Opinion ID: 771798
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Liability of the Individual Appellees Under Section 1983.

Text: 17 Section 1983 creates a cause of action against any person who, acting under color of state law, violates the constitutional rights of another person. See 42 U.S.C. 1983. The individual appellees say that either they did not personally cause Mabe's alleged constitutional violations or that they are immune from suit for their official actions, which precludes Mabe's recovery under section 1983. 18 When deciding whether a public official is immune from liability for acts performed in her official capacity, qualified immunity is the general rule and absolute immunity the exceptional case. See Zolin, 812 F.2d at 1108 (citing Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 807 (1982)). It is well-settled that the immunity to which a public official is entitled depends not on the official's title or agency, but on the nature of the function that the person was performing when taking the actions that provoked the lawsuit. See id. 19 Mabe's claim against the individual appellees involves official conduct encompassing two different functions -- conduct relating to the removal of MD from her home and conduct involving the post-removal dependency proceedings. Because the immunity inquiry under section 1983 is different for the two governmental functions performed, we address each separately. 20
21 Mabe argues that social worker Perry is not entitled to qualified immunity because her conduct in removing MD without a warrant was unlawful under the Constitution. Qualified immunity shields a government official from liability for civil damages if (1) the law governing the official's conduct was clearly established; and (2) under that law, the official objectively could have believed that her conduct was lawful. See Ram v. Rubin, 118 F.3d 1306, 1310 (9th Cir. 1997) (involving the qualified immunity of a social worker and a police officer). 22 Government officials are required to obtain prior judicial authorization before intruding on a parent's custody of her child unless they possess information at the time of the seizure that establishes reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury and that the scope of the intrusion is reasonably necessary to avert that specific injury. Wallis v. Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126, 1138 (9th Cir. 2000) (citing Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 393 (1978)). 23 The first prong of the qualified immunity test focuses on whether the law governing Perry's removal of MD from the Mabe home was clearly established. The constitutional right of parents and children to live together without govern- mental interference is well established. See Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753 (1982). The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that parents will not be separated from their children without due process of law except in emergencies. See Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651 (1972); Ram, 118 F.3d at 1310 (9th Cir. 1997) (holding that in 1993it was clear that a parent had a constitutionally protected right to the care and custody of his children and that he could not be summarily deprived of that custody without notice and a hearing except when the children were in imminent danger). 24 The second prong of the qualified immunity test focuses on whether a reasonable official could have believed her conduct was lawful. See id. Whether Perry could have believed that removing MD under the facts of this case was lawful depends on whether a reasonable social worker could have believed that exigent circumstances existed on August 21, 1995, sufficient to override the warrant requirement. See White v. Pierce County, 797 F.2d 812, 815 (9th Cir. 1986) (citing Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 588-90 (1980)). Two relevant cases involving the availability of qualified immunity based on claims of exigency for officials conducting child abuse investigations bracket the facts in this case. 25 In White, exigent circumstances excused the need for a warrant. We concluded that the deputies had probable cause to believe the child had been abused and that the child would be injured or could not be taken into custody if it were first necessary to obtain a court order. Id. (applying a Washington state child abuse statute directing immediate seizure if officers had probable cause to suspect imminent danger). Accord- ingly, we reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment upon a finding of qualified immunity. Id. 26 An opposite result was reached in Calabretta v. Floyd, 189 F.3d 808 (9th Cir. 1999). In Calabretta, the summary judgment motion filed by the social worker and police officer, on the grounds of qualified immunity, was denied by the district court. We affirmed because a reasonable government official would have known that exigent circumstances justifying war- rantless entry into the parents' home did not exist; that con- sent or a warrant was required for entry; and that qualified immunity was not available with respect to the coerced strip search of a three-year-old child. See id. 27 The social worker in Calabretta, investigating allegations of child abuse, went to the residence and spoke to the mother. Id. at 810-11. Ten days later, the social worker returned to the residence with a police officer and made a coerced, warrant- less entry into the house. Id. at 811. The social worker also coerced the mother to pull down the pants of one of the children so the social worker could check for signs of abuse. Id. at 811-12. Under these facts, the Calabretta court, citing White, held that the government officials were not entitled to qualified immunity because there was no showing of imminent danger to the children. Id. at 813, nn. 9 & 12. 28 The facts in this case appear to fall somewhere in between Calabretta and White. The record shows that the mother, Mabe, was hostile to the social worker, Perry, and to her daughter, MD, during Perry's investigation, which is arguably similar to the father's hostile behavior in White, giving rise to a reasonable fear that the child was in imminent physical danger. However, in White, the officers had a reasonable fear that because the father, the potential abuser, was hostile about the investigation, the child would be harmed in any time it would take to obtain a warrant. See White, 797 F.2d at 815. In contrast, Perry's concerns that Mabe was hostile to the veracity of MD's allegations against her husband are not directly related to how he himself might react when faced with MD's allegations of sexual abuse. 29 Both Calabretta and White are distinguishable from this case because the allegations of abuse being investigated in those cases were not provided by the victim or people with personal knowledge of any abuse. In this case, Perry had the victim's report of abuse. This is significantly more compelling evidence to support the social worker's reasonable belief that abuse had occurred and that the child was still in danger of future harm than in Calabretta or in White, where a neigh- bor's report formed the basis of suspicion of child abuse. 30 Nonetheless, imminent danger of future harm is required to show exigency. Several facts, viewed in the light most favorable to Mabe, undermine a reasonable belief of exigency here. First, and most importantly, Perry opted to leave MD in the residence after interviewing MD and Mabe about the alleged molestation. Perry told MD at the end of the inter- view on August 17, 1995, that she would see if MD needed to be removed from the home. This demonstrates Perry's intent to delay the removal, which raises a serious question about Perry's reasonable belief that MD was in imminent danger on August 21, 1995, similar to the delay in Calabretta. 31 Second, Perry concedes that the improper touching had not been recurring since MD returned home over a month after the initial police report was made. Unlike White, this case does not present the concern that the child would be concealed or further abused during the time it would take to get a warrant because such retribution had not happened to MD since her return home after Mabe and the stepfather were both told that a police report had been filed. 32 Third, the type of abuse here is qualitatively different than that under investigation in both White and Calabretta. Here, the allegations were not of physical beatings that could happen at any time of the day. Although the conduct by the stepfather was clearly inappropriate, it did not involve violence or penetration and the only time it had taken place was at night when MD was in her bedroom. Assuming that Perry could obtain a warrant 2 the same day as the case review committee recommended that MD be removed, it is difficult to understand how the further delay of a few hours necessary to obtain the warrant would have put MD in imminent danger of serious physical injury. 33 Whether reasonable cause to believe exigent circumstances existed in a given situation, and the related questions, are all questions of fact to be determined by a jury. Wallis v. Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126, 1138 (9th Cir. 2000) (citing McKenzie v. Lamb, 738 F.2d 1005, 1008 (9th Cir. 1984)). Accordingly, [s]ummary judgment in favor of the defendants is improper unless, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, it is clear that no reasonable jury could conclude that the plaintiffs' constitutional rights were violated. Id. Under this standard, we found summary judgment to be improper in Wallis in part because a material question of fact exists regarding whether . . . there was reasonable cause to believe, on the basis of the information in the possession of the . . . police officer, that the . . . children faced an immediate threat of serious physical injury or death. Id. 34 Similarly, there exists a question of material fact here whether a reasonable social worker could have believed that her conduct was lawful because it is unclear on summary judgment whether MD faced an immediate threat of serious physical injury. The district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Perry was erroneous because, viewing the exigency evidence in the light most favorable to Mabe, a reasonable jury could conclude that Mabe's constitutional rights were violated by Perry's warrantless removal of MD. See id. 35 ii. Liability of the Supervisor for the Removal of MD. 36 Mabe also sued Perry's supervisor, Jeff Luther, for the warrantless removal of MD from her home. However, no evidence was presented to show a causal connection between any personal conduct by Luther and the alleged constitutional violation. The Supreme Court has concluded that in enacting section 1983 Congress did not intend to impose liability vicariously on [employers or supervisors] solely on the basis of the existence of an employer-employee relationship with atortfeasor. Palmer v. Sanderson, 9 F.3d 1433, 1438 (9th Cir. 1993) (quoting Monell v. Department of Soc. Servs. of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 692 (1978)). Therefore, the conduct of Perry cannot be imputed to Luther. We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on this claim. 37
38 Separate from Mabe's complaint about the warrantless removal of MD from her home, Mabe argues generally that the County's social workers did not conduct the investigation properly, were allowed to submit false evidence during the juvenile court proceedings, and interfered with her custody rights. The district court dismissed some of these counts for failure to state a claim and properly granted summary judgment on the remaining counts because social workers are entitled to absolute immunity for the initiation and pursuit of dependency proceedings, including their testimony offered in such proceedings. See Meyers v. Contra Costa County Dep't of Soc. Servs., 812 F.2d 1154, 1158-59 (9th Cir. 1987). Sum- mary judgment was proper on Mabe's false evidence allegations because she failed to offer any evidence of false or perjured testimony. 39 Moreover, social workers enjoy absolute, quasi-judicial immunity when making post-adjudication custody decisions pursuant to a valid court order. Babcock v. Tyler, 884 F.2d 497, 503 (9th Cir. 1989) (holding social workers entitled to absolute immunity from a claim that they erred in placing minor dependents in foster home where the minors were later sexually abused). 40 Even if the action against Perry entitles Mabe to damages under a theory of warrantless removal without exigent circumstances, summary judgment is affirmed for the subsequent social workers and court-appointed caretakers 3 who participated in MD's dependency proceedings because their liability cannot be imputed solely by virtue of their relation- ship to Perry. See Palmer, 9 F.3d at 1438. 41 We affirm the district court's dismissal and grant of summary judgment on the portion of Mabe's case that involves the dependency proceedings claims and the post-removal custody decisions of the juvenile court. 42
43 Mabe argues that the extent of the intrusion, resulting in the removal of MD from the home and placement in foster care for an indefinite period, was improper under law. We have held that exigency is a very limited exception  to the warrant rule and simply because some intrusion on a child's protected privacy and security interests may be reasonable does not mean that any intrusion is. Wallis, 202 F.3d at 1140. 44 In Wallis, the threat of future physical abuse and past sexual abuse on the Wallis children were all attributed to the father. We noted that there was no evidence that the children could not have been taken with their mother to a shelter, or placed under some other form of protective custody with her until . . . some later date. Id. at 1140. We concluded that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the emergency continued to exist for more than the brief day or two following the time of the children's seizure  and whether the children could have been taken out of the home with their mother. Id. 45 Here, MD's allegations of abuse were only attributed to the stepfather, Mabe's husband, yet MD was removed from the home. Furthermore, Mabe says that her husband told Perry he would move out of the house if that was necessary to have MD remain in the home. If the exigency that justified MD's removal was the stepfather's access to her in the residence, then his departure or Mabe's and MD's detention would have been a less drastic step to protect MD from immediate harm. 46 Perry thought that Mabe was not protecting MD in light of how she reacted to MD's report of the stepfather's alleged misconduct. Compare Wallis, 202 F.3d at 1140. Mabe did not believe MD's allegations that the abuse had occurred or that there was a threat that such abuse would occur again in the future. Perry says Mabe was verbally abusive of MD during the removal, harassing MD within inches of her face. Perry's impressions constitute supporting evidence, unlike Wallis, that removal from the mother was reasonably necessary as well to protect MD. 47 The day after MD's removal from the Mabe home, a Juvenile Dependency Petition was filed with the San Bernardino County Juvenile Court. The following day the juvenile court held a hearing attended by Mabe. The court found that a prima facie case was established for MD's detention out of home. The court also found that the lack of pre-placement preventive efforts was reasonable and continuation in the parental home is contrary to the welfare of the minor; no means to protect without removal. The record demonstrates that attempts were made to resolve the conflict between MD and her mother and her stepfather through family reunification procedures, but an impasse developed in the family when MD refused to recant the allegations and Mabe and her husband refused to admit that any abuse had occurred. 48 The juvenile court's findings are not relevant to whether a sufficient exigency existed at the time of the removal to justify the warrantless action because such an inquiry is to be based on the information that Perry had at the time. However, those findings certainly buttress the conclusion that MD's removal from the Mabe residence and permanent placement outside the home were justified in light of the situation. The juvenile court ordered the continued separation of Mabe from MD. Mabe opted not to appeal the juvenile court's jurisdiction and disposition orders that required MD's four-year placement outside of Mabe's home. Summary judgment on this claim is affirmed. 49