Jacqueline B. v. Rawls Law Group

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. Plaintiff suffers abuse Jacqueline B. (plaintiff) is a veteran of the United States armed forces. In 2015 and 2016, plaintiff sought services from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at the West Los

2 Angeles facility. Specifically, she participated in the Domiciliary Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program under the care of a VA social worker. The social worker initiated and pursued a sexual relationship with plaintiff while plaintiff was her patient; VA officials later concluded that the social worker’s actions constituted “profound patient abuse.” Plaintiff was living in California at the time of this abuse, as she had been, on-and-off, since 1999. B. Plaintiff files an administrative claim In August 2016, and while still living in California, plaintiff filed a report with the VA complaining about the social worker. The VA had investigated the report, and concluded that it had merit. On February 10, 2017, and while still living in California, plaintiff filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act with the VA seeking $3 million in damages for the sexual and emotional abuse inflicted by the…