Ault v. Speicher

• Decision Date: 03 March 2011
• Docket Number: No. 09–2104.,09–2104.
• Citation: 634 F.3d 942
• Parties: Dana AULT, Plaintiff–Appellant,v.Leslie SPEICHER, Defendant–Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

634 F.3d 942

Dana AULT, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.Leslie SPEICHER, Defendant–Appellee.

No. 09–2104.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Dec. 6, 2010.Decided March 3, 2011.

Jude M. Redwood (argued), Attorney, Redwood Law Office, St. Joseph, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.Rachel A. Murphy (argued), Attorney, Office of the Attorney General, Chicago, IL, for Defendant–Appellee.Before BAUER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and McCUSKEY, District Judge.^*McCUSKEY, District Judge.

Plaintiff–Appellant Dana Ault (Plaintiff) sued Defendant–Appellee Leslie Speicher (Defendant), an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Child Welfare Specialist for violating her rights to familial association under the First, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

Plaintiff claims that Defendant interfered with her parental rights during a DCFS investigation in 2004–2005. The district court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment. The court found that Defendant did not infringe on Plaintiff's right to familial association because Plaintiff had the option of disagreeing with the service plan prepared by DCFS and could challenge Defendant's authority in state court. The district court concluded that summary judgment was proper because Defendant was entitled to qualified immunity.

Plaintiff has appealed, arguing (1) the district court misconstrued evidentiary facts; (2) there are material facts in dispute regarding Defendant's restrictions on Plaintiff's relationship with her children; and (3) the district court improperly granted summary judgment on qualified immunity. Because we find that the district court properly granted summary judgment based on qualified immunity, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is the mother of four children (SY and KY from her first marriage, and TM and CM from her second marriage). Defendant is employed by the DCFS as a Child Welfare Specialist, serving as a caseworker assigned to coordinate and provide services for families in need. At the time of the incident Plaintiff was divorced and in a relationship with Eric Ogle (whom she later married).

On September 1, 2004, DCFS received a hotline tip of suspected physical abuse of Plaintiff's 4–year old, TM, at the hands of Ogle. DCFS commenced an investigation, and Plaintiff chose to have all four children reside with her mother and stepfather, Teresa and Tommy Samsil, rather than risk having her children placed in foster care. The next day DCFS created a “safety plan,” to which Plaintiff agreed, that set as conditions an arrangement for her children to continue residing with the Samsils. The plan expired on September 16, 2004.

DCFS's investigation “indicated” Ogle for physical abuse of TM. The case was an “intact family case” meaning that the family unit remained intact and DCFS did not have any legal relationship with Plaintiff's children. Once the investigation was completed Defendant was assigned as a caseworker for Plaintiff's family because Ogle was indicated for abusing TM and Plaintiff continued to maintain a relationship with him. Defendant developed the first service plan with Plaintiff and Ogle on October 21, 2004, which Plaintiff voluntarily signed.

The first service plan included the following provisions: (1) the children would continue to reside with the Samsils at least through the 2004–2005 school year; (2) they would continue to reside with the Samsils at least until such time that all counselors involved agreed that it would not be detrimental to the children's safety for the family to reunite; (3) Plaintiff and Ogle would attend counseling and parenting classes; (4) Ogle would attend substance abuse counseling; (5) Ogle's contact with Plaintiff's children would be supervised; and (6) Plaintiff's two oldest children (SY and KY) would attend counseling.

The plan included information regarding the service appeal process if Plaintiff did not agree with any of the provisions. Plaintiff could write down her disagreements and send it to Defendant's supervisor. Plaintiff believed that if she did not sign the DCFS service plans, DCFS could come with the police and take away her children.

In December 2004 domestic battery charges were filed against Ogle in the circuit court based on the same allegations of injuries to TM from the September 1, 2004, DCFS hotline tip. In March 2005 the court entered a no contact order under which Ogle was not to have any contact with Plaintiff's four children. The felony domestic battery charge against Ogle was dismissed in May 2005. Shortly afterward, the state filed a misdemeanor domestic battery charge based on the same allegations. That charge was dismissed in August 2005 on the state's motion, and the no-contact order expired at that time.

In June 2005 Defendant suggested to Plaintiff's mother Teresa Samsil that she and Plaintiff discuss transferring legal custody of the children to Teresa because Defendant was concerned about Plaintiff's stability, poor relationship choices, failure to complete parenting classes or counseling, and uncertain employment situation. Defendant believed Plaintiff's mother's home was a more stable environment. Plaintiff claims she was terrified that DCFS would take her children away if she did not comply with Defendant.

Relations between Defendant and Plaintiff continued to deteriorate in July 2005. Plaintiff and Ogle had fixed up a trailer and the Defendant did not believe the trailer had suitable living conditions for the children, and thought it best that the children continue to reside with Plaintiff's mother. Plaintiff and Defendant met and Defendant expressed her concerns. Defendant told Plaintiff that if she attempted to take the children from the Samsil house and did not sign over custody to her mother, Defendant would go to court to file for custody.

On July 13, 2005, Defendant wrote Teresa Samsil a letter summarizing her meeting with Plaintiff, and saying she made it clear to Plaintiff that if Plaintiff took the kids from the Samsil home, Defendant would go to the State's Attorney regarding guardianship. Defendant recommended to Teresa that she not allow Plaintiff to take the children from the Samsil home. A second letter to Teresa on July 19, 2005, reiterated the point, that the children should remain in Teresa's “custody.” Teresa understood this to mean that she did not have legal custody of the children, but rather that they were to remain living with her and Plaintiff was not to take the children for private visits without supervision. Plaintiff also understood that she remained physically and legally the parent for her children, but felt that if she did not comply, DCFS could come at any time and take her children. Plaintiff claims that Defendant told her, “on many occasions,” that Defendant, and not a court or judge, would “come and take my children if I did not obey orders.”

After receiving Defendant's letters, Teresa told Plaintiff that she could visit the children all she liked, but the visits had to be supervised. Plaintiff contacted Defendant to ask why she could not take her children with her and Defendant said it was because she did not feel the children were safe with Plaintiff.

In March 2005 a second service plan was developed containing identical provisions to the first. This was done because charges were still pending against Ogle and Plaintiff continued to maintain a relationship with him. Plaintiff signed the second plan.

A third service plan was created on September 21, 2005, but Plaintiff, on the advice of counsel, refused to sign, as she felt the more she agreed to Defendant's demands, the more Defendant requested of her. Concurrently, on September 18, 2005, the State's Attorney of Clark County filed a Petition for Adjudication of Wardship regarding Plaintiff's children. In an amended petition filed on September 22, 2005, it was alleged that Plaintiff was homeless and unwilling to provide supervision for her four children, and that she failed to take appropriate action to protect TM after he was a victim of physical abuse. On May 5, 2006, the court found the state had failed to prove neglect as to Plaintiff and denied the petition. Three of Plaintiff's children were returned to her, but the oldest decided to remain with the Samsils.

Plaintiff filed suit in the district court pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a violation of her due process rights to her “freedom of choice and privacy concerning the care, companionship, upbringing, and nurture of her four minor children” all in violation of the First, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. On March 25, 2009, the district court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment and denied the summary judgment motion of the Plaintiff. The court concluded that Defendant's actions did not infringe on Plaintiff's right to familial integrity and, even it had found Defendant's actions unconstitutional, the doctrine of qualified immunity would apply to shield Defendant from liability.

ANALYSIS

Plaintiff raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether the district court misconstrued evidentiary facts, resulting in an improper grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant; (2) whether there are material facts in dispute regarding Defendant's unlawful restrictions on Plaintiff's relationship with her children, which precluded summary judgment; and (3) whether Defendant's knowing violation of state law and DCFS regulations resulted in a violation of Plaintiff's constitutional rights, precluding qualified immunity.

Because we find qualified immunity to be dispositive, we will address that issue first and need not address the other issues raised in Plaintiff's appeal.

An appellate court reviews a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Carmichael v. Village of Palatine, Ill., 605 F.3d 451, 456 (7th Cir.2010). The district court must “grant summary judgment if the movant...