government agency defense
government-agency defense. Torts. An affirmative defense that immunizes a contractor from liability upon proof that the contractor acted on the government’s behalf as an agent or as a government officer. • This defense is extremely limited because of the difficulty of establishing the government-agent relationship. See Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Constr. Co., 309 U.S. 18, 20–22, 60 S.Ct. 413, 414–15 (1940). Cf. GOVERNMENT-CONTRACTOR DEFENSE; CONTRACT-SPECIFICATION DEFENSE.
