Pollak, Vida & Barer

In K.C. v. County of Merced, published March 11, 2025, the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal of the plaintiff's action after demurrer.  The plaintiff alleged that she was sexually abused and assaulted while in two foster care placements between 1971 and 1977.  The plaintiff alleged she repeatedly reported the sexual abuse at the first foster placement to her county social worker.  She further alleged the county was on notice of the abuse at the second placement because of the change in the plaintiff's demeanor.  She filed suit in 2022.  The county demurred on the grounds that the social worker was entitled to immunity under Government Code section 820.2, and the county was therefore immune under Government Code section 815.2, subdivision (b).  The trial court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend.

The appellate court noted that the lawsuit was timely under the amendment to Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1 that revived time-barred claims relating to childhood sexual assault.  The court nevertheless affirmed the demurrer based on the social worker's immunity under Government Code section 820.2's discretionary immunity, which under section 815.2(b) applied to the county employing the social worker.  Section 820.2 applies to discretionary foster child placements.  It therefore applied to decisions whether to undertake investigative or corrective action in response to reported child abuse.  While a finding of immunity requires a showing that the specific conduct giving rise to the suit involved a conscious balancing of risks and advantages, a strictly careful, thorough, formal, or correct evaluation is not mandatory.  Under a fair reading of the complaint, the plaintiff essentially alleged the county's social workers were confronted with reports of sexual abuse that should have prompted investigative or corrective action, but they failed to properly exercise their discretion to do so.  This was a claim of improper evaluation, which cannot divest a discretionary policy decision of its immunity.