Pittman v. Cuyahoga County Dep't of Children

• Decision Date: 20 May 2011
• Docket Number: No. 09–4161.,09–4161.
• Citation: 640 F.3d 716
• Parties: Ricky L. PITTMAN, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.CUYAHOGA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Defendant,Cynthia Hurry, a.k.a. Cynthia Keller, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

640 F.3d 716

Ricky L. PITTMAN, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.CUYAHOGA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Defendant,Cynthia Hurry, a.k.a. Cynthia Keller, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 09–4161.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: Jan. 13, 2011.Decided and Filed: May 20, 2011.

ARGUED: Steven W. Ritz, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Kenneth D. Myers, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Steven W. Ritz, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Kenneth D. Myers, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.Before: KENNEDY, CLAY, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

CORNELIA G. KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant–Appellant Cynthia Hurry née Keller appeals the district court's order denying her summary judgment on Plaintiff–Appellee Ricky Pittman's claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Hurry, a social worker employed by the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services (“CCDCFS”), was the primary case worker for Pittman's son Najee, who was removed from his mother's custody by CCDCFS. After Najee was adjudicated neglected by the Juvenile Division of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas (the “juvenile court”), the court granted legal custody of him to Martha and Emmitt Graves, his maternal great aunt and uncle. Pittman, who maintains that he wished to take custody of Najee, asserts that Hurry misrepresented his desire and ability to parent Najee to CCDCFS and the juvenile court. He also alleges that Hurry impeded his ability to participate in the custody proceedings. As a result, he claims that his fundamental right to maintain a parent-child relationship with Najee was compromised in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of substantive and procedural due process. Hurry argues that she is absolutely immune from suit for her participation in juvenile court proceedings, and that the doctrine of qualified immunity bars the remainder of Pittman's claims against her. Because we find that Hurry is immune from Pittman's claims, we REVERSE the district court's order denying her summary judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Najee Waters, born on September 7, 2000, is the son of Pittman and Latarra Waters.¹ On January 2, 2001, an emergency situation required CCDCFS to assume custody of Najee and B.W., Najee's maternal half-sister, both of whom had been in the care of Latarra, a known drug addict. The following day, January 3, 2001, CCDCFS filed a complaint in the juvenile court, alleging that Najee and B.W. were neglected and requesting that CCDCFS be granted temporary custody of the children. The complaint erroneously stated that Pittman had not established paternity of Najee and was not involved in Najee's care or support, when in fact Pittman claims to have established paternity on January 2, 2001; the complaint was later corrected on the record to reflect that “[a]lleged father of Najee, Ricky Pitman [sic], has established paternity and provides financial support for the child and was unable to visit with the child on a consistent basis due to interference from mother.” On January 5, 2001, Pittman attended a hearing on the complaint, and the juvenile court appointed him counsel, at his request, after he executed an affidavit of indigency. Both Najee and B.W. were returned to Latarra's custody after the hearing.

In early June 2001, CCDCFS again was required to take Najee and B.W. into emergency custody. This time, a magistrate granted CCDCFS's motion for emergency temporary custody of the children during a hearing on June 12, 2001. Pittman attended the hearing, at which the magistrate renewed his counsel's appointment. On August 3, 2001, Hurry filed a case plan with the juvenile court, which reflected that the children had been placed in a foster family home. The case plan also contained an action plan that the family needed to implement in order to terminate CCDCFS's temporary custody. As part of this action plan, Pittman was required to submit to a psychological examination, take parenting classes, and undergo family preservation services.

At or around the time CCDCFS assumed custody of Najee and B.W., Hurry began investigating Pittman's household for the potential placement of Najee while the children remained in CCDCFS custody. She visited Pittman and his family at their home at 3207 Central Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, though during the visit Pittman informed her they were planning to move. Additionally, Hurry had Pittman and his wife, Bonita Pittman, complete a Release of Information form used by CCDCFS as part of its caregiver approval process. Hurry later used the releases to confirm that neither of the Pittmans had a criminal record, as required by CCDCFS procedure.

Before Hurry could further pursue Pittman's approval process, she maintains that, “within the first ninety days of the [June 12, 2001] removal, Mr. Pittman became very uncooperative.” She claims that Pittman refused to provide her with his new address or financial records, expressed unwillingness to allow Latarra to have any contact with Najee should Najee be placed with him, and would not agree to assume care of B.W. despite CCDCFS's policy that siblings be placed together whenever possible. Pittman does not deny that he did not want to take charge of B.W., though he disputes Hurry's remaining allegations. Specifically, Pittman asserts that he “never failed to cooperate with Cynthia Hurry or anyone else at [CCDCFS],” he “never refused to give Cynthia Hurry [his] address,” he “never told Cynthia Hurry or anyone at [CCDCFS] that if [he] got custody of Najee that [he] didn't want LaTarra [sic] to be a part of his life,” and he “never refused to give Cynthia Hurry or anyone at [CCDCFS] financial information.” Nevertheless, Hurry “never completed or finished” Pittman's approval process, alleging Pittman “would not have been approved” for placement due to his “uncooperativeness” and failure to facilitate a CCDCFS inspection of his new home. Hurry also asserts that she verbally notified Pittman his approval process had come to a stop in the late summer or fall of 2001, though Pittman claims “[he] was never told that [he] was out of consideration.”

On November 16, 2001, at a hearing attended by Pittman and his counsel, a magistrate adjudicated Najee and B.W. neglected. The magistrate found that “[Latarra]'s whereabouts are unknown. She has no stable housing nor has produced any proof of income. She was referred for a psychological evaluation, but has not complied.” The magistrate further ruled that CCDCFS should retain custody of the children until their dispositional hearing. The juvenile court approved the magistrate's decision on December 5, 2001.

The magistrate held Najee and B.W.'s dispositional hearing on January 18, 2002. Pittman claims that he attended the hearing, though the juvenile court records are unclear on this point.² The magistrate granted temporary custody of the children to CCDCFS, which order the juvenile court adopted on February 4, 2002. The magistrate's decision notes that “[f]ather Ricky Pittman did not show he was interested in receiving custody of his child Najee.” After the hearing, CCDCFS transferred the children from foster care into the care of their maternal great aunt, Martha Graves, and her husband, Emmitt Graves.

CCDCFS filed a motion for permanent custody of Najee and B.W. with the juvenile court on February 22, 2002. As part of the motion, Hurry submitted an affidavit containing the following statements: “Najee's relationship with his father has been adversely affected by father's failure to visit or communicate with his child for a time period of greater than 90 days”; “[f]ather of Najee has expressed his intent to agree with permanent custody to CCDCFS”; “[p]arents have failed continuously and repeatedly to substantially remedy the conditions causing the children to be placed outside the home”; and “[p]arents have failed to substantially comply with their court ordered case plan.” Furthermore, Hurry admits that CCDCFS never considered Pittman for custody of Najee.

Pittman contests Hurry's representations to the juvenile court and the basis for her decision to discount him as a potential custodian of Najee, again disputing the notion that he was uncooperative with Hurry and CCDCFS. He also alleges that “[he] never told anyone at [CCDCFS] that [he] agreed with a grant of Permanent Custody, ... [he] never agreed to allow [his] parental rights to be severed,” and “[he] visited Najee when [Najee] was made available to [him].” Furthermore, he challenges Hurry's assertion that his failure to comply with the case plan was a driving force in her decision not to recommend him for custody. Though Pittman does not dispute that he failed to complete the case plan's objectives, he offers evidence that Hurry did not receive notice of his failure to attend the required parenting classes until after she filed the affidavit in support of permanent custody; he also points to Hurry's assessment that CCDCFS policy usually allows parents at least twelve months to complete their case plan before CCDCFS seeks permanent custody. Finally, Pittman alleges that Hurry indicated to him that he was “next in line” for custody of Najee in the event that CCDCFS's plan for reunification with Latarra proved unworkable.

On June 10, 2002, Najee and B.W.'s case was reassigned to a social worker from Beechbrook, a private agency, making Hurry no longer the primary case worker in the matter. CCDCFS held a Semi–Annual Administrative Review (“SAR”) of the case on June 13, 2002; present were Latarra, the Graveses, the Beechbrook case worker, another CCDCFS social worker, and a CCDCFS facilitator. The SAR report prepared by the facilitator indicated that “Mr. Pittman does not want to be involvement [sic],” Pittman and his wife had attended some parenting classes but had dropped out, and “[n]either father has any contact or involvement with the...