PUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 18-2024 BARRY DOE, individually and as Next Friend of his minor children M.D. (2006), E.D. (2008) and K.D. (2009), Plaintiff – Appellant, v. DAVID J. MERON, individually and in his official capacity as Navy Officer and former Commanding Officer at NSA Bahrain (DOD); BARBARA R. CRAIG, individually and in her official capacity as Director of Armed Forces Center for Child Protection (DOD); KRISTEN E. WEBB, individually and in her official capacity as social worker at Armed Forces Center for Child Protection (DOD); TERRY GREENE, individually and in her official capacity as Principal of Bahrain School (DOD); DAVID LASPISA, individually and in his official capacity as current or former Executive Office, NSA Bahrain (DOD); STEVEN STUTZMAN, individually and in his official capacity as Regional Counseling and Advocacy Coordinator, Navy Installations Command (EURAFSWA); JOHN SCORBY, individually and in his official capacity as a U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and Commander of Navy Installation Command, EURAFSWA; CLARK JACKSON, individually and in his official capacity as current or former Family Advocacy Representative (FAR), NSA Bahrain (DOD); UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendants – Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Paula Xinis, District Judge. (8:17-cv-00812-PX) Argued: May 8, 2019 Decided: July 3, 2019 Before KING, DIAZ, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Quattlebaum wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Diaz joined. ARGUED: Christopher Edwin Brown, BROWN FIRM, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Daniel Aguilar, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: T. Roe Frazer II, FRAZER PLC, Nashville, Tennessee; Roy L. Mason, SMOUSE & MASON, LLC, Towson, Maryland; Marie Celeste Bruce, RIFKIN WEINER LIVINGSTON, LLC, Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellant. Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Mary Hampton Mason, James R. Whitman, Torts Branch, Mark B. Stern, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; Robert K. Hur, United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees. 2 QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judge: Barry Doe claims officers of the United States Navy and employees of the Department of Defense (“DOD”) conspired to seize, interrogate and batter his three minor children and to seize and batter him. In response, Doe, individually and on behalf of his three minor children, (collectively “Doe”) sued those officers and employees alleging intentional torts under state law and constitutional violations under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). The district court dismissed Doe’s claims under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Regarding Doe’s tort claims, the district court determined that the individual defendants were acting within the scope of their employment and were, therefore, immune from suit under the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act of 1988 (the “Westfall Act”) and the Medical Malpractice Immunity Act (the “Gonzalez Act”). Under those acts, the district court determined that the government was properly substituted for the individual defendants for the tort ...
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