Opinion ID: 169789
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Report and Recommendation

Text: The magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation (the R& R) that summary judgment be granted in favor of defendants, concluding that M s. Flores had presented no factual basis for the bringing of the law suit. The magistrate judge found that the undisputed evidence was as follows: A Department of Human Services investigator, not named as a defendant, conducted a home welfare check of M s. Flores’s home, accompanied by two defendants, the Log Lane Village M ayor and Chief of Police. M s. Flores allowed the three to enter her home. The investigator determined that M s. Flores’s home was unsafe, filthy, open to the elements, and not habitable, particularly by young children. This decision was made solely by the investigator; no evidence was presented that any defendant had any personal participation in this decision. M s. Flores agreed to leave the residence, and she voluntarily signed a “safety plan” agreement with the Department of Human Services, in which she agreed to leave the home, place the children in another home, make repairs to her residence, and not allow anyone into the home until it was brought up to code. The magistrate judge concluded that plaintiff had pointed to no evidence in the record that would even tend to satisfy her burden, in light of the defendants’ -3- qualified immunity defense, to show that (1) the actions of the defendants violated any federal constitutional or statutory right, and (2) that such right was clearly established. As noted, plaintiff and her children left voluntarily and by signed agreement, and there was no evidence suggesting any personal participation by any defendant in the events at issue, an essential element of a § 1983 claim against individual defendants. Plaintiff admitted in her deposition that she had no facts to support her claim that she was removed because of her race. Finally, the magistrate judge found no evidence to support plaintiff’s claim that Log Lane V illage had a policy, custom or practice of condoning w arrantless entries into homes. Thus, it recommended summary judgment be granted in favor of defendants. The district court adopted the recommendation to grant summary judgment in favor of defendants.