Brazilian prostitute suing after being injured by Marines, U.S. Embassy staffer

A Brazilian prostitute injured last year in an incident involving four members of a U.S. security team is now suing the federal government -- a development in the aftermath of the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia.

The incident occurred in late 2011 in the city of Brasilia in a car outside a nightclub.

The State Department said Wednesday the woman was injured trying to get back into the car, which was occupied by the four members who were disciplined after the incident.

The department said the woman tried to open a door and climb into the moving car.

Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the woman fell and was injured.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday the woman was pushed from the car and that two of the three Marines involved had been demoted.

Nuland would not say whether an embassy employee with the Marines violated rules or was disciplined other than being transferred out of Brazil.

A defense official said Tuesday the prostitute broke her collarbone when she fell.

The Embassy tracked down the women and paid her medical bills, but she now intends to sue, a senior U.S. official has confirmed to Fox News.

Panetta also said Tuesday the incident has been fully investigated and that the Marines and the embassy staff member have been punished.

“I have no tolerance for that kind of conduct, not here or any place in the world,” he told reporters in Brazil.

The incident allegedly started as a dispute over payment, which also ignited the April 11-12 incident inside the Caribe Hotel, in Cartagena, Colombia.

Secret Service and military personnel were in the Colombian seaside town ahead of President Obama’s arrival for the Summit of the Americas.

Twelve Secret Service agents and 12 military personnel have been identified in the scandal. Eight agents have been forced out, one had his security clearance revoked and three have been cleared.

No charges were filed in the Brazil incident and that the four Americans have left Brazil.

O Globo, Brazil's largest TV network, broadcast an interview with a woman who identified herself as the victim. She said the incident began when she, a few other women and a group of Americans were leaving a Brasilia nightclub, and she began to argue with the men's driver.

She said that one of the Americans pushed her out of the car. She said she tried to hold onto the door, but then fell, hit her head on the ground and passed out.

"I felt my leg burning," she said. "I couldn't take it, I let go and I fell underneath the van. I hit my head and I passed out," she said.

The Associated Press and other wire service reports contributed to this report.