The Feres Doctrine

The Federal Tort Claims Act acts as a waiver of sovereign immunity on the part of the Federal Government.
This waiver allows for individuals to sue the United States for injuries sustained in a tortuous manner
due to the negligence or intentional actions of the United States government or agencies. Shortly after
the Act was passed, there was a case filed against the United States armed forces for injuries sustained
on a military base. This case made its way all the way to the Supreme Court and gave us the Feres Doctrine.

The Feres Doctrine essentially restricts lawsuits filed against any of the armed forces for injuries
to active duty members of the military. So, a person who is active duty and is injured on a base while
driving an Army truck or van cannot sue the Army for those injuries. The same applies if the individual
is active duty and happens to be on base shopping or conducting other business that is not part of his
or her duties.

The Feres Doctrine also precludes the families of active duty military personnel from filing lawsuits
for wrongful death or loss of consortium in the event that a family member is killed on active duty.
The doctrine, however, does not preclude lawsuits based on the injuries to a non active duty individual
on a base. So, if the child of active duty military personnel is injured from being hit by an Army truck,
the family can file a lawsuit against the Army because the child was not active duty.

The doctrine has been loosened since it was originally developed in the 1950s to allow for lawsuits
in the event that the active duty individual was injured in a way that was likely to injure civilians
as well.

Contact a Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured while on a military base, >contact the Harrisburg personal injury attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams at 610-667-7511 to learn more about your legal options.