly seem a surprising proposition. Historically, damages have been regarded as the ordinary remedy for an invasion of personal interests in liberty.... Having concluded that petitioner's complaint states a cause of action under the Fourth Amendment, ... we hold that petitioner is entitled to recover money damages for any injuries he has suffered as a result of the agents' violation of the Amendment. [ Id. at 395, 397, 91 S.Ct. at 2004, 2005.] Appellees in the instant case likewise stated a cause of action in tort stemming from a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights by the appellant officers. The fact that they seized appellees' property while acting within the scope of their employment does not exonerate them from liability. Money damages were accordingly an appropriate remedy upon finding that appellees' rights had been violated. It is a first principle that liability in tort is several, not joint, however many participate in inflicting the wrong and whether they act separately or in conjunction. McKenna v. Austin, 77 U.S.App.D.C. 228, 231, 134 F.2d 659, 662 (1943) (footnote omitted); accord, W. Prosser, supra, § 46, at 291-92, and § 47, at 296; 2 S. Williston, Law of Contracts § 338A, at 714-16 (3d ed. W. Jaeger 1959); 86 C.J.S. Torts § 34, at 949 (1954). Although other officers besides appellants participated in the seizure of appellees' property, appellees were not compelled to make the other officers parties to the action. [E]ach tortfeasor may be sued severally, and held responsible for the damages he is found to have caused, although other wrongdoers have contributed to it. He cannot compel the plaintiff to make the other [tortfeasors] parties to the action, or complain because they have not been joined.... W. Prosser, supra, § 47, at 296-97 (footnote omitted). Thus the fact that Sergeant Stone and the other officers were not parties to the action was no bar to recovery from appellants. There was, in short, no error in the trial court's instruction that appellants were not relieved of responsibility merely because they acted as police officers following the order of a superior when they committed the contested acts.