Baker v. Angus
| Decision Date | 11 January 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 950091-CA,950091-CA |
| Citation | 910 P.2d 427 |
| Parties | Bill and Patricia BAKER, individually, and on behalf of Amy Baker, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. Norman G. ANGUS, Executive Director, Utah Department of Social Services; Ron Stromberg, Director, Office of Social Services; Earl W. Bassett, Regional Director, Office of Social Services, Central Region; Barbara Thompson, Director, Division of Family Services, Office of Social Services; Carolyn Thomas, Case Worker Supervisor, Office of Social Services, Central Region; Karen Platt, Social Worker, Office of Social Services, Central Region; Utah Youth Village, aka Utah Girl's Village aka/ Girl's Village; Anthony Dougherty; and Kimberly Dougherty, individually, Defendants and Appellees. |
| Court | Utah Court of Appeals |
Kathryn Collard, Salt Lake City, for Appellants.
Elizabeth King and Jan Graham, Salt Lake City, for Appellees.
Before DAVIS, BENCH and BILLINGS, JJ.
The Bakers appeal from the trial court's dismissal of their complaint against certain state employees pursuant to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). We reverse in part, and affirm in part.
In view of the procedural posture of this case, we recite the facts in a light most favorable to the Bakers. See St. Benedict's Dev. Co. v. St. Benedict's Hosp., 811 P.2d 194, 196 (Utah 1991).
Amy Baker, a minor, suffered from emotional and mental conditions that led to several episodes of extreme hostility and her running away from home. Amy's parents did not have adequate financial resources to properly monitor and supervise Amy. Apparently as the result of a juvenile court order, the Bakers placed Amy in the temporary custody of the Utah Division of Family Services (DFS). Defendant Karen Platt, Amy's assigned DFS social worker, placed Amy in the Utah Girl's Village (UGV), a residential group facility in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Utah Youth Village, a nonprofit corporation under contract with DFS, administers and manages UGV. 1
Amy ran away from UGV several times. The first time, Amy was apprehended by the police. She struck an officer and was charged with assault. Subsequently, Amy was hospitalized and medicated until her condition stabilized. After her hospitalization, Amy was returned to UGV, where defendants Anthony and Kimberly Dougherty, the "house parents" at UGV, refused to provide Amy with her prescribed psychiatric medications. The Bakers contacted Platt who stated that she had not been monitoring Amy's situation at UGV and was unaware that her medication was not being administered to her.
Later, during a four-day period, Amy attempted suicide twice and ran away six times for prolonged periods of time, wandering about Pleasant Grove and Provo. In one such episode, Amy was again apprehended by the police. Upon instructions from the Doughertys, the police released Amy to return to UGV on her own. Within a day or two, the Doughertys called Mrs. Baker asking if she had seen Amy because she had run away from UGV again. They told Mrs. Baker that they had not searched for her because Platt had previously told them not to. The Doughertys also did not document or report Amy's activities to anyone during this time. Mrs. Baker attempted to telephone Platt but was unable to reach her, and Platt did not return her calls. Neither DFS or UGV had informed the Bakers of Amy's most recent attempted suicides or of her several unapproved excursions away from UGV.
Two days later, the Bakers received a telephone call informing them that Amy was in the Utah Valley Hospital and that she had been raped. Following these events, the Bakers contacted the state defendants and requested new case workers for Amy and, further, requested that they investigate Amy's situation. The state defendants refused the Bakers' requests.
The Bakers filed suit pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1983 and 1988 (1994), alleging that defendants deprived them and their daughter Amy of their constitutional rights under color of law. They sued each of the defendants in their individual and corporate capacities for "intentional, malicious, deliberately indifferent and/or grossly negligent deprivation of Amy Baker's substantive rights to reasonable and adequate conditions of confinement, care and treatment." The Bakers also claim that they were denied their freedom of speech, access to courts, and "their rights as parents of a handicapped and mentally ill child in state custody, under the federal and state constitutions and laws."
The state defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss, and the remaining defendants filed an Answer to the Bakers' Complaint. The trial court granted the state defendants' Motion to Dismiss for three reasons. First, the trial court determined that the Bakers' action "failed to state a cognizable claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983...." Second, the trial court determined that the Utah Government Immunity Act barred the Bakers' claims. Third, the trial court found that the Bakers' claims were subject to the notice requirements of the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act. 2
The Bakers filed a Notice of Appeal with the Utah Supreme Court after receiving a Rule 54(b) certification of the dismissal from the trial court. Utah R.Civ.P. 54(b). The supreme court transferred the case to this court pursuant to Rule 42 of the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Did the trial court err in dismissing the Bakers' complaint against the state defendants, pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure?
When reviewing a motion to dismiss based on Rule 12(b)(6), an appellate court must accept the material allegations of the complaint as true. Anderson v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 841 P.2d 742, 744 (Utah App.1992), cert. denied, 853 P.2d 897 (Utah 1993). We construe the facts in the complaint liberally and we consider all the reasonable inferences to be drawn from the facts in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs. St. Benedict's Dev. Co. v. St. Benedict's Hosp., 811 P.2d 194, 196 (Utah 1991). A motion to dismiss is appropriate only where it clearly appears that the plaintiffs would not be entitled to relief under the facts alleged or under any set of facts they could prove to support their claim. Colman v. Utah State Land Bd., 795 P.2d 622, 624 (Utah 1990). Because the propriety of a 12(b)(6) dismissal is a question of law, "we give the trial court's ruling no deference and review it under a correctness standard." Anderson, 841 P.2d at 744 (quoting St. Benedict's, 811 P.2d at 196).
The trial court found that, as to the state defendants, the Bakers' complaint did not adequately state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a section 1983 claim, plaintiffs must allege two elements: (i) that they have been deprived of a right secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States; and (ii) that the plaintiffs' deprivation resulted from defendants' actions under color of law. Meade v. Grubbs, 841 F.2d 1512, 1526 (10th Cir.1988). The Bakers claim that the state defendants have deprived them of their rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Bakers also claim that the state defendants violated their civil rights created by the following federal statutes: the Education for all Handicapped Children Act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and the Social Security Act. Finally, the Bakers claim that the state defendants violated their civil rights under parallel provisions of the Utah Constitution and "state laws and regulations implementing the foregoing federal laws and per se creating rights and entitlements of children in state custody."
The Bakers allege several violations of their constitutional rights including violation of their freedom of speech, denial of their access to courts, and deprivation of substantive and procedural due process rights. Since both parties briefed only the Fourteenth Amendment claims, we address only those issues. See State v. Brown, 853 P.2d 851, 854 n. 1 (Utah 1992) ().
Although the Constitution does not generally require governments affirmatively to provide services and care, certain affirmative duties arise from the Constitution when the plaintiff is in government custody. Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307, 320-24, 102 S.Ct. 2452, 2460-62, 73 L.Ed.2d 28 (1982) (); see also K.H. v. Morgan, 914 F.2d 846, 848-49 (7th Cir.1990) (). Fourteenth Amendment violations occur when those who are in government custody are not afforded safe conditions of confinement or, for those who need it, "minimally adequate or reasonable training to ensure safety and freedom from undue restraint." Youngberg, 457 U.S. at 319, 102 S.Ct. at 2459-60. The Bakers posture their constitutional claim against the state defendants on the theory that they had supervisory liability for Amy's safety.
The state defendants contend that the Bakers' complaint alleges respondeat superior liability by the state defendants. Because there is no respondeat superior liability actionable under section 1983, the state defendants argue that the Bakers' section 1983 action fails and was properly dismissed against them. However, the Bakers' complaint alleges that the state defendants acted in a supervisory role, which is actionable under section 1983. Monell v. New York City Dep't of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690 n. 55, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 2035 n. 55, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Supervisory liability attaches when officials
who have not been directly involved in the deprivation itself fail to take action which they are required to take to...
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