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LITIGATION REPORT

[[underlined]] New Cases [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]] Scherer [[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] Ripley [[/underlined]]

Plaintiff, an employee of the Smithsonian, filed an internal EEO complaint in 1974, alleging sex discrimination. Several months after the complaint had been settled in plaintiff's favor, she complained further that she had been subjected to reprisals and harassment by her supervisor after the settlement. Investigation of these allegations resulted in findings supporting the charges in part, and administrative action was taken against the supervisor. This suit alleges that the administrative action taken by the Smithsonian failed to provide plaintiff with adequate relief, and she asks for remedial action in the form of a retroactive promotion and back pay, compensatory damages, and other administrative measures. 

[[underlined]] Cases Previously Reported [[/underlined]]

1. [[underlined]] Expeditions Unlimited Aquatic Enterprises, Inc., et al. [[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] Smithsonian Institution [[/underlined]]

In this libel action against a federal employee and the Institution, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, on September 16, 1977, held that the Smithsonian Institution is immune from suit for libel under the Federal Tort Claims Act and remanded the judgment to the court below for further findings. Plaintiff-appellee has filed a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States.

2. [[underlined]] Munger [[/underlined]] v. [[underlined]] United States [[/underlined]]

The plaintiff is a minor who was injured in July 1976 while riding the escalator in the National Air and Space Museum. The Smithsonian denied a tort claim filed on behalf of the child because it could not find that the injury was caused by negligence on the part of the Institution. Suit has now been brought in the U. S. District Court against the United States and against the Otis Elevator Company, which manufactured, installed, and serviced the NASM escalators. The Department of Justice is representing the Smithsonian, and the case is scheduled for trial in mid-March.