Federal Tort Claim Brings Settlement in Military Sexual Assault Case

The Department of Justice announced that it had paid $1.4 million to a former student of the Merchant Marine Academy who filed suit after being sexually assaulted.  The former student was a member for the men’s soccer team was hazed, restrained and sexually assaulted.  According to Politico, “The settlement marks the first time a victim of sexual assault at one of the nation’s five federal service academies has successfully recovered damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, under which the federal government recognizes liability for the negligence of its employees, according to the victim’s attorneys”. 

In 2016 a different article reported that the Merchant Marine Academy has the highest rate of sexual harassments and sexual assault of all the military academies.  A government sponsored survey revealed that” 63 percent of women and 11 percent of men experienced unwanted advances or other sexual harassment. And 17 percent of women and 2 percent of men endured some kind of sexual assault, defined as unwanted contact, from groping to rape.” In the same year only one sexual assault was reported through official channels.  The survey rates were for Merchant Maritime.  Those rates were from the 2014-2016 academic year and were the numbers exceeded the combined rates for all the other military academies.

One spokesman for the Academy said he believed the school was turning a corner.   Another assertion without evidence.