Robert WILSON, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Sammy DRAKE; United States of America, Defendants-Appellants

We must decide whether a federal employer is entitled to immunity for intentional torts allegedly committed by one of its employees against another on a government installation in California.

I

Robert Wilson is an engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Point Mugu, California; Sammy Drake is his immediate supervisor. In June 1993, Wilson filed a complaint in California state court against Drake in his individual capacity for “injury to reputation, battery, violation of personal space.”

Wilson alleges that on one occasion in June 1992, Drake allegedly came to his office in the morning to request information concerning a doctor’s recommendation that he receive reasonable accommodation for his carpal tunnel syndrome. Wilson claims that when he tried to leave his office to go to the bathroom, Drake prevented Wilson from leaving for approximately thirty minutes.

Wilson also alleges that Drake used physical force later that day to prevent him from tape recording a conversation: “DRAKE thereupon climbed upon my torso, used his body to hold me down and his arms and hands in an attempt to prevent me from turning the tape recorder back on.” Wilson claims that he “sustained some…