Patient’s Sexual Assault Suit Against Hospital Revived, For Now

A University of Kansas hospital patient will get another chance at a suit alleging she was sexually assaulted by a hospital employee, but her win on appeal may be short-lived.

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated a lower court’s dismissal of Tamatha Hennessey’s case, but it expressly allowed the University of Kansas Hospital Authority to present evidence on remand to support its defense that it’s an arm of the state and, therefore, entitled to sovereign immunity.

Resolving a question of first impression in this circuit, the court joined “every other circuit to consider the issue” and ...