L.B. v. United States
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The Supreme Court answered a certified question that law enforcement officers do not, as a matter of Montana law, act outside the scope of their employment when they use their authority as on-duty officers to sexually assault a person they are investigating for a crime.
L.B. brought this action under the Federal Tort Claims Act alleging that she was sexually assaulted by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Officer Dana Bullcoming after she called the police and reported that her mother was driving while intoxicated. The district court granted summary judgment for the Government, concluding that Officer Bullcoming was not acting outside the scope of his employment when he sexually assaulted L.B. because he was not acting in furtherance of his employer's interest. The The Ninth Circuit certified a question of law to the Supreme Court, which answered that, under Montana law, Officer Bullcoming's sexual assault of L.B. was within the scope of his employment as a law enforcement officer.
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