In Holman v. County of Butte, ordered published May 15, 2025, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendant county. The plaintiff alleges that when he was 14, his parents began a pattern of physical abuse against him. While the plaintiff was 14, the defendant county's welfare department received a…
In Rieman v. Vasquez, published March 5, 2024, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed denial of absolute and qualified immunity to the defendant social workers. The plaintiff infant fell off a bed. His mother (a plaintiff) and grandmother took him to a hospital, which examined him but did not perform any diagnostic studies. A nurse…
In Murguia v. Langdon, published March 14, 2023, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part an order dismissing a suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1983. The plaintiff called 911 seeking emergency mental health assistance for his ex-wife, with whom he lived and had five children, including infant twins. The mother…
In Casey N. v. County of Orange, published December 23, 2022, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3, affirmed a jury verdict against the defendant county and two social workers in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit brought by a parent. Social workers investigated allegations that the plaintiff's minor daughter was sexually abused by her…
In Thompson v. County of Los Angeles, ordered published on November 16, 2022, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed an order dismissing a lawsuit after demurrer was sustained without leave to amend. The plaintiff's four-year-old son fell at his school's playground, fracturing his arm. The child had a developmental delay and was nonverbal. …
In Benevidez v. County of San Diego, published April 12, 2021, the 9th Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court's dismissal of an action against social workers and their county employer. The complaint alleged that the defendant social workers obtained a protective custody warrant and removed the minors from their home. …
In Momox-Caselis v. Donohue, published on February 3, 2021, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of a defendant county and its employees. The plaintiffs are the natural parents of a deceased infant. The county removed the infant from the plaintiffs' custody due to long-term neglect. After the county received a report…
In Hardwick v. County of Orange, published November 18, 2020, the 9th Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of summary adjudication in a plaintiff's favor of a claim for loss of familial association. County social workers allegedly made misrepresentations to a court that resulted in minors being removed from their mother's custody and put into foster…
In Sampson v. County of Los Angeles, published September 9, 2020, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part the dismissal on a Motion to Dismiss of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit against a social worker and his superiors. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant social…
In Dees v. County of San Diego, published May 27, 2020, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court's summary judgment ruling, and affirmed in part and reversed in part the court's ruling on post-trial motions. The defendant social worker took part in an investigation of an alleged impropriety concerning…