A nurse quarantined at a New Jersey hospital because she had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa is suing the state governor and health chiefs, saying they held her illegally against her will.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and a New York firm filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in Newark for Kaci Hickox.
It names New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former state health commissioner Mary O'Dowd, plus other health department staff.
The lawsuit seeks at least £163,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
Ms Hickox's lawyers say they hope the case will change a quarantine policy they claim was driven by politics rather than public health concerns.
The 34-year-old nurse was working with Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone during last year's Ebola outbreak, which killed thousands of people.
When she returned via Newark Liberty International Airport she was stopped, questioned and sent to stay in a tent outside a hospital despite having no symptoms of the disease, which is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person who is showing symptoms.
She said Mr Christie's decision to quarantine her was made out of fear and was politically motivated, but did not elaborate. Mr Christie, a Republican, was considering a run for US president and has since entered the race.
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