Johnson v. Sawyer

47 F.3d 716 · Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · 1995

Facts

Elvis Johnson was convicted of tax evasion, and IRS personnel issued press releases detailing his conviction, age, address, and job title. Johnson sued the United States under the FTCA, alleging the disclosures violated 26 U.S.C. § 6103(a)(1) and caused him to lose his job. The district court found the government liable, but the en banc court reviewed the decision.

Issue

Can the United States be held liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for IRS employees' disclosure of tax return information in violation of a federal statute (26 U.S.C. § 6103), when the claim relies on state law tort theories like negligence per se, respondeat superior, negligent supervision, or public disclosure of private facts?

Holding

The en banc court reversed, finding the United States not liable because the FTCA requires a breach of a state law duty, which was not established here. The federal statutory violation alone did not create a state law duty, and the disclosed information was either public record, not private/embarrassing under Texas law, or of legitimate public concern.

Rule

The Federal Tort Claims Act mandates that government liability arises only when state law would impose it on a private person under like circumstances, meaning a federal statutory violation alone does not create an FTCA claim unless it breaches a duty analogous to one imposed by state law. Texas law for public disclosure of private facts does not apply to information that is public record, not highly intimate or embarrassing, or is of legitimate public concern.

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Case brief last reviewed 2026-02-07. Prepared by CaseReader from the published opinion.