Alicia T. v. County of Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 23 July 1990
• Docket Number: No. B042169,B042169
• Citation: 222 Cal.App.3d 869,271 Cal.Rptr. 513
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: ALICIA T., et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants and Respondents. Civ.

Page 513

271 Cal.Rptr. 513

222 Cal.App.3d 869

ALICIA T., et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al., Defendants and Respondents.

Civ. No. B042169.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3, California.

July 23, 1990.

As Modified Aug. 16, 1990.

Review Denied Oct. 10, 1990.

[222 Cal.App.3d 874] Benjamin P. Wasserman, Long Beach, for plaintiffs and appellants.

Morris, Polich & Purdy, Robert S. Wolfe, Douglas J. Collodel and Beth A. Kahn, Los Angeles, for defendants and respondents.

KLEIN, Presiding Justice.

Plaintiffs and appellants Josie T., Al T. and Alicia T. (Alicia), a minor by her guardian ad litem, Josie T., (collectively, the T. family) appeal the judgment of dismissal entered in favor of defendants and respondents County of Los Angeles (the County), Clara Dodge (Dodge) and Edith Bishop (Bishop) (collectively, the defendants or the County).

Because Dodge and Bishop, social workers employed by the County, enjoy absolute immunity in the investigation of child abuse and the instigation of dependency proceedings, the trial court properly sustained the County's general demurrer without leave to amend. We therefore affirm the judgment.

However, because the briefs filed by counsel for the T. family contain unreasonable violations of the court rules, we assess sanctions against counsel, payable to the clerk of this court, in the amount of $750 to discourage similar violations in the future.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND ¹

The T. family's third amended complaint asserts that on or about June 21, 1985, Josie T. took her daughter, Alicia, born July 8, 1981, to Dominguez Valley Hospital (DVH) emergency room because she had a vaginal infection. Medical personnel at DVH notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that Alicia possibly had been the victim of molestation.

Josie T. advised the personnel at DVH that Alicia previously had been misdiagnosed as the victim of molestation after a similar infection two years before. DVH personnel advised Josie T. that Alicia should be examined by a group of doctors which specializes in child abuse trauma known as a " 'SCAT' " team.

As a result of this recommendation, a deputy sheriff took Alicia to Martin Luther King Hospital (MLKH) for such an examination. However, Alicia was not examined by a SCAT team at MLKH but by a physician, Dr. Nguyen, who the T. family allege, was not qualified to render an opinion on whether Alicia had been abused, and who erroneously concluded Alicia had been sexually molested.

The third amended complaint claims, as a result of the County's failure to submit Alicia to examination by a qualified physician, the County and its social workers, Dodge and Bishop, "without probable cause or reasonable suspicion removed her from the custody of her parents, and did so absent sufficient evidence of her status under Welfare and Institutions Code [s]ection 300." Alicia was placed in a foster home from June 22, 1985, until August 8, 1985.

The subject complaint further asserts the defendants "lacked probable cause for believing that [Alicia] was an abused minor within the ambit of Welfare and Institutions Code [s]ection 300[,] [subdivision] (d), which gives the Juvenile Court authority over abused, neglected minors." ²

The third amended complaint states that on June 28, 1985, and July 2, 1985, another physician correctly concluded Alicia had not been the victim of molestation.

In the controlling pleading the T. family prays for damages arising out of causes of action for violation of their civil rights, false imprisonment, and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. ³ Specifically, the T. family alleges the County failed to have Alicia examined by qualified doctors and failed to return her to the custody of her parents after a reasonable length of time had passed and the defendants knew, or should have known, that Alicia had not been examined by a qualified physician.

The third amended complaint states the County had no credible evidence upon which to justify removal of Alicia from the custody of her parents and had Alicia been examined properly by a "SCAT" team at MLKH, she would have been released immediately. They conclude the County unlawfully removed Alicia from the custody of her parents and acted on "incorrect, unsubstantiated, and insufficient information and therefore lacked probable cause...."

The County demurred on the grounds the civil rights causes of action were barred by the statute of limitations and by the absolute and qualified immunity provided the County and social workers in the investigation of child abuse and the instigation of child protection proceedings. The County also urged the trial court to dismiss the remaining causes of action for false imprisonment and negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress on the basis of the absolute immunity provided in Government Code section 820.2.

The trial court sustained the County's demurrer on all grounds stated in the moving papers and ordered the action dismissed without leave to amend. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the County, Dodge and Bishop. This appeal followed.

CONTENTIONS

The T. family concedes the personnel at DVH properly reported the suspicion of abuse to the sheriff's department. However, they contend the County negligently removed Alicia from the custody of her parents in reliance upon the misdiagnosis of two unqualified physicians and unreasonably held her in protective custody without expert evidence she had been abused. They assert the County is entitled to qualified, but not absolute, immunity for this conduct.

The County counters that the trial court properly sustained the demurrer on each of the three grounds stated in their moving papers.

Because we agree the defendants enjoy absolute immunity from liability arising out of investigation of child abuse and instigation of dependency proceedings, we need not address whether the T. family failed to file their complaint timely or whether the trial court properly sustained the demurrer on the basis of qualified immunity.

DISCUSSION

1. Standard of review.

"In reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint against a general demurrer, ... '[w]e treat the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of law.... [Citation.] We also consider matters which may be judicially noticed.' [Citation.] ... When a demurrer is sustained, we determine whether the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. [Citation.] And when it is sustained without leave to amend, we decide whether there is a reasonable possibility that the defect can be cured by amendment: if it can be, the trial court has abused its discretion and we reverse; if not, there has been no abuse of discretion and we affirm. [Citations.]" (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318, 216 Cal.Rptr. 718, 703 P.2d 58.)

2. The County and its employees are entitled to absolute immunity from liability for violations of civil rights under 42 United States Code section 1983 in the investigation of child abuse charges.

The T. family concedes the County and its employees enjoy some form of immunity relative to the investigation of reports of child abuse. However, they claim the County is insulated only by qualified immunity.

The County insists the law clearly provides absolute immunity for the conduct in issue here.

"Qualified or 'good faith' immunity is an affirmative defense that must be pleaded by a defendant official. [Citation.]" (Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982) 457 U.S. 800, 815, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2736, 73 L.Ed.2d 396.)

"Qualified immunity shields only that conduct not violative of clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Absolute immunity, in contrast, precludes any action for damages, so long as the challenged conduct falls within the scope of the immunity." (Austin v. Borel (5th Cir.1987) 830 F.2d 1356, 1358, fn. omitted.)

a. The applicable law of immunity from liability for 42 United States Code section 1983 claims.

42 United States Code section 1983 (section 1983) provides: "Every person" who acts under color of state law to deprive a person of a constitutional right shall be answerable to that person for damages.

Because Congress intended the remedy provided by section 1983 " 'as a means to provide at least indirect federal control over the unconstitutional acts of state officials' " (Ngiraingas v. Sanchez (1990) 495 U.S. 182, ----, 110 S.Ct. 1737, 1741, 109 L.Ed.2d 163, 172), state courts must look to federal law to determine whether an individual is to be accorded immunity from such liability. "[T]he purposes underlying section 1983 ... may not be frustrated by state substantive limitations...." (Williams v. Horvath (1976) 16 Cal.3d 834, 841, 129 Cal.Rptr. 453, 548 P.2d 1125.)

The substantive rules to be applied in section 1983 claims heard in state courts "include the elements necessary for the prima facie section 1983 cause of action and damages, as well as rules governing absolute and qualified immunity. [Citation.]" (Greene v. Zank (1984) 158 Cal.App.3d 497, 503, 204 Cal.Rptr. 770.)

The United States Supreme Court has recognized common law immunities are available to protect public officials from section 1983 claims but has not addressed whether a social worker's function of investigating child abuse reports and instigating dependency proceedings falls within the absolute immunity of a prosecutor (Imbler v. Pachtman (1976) 424 U.S. 409, 96 S.Ct. 984, 47 L.Ed.2d 128), or the qualified immunity of a police officer (Pierson v. Ray (1967) 386 U.S. 547, 555, 87 S.Ct. 1213, 1218, 18 L.Ed.2d 288).

Cases decided by lower federal courts have split on the issue. Those which have found social workers entitled to absolute immunity in connection with the investigation of abuse and initiation of dependency proceedings include: Meyers v. Contra...