Court Opinion

ID: 9431419
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:32:15.507311+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:58.668408
License: Public Domain

Justice Kennedy,
concurring in the judgment.
The question before us is how to interpret the intentional tort exception in the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U. S. C. §§ 1346(b) and 2671-2680, when a plaintiff’s injury is caused both by an intentional tort and by negligence that precedes it. The intentional tort exception, 28 U. S. C. § 2680(h), provides, in pertinent part, that the United States shall not be liable for “[a]ny claim arising out of assault, battery . . . .” Both the majority and the dissent provide persuasive reasons for their conclusions. I write separately to set forth the bases for my differences with those opinions, and for my conclusion that the Court correctly decides that the judgment of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.
I
In an adaptation of Judge Harlan’s analysis in Panella v. United States, 216 F. 2d 622 (CA2 1954), the Court asks whether the tortfeasor’s actions occurred “while acting within the scope of his office or employment.” Ante, at 400. Since “[t]he tortious conduct of an off-duty serviceman, not acting within the scope of his office or employment, does not in itself give rise to Government liability whether that conduct is intentional or merely negligent,” the Court concludes that the intentional tort exception is inapplicable to this case. Ante, at 401-403. In my view, this analysis is misdirected. Petitioners’ claim here is that the Government acted negligently, quite apart from the intentional tort of its employee. The issue then is how to give effect to the Act’s express authorization of suits grounded in negligence without eviscerating the Act’s prohibition of claims “arising out of” intentional torts. Whether or not the intentional tortfeasor *405was on duty will not necessarily resolve this question. The proper inquiry must depend on an analysis of the Government’s acts or omissions and of the theory on which the Government’s negligence is predicated.
The Court seems to recognize as much when it states that it would allow a claim against the Government if based on negligence “of other Government employees . . . entirely independent of [the intentional tortfeasor’s] employment status.” Ante, at 401. The Court, however, fails to clarify the meaning of “independent” negligence or to explain how the legal significance of antecedent negligence somehow changes with the employment status of the intentional tortfeasor. Although its opinion asserts that it avoids the question whether a negligent supervision claim may be pressed against the Government in such a case, ante, at 403, n. 8, that issue is unavoidable, both as an analytic matter and on the facts of this case. As I explain more fully below, our inquiry should address whether a finding of liability for negligent supervision would undermine substantially the intentional tort exception.
The dissenting opinion is correct to focus on the statutory language, but I submit, with all respect, that it reaches the wrong result. The dissent’s fundamental premise seems to be that any injury in which an intentional act is a substantial cause necessarily arises only from that intentional act. This contradicts the basic rule that the same injury can arise from more than one wrongful act:
“Where voluntary acts of responsible human beings intervene between defendant’s conduct and plaintiff’s injury, the problem of foreseeability is the same and courts generally are guided by the same test. If the likelihood of the intervening act was one of the hazards that made defendant’s conduct negligent — that is, if it was sufficiently foreseeable to have this effect — then defendant will generally be liable for the consequences .... So far as scope of duty ... is concerned, it should make no difference whether the intervening actor is negligent or in*406tentional or criminal.” 2 F. Harper & F. James, Law of Torts §20.5, pp. 1143-1145 (1956) (footnotes omitted).
See also Restatement (Second) of Torts §§447-449 (1965). The dissent’s approach implies the converse: that an intentional act somehow obliterates the legal significance of any negligence that precedes or follows it. It must be noted that the phrase “arising out of” refers to claims, not suits. Congress did not bar any suit arising out of intentional torts; it barred only claims arising out of such wrongs. 28 U. S. C. § 2680(h) (“Any claim arising out of assault, battery . . .”) (emphasis added). Whatever uncertainty surrounds the intentional tort exception, it is unlikely that Congress intended it, as the dissent suggests, to bar suits for “all injuries associated in any way with an assault or battery.” Post, at 409. It is standard tort doctrine that a reasonably foreseeable injury can arise from multiple causes, each arising from a breach of a different duty and each imposing liability accordingly. The dissent’s position violates this basic principle by stating: “If we were to construe the words according to their ordinary meaning, we would say that a claim ‘arises out of’ a battery in any case in which the battery is essential to the claim.” Post, at 408.
II
I am in substantial agreement with the opinion of Chief Judge Winter, who wrote the dissenting opinion when this case was before the Court of Appeals. To determine whether a claim arises from an intentional assault or battery and is therefore barred by- the exception, a court must ascertain whether the alleged negligence was the breach of a duty to select or supervise the employee-tortfeasor or the breach of some separate duty independent from the employment relation. See 823 F. 2d 820, 824, 828 (CA4 1987). If the allegation is that the Government was negligent in the supervision or selection of the employee and that the intentional tort occurred as a result, the intentional tort exception of § 2680(h) *407bars the claim. Otherwise, litigants could avoid the substance of the exception because it is likely that many, if not all, intentional torts of Government employees plausibly could be ascribed to the negligence of the tortfeasor's supervisors. To allow such claims would frustrate the purposes of the exception.
The Court is wrong to imply that this issue is somehow removed from the facts of this case. It is squarely implicated here, and the trial court should be advised how to deal with it, not left to wonder. It is quite plausible to argue that Carr was missupervised by Government officers who had authority over him and had, we may assume, the duty to control his unauthorized behavior and enforce the Government regulations restricting the possession of firearms on the naval base. Absent the exception set forth in § 2680(h), the Government could be held negligent for failing to supervise Carr in a way such that the rifle would be discovered. We should state explicitly that this is not a theory that petitioners are free to pursue on remand.
An alternative theory of liability, however, is the Government’s negligent performance of its Good Samaritan duty under the state law of Maryland, which I assume, as the Court does, provides for such liability if Carr had been a private person. Ante, at 401-403. On this theory, the Government’s negligence is independent of its employment relation with Carr. The Government’s duty to control the behavior of individuals on the naval base extended to all individuals, employee and nonemployee alike. This theory of liability does not depend on the employment status of the intentional tortfeasor. When the Government would be liable even if the tortfeasor had been a private person, say an individual who wandered onto the naval base, there is little danger that § 2680(h) will be circumvented. The intentional tort exception does not preclude recovery under a theory of independent governmental negligence, despite the presence of a (barred) negligent supervision claim. Cf. Block v. Neal, 460 *408U. S. 289, 297-298 (1983) (“[T]he partial overlap between these two tort actions [of negligent misrepresentation and of negligent supervision regarding the construction of plaintiff’s home] does not support the conclusion that if one is excepted under the Tort Claims Act, the other must be as well”).
In sum, I would hold that where the plaintiff’s tort claim is based on the mere fact of Government employment, a respondeat superior claim, or, a short step further, on the conduct of the employment relation between the intentional tortfeasor and the Government without more, a negligent supervision or negligent hiring claim, §2680(h)’s exception applies and the United States is immune. See also post, at 411. I concur in the Court’s judgment insofar as it finds that § 2680(h) does not bar tort claims based on the independent negligence of the Government. For these reasons, I agree that the judgment of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.