The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that a civilian worker, who was on temporary assignment in Hawaii, was not within the scope of his employment when he was involved in an automobile accident while he was leaving the base on which he was working. [Clamor v. United States of America, 240 F.3d 1215 (9th Cir. 2001)].
James Karagiorgis, a civilian employee of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C., was temporarily assigned to the USS Los Angeles, which was moored at the Pearl Harbor Base in Hawaii. Karagiorgis arranged commercial lodging and rented a car, the cost of which was reimbursed by the Navy. After completing work one day, Karagiorgis left the ship and, as he was driving to the exit of the base, rear-ended a car driven by Plaintiff, Erlinda Clamor. In a personal injury lawsuit filed by Plaintiff, the federal district court determined that Karagiorgis was in the scope of employment and, because Plaintiff had not exhausted her administrative remedies under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the district court dismissed Plaintiff’s action. Plaintiff appealed.
On appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Karagiorgis was not acting within the scope of his employment for the following reasons:
Because Karagiorgis was not acting within the scope of his employment, the Court of Appeals found that the Federal Tort Claims Act did not apply. Thus, the district court should not have dismissed Plaintiff’s action.