Eve Moneypenny and James Bond appear to commit a number of civil torts in this dramatic opening scene of the 2012 film Skyfall (filmed on location in Istanbul, Turkey). Is their employer, MI6, not liable to the various victims for any of the resulting damages under the common law principle of respondeat superior? Doesn’t the answer to this liability question, in turn, depend on whether Bond and Moneypenny are employees or independent contractors?
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Wouldn’t you also have to address if MI-6, as an official (or unofficial) governmental entity, has sovereign immunity?
Yes, that is absolutely correct! Even if James Bond is considered an employee and not a contractor, and even if he commits a tort within the scope of his employment, the government might get off the hook under the Sovereign Immunity doctrine. (As one of my former students, Freddie Torres, would say: “The House always wins.”) But if MI6 were a U.S. agency, then the Federal Tort Claims Act might still apply …
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