Moravek v. United States
United States District Court for the District of South Carolina
2008 WL 2383664 (2008)

- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
The federal government arrested Steven Moravek (plaintiff) for counterfeiting money and charged him with that crime. Shortly after his arrest, Moravek saw Dr. Carol Denier, a psychotherapist, at a Veterans Affairs hospital run by the federal government (VA hospital) (defendant). During that session, Moravek expressed suicidal thoughts and the desire to kill people who had been involved in his arrest. At that time, Moravek was set to be arraigned about a week later. Denier spoke to the VA hospital’s lawyer, who in turn contacted the United States Attorney’s Office. After the Attorney’s Office learned of the threatening comments, the criminal trial court ordered Moravek to be held pending trial and to undergo a psychiatric examination. Eventually, Moravek pleaded guilty. In response to the VA hospital’s actions, Moravek sued for various privacy-related torts under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Moravek’s claims included breach of confidentiality. Under that law, South Carolina law governed Moravek’s claims. The VA hospital moved for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Norton, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.