Morrison v. Columbus Family Health Care LLC

**Morrison v. Columbus Family Health Care LLC: Court Dismisses Medical Malpractice Case** This case involved a patient who sued after complications from a 2011 surgery performed by Dr. Aslami at Steward Good Samaritan Medical Center. The patient tried to bring the lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which is a special law that allows people to sue the federal government for injuries caused by federal employees. The court dismissed the entire case, ruling it had no authority to hear it. The judge found that Dr. Aslami was not actually a federal employee when the surgery happened in 2011. While the doctor later signed an agreement in 2012 that might have made him a federal employee for certain purposes, this happened after the surgery took place. Since the FTCA only covers injuries caused by federal employees, and Dr. Aslami wasn't one at the time, the court couldn't hear the case. For workers, this case highlights an important timing issue: employment status and legal protections are determined by when an incident occurs, not by agreements made afterward. Workers should understand that their legal rights and protections depend on their actual employment status at the time something happens, not future changes to their job classification.