Harasz v. Katz

• Decision Date: 19 July 2018
• Docket Number: No. 3:15-cv-001528 (CSH),3:15-cv-001528 (CSH)
• Citation: 327 F.Supp.3d 418
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: George HARASZ, and Douglas Wirth, Plaintiffs, v. Joette KATZ, Elizabeth Ferreira, Town of Glastonbury, James Kennedy, and William Trantalis, Defendants.

327 F.Supp.3d 418

George HARASZ, and Douglas Wirth, Plaintiffs,

v.Joette KATZ, Elizabeth Ferreira, Town of Glastonbury, James Kennedy, and William Trantalis, Defendants.

No. 3:15-cv-001528 (CSH)

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

Signed July 19, 2018

Sally A. Roberts, Law Office of Sally A. Roberts, LLC, Hartford, CT, for Plaintiffs.

John Essex Tucker, Attorney General's Office, Katherine E. Rule, Thomas R. Gerarde, Howd & Ludorf, LLC, Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

OMNIBUS RULING ON DEFENDANTS' AND PLAINTIFFS' CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

HAIGHT, Senior District Judge:

By prior Ruling [Doc. 46] reported at 239 F.Supp.3d 461 (D. Conn. 2017) (" Conversion Ruling"), familiarity with which is assumed, the Court granted in part Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' complaint, and converted that motion to dismiss in part into motions for summary judgment.

Those conversions resulted in three motions for summary judgment, which this Ruling resolves.

I. Procedural Background

At the pertinent times, Plaintiffs Harasz and Wirth resided in the Town of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and took in foster children for adoption under the supervision of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families ("DCF"). In November 2011, at the initiation of DCF, Harasz and Wirth were arrested by Glastonbury police officers on several charges of misconduct with respect to certain adopted children in their care. Harasz and Wirth were charged with sexual assault, cruelty to persons, and risk of injury to a minor. A state court bench trial resulted in the acquittal of Wirth on all charges against him. The State subsequently dropped all charges against Harasz.

Plaintiffs then filed a civil rights action in Connecticut Superior Court, which was removed to this Court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction. The defendants were Joette Katz, the DCF Commissioner; Elizabeth Ferreira, a DCF social worker; the Town of Glastonbury; and James Kennedy and William Trantalis, Glastonbury police officers. The individual defendants were involved, in one way or another, with the charging, arrests, or state proceedings against Harasz or Wirth. Plaintiffs alleged federal constitutional and state constitutional and law claims against various individual defendants. Specifically, Plaintiffs asserted claims for failure to train and supervise DCF employees; false arrest; malicious prosecution; and fabrication of evidence. The operative pleading is an Amended Complaint [Doc. 33].

The Conversion Ruling dismissed all of Plaintiffs' claims against Katz and Trantalis. As for Ferreira, the only claims against her were for fabrication of evidence. The Court converted Defendants' motion to dismiss those claims against Ferreira into a motion for summary judgment. As for Kennedy, the only claims against him (and against Glastonbury for indemnification) were for fabrication of evidence and malicious prosecution. The Court converted Defendants' motion to dismiss those claims into a motion for summary judgment.

Those conversions led to the summary judgment motions this Ruling resolves. Defendant Ferreira moves for summary judgment [Doc. 48] with respect to the counts in the Amended Complaint naming her as a defendant. Plaintiffs Harasz and Wirth move for partial summary judgment on liability [Doc. 51] against Defendant Kennedy. Defendants Kennedy and Town of Glastonbury move for summary judgment [Doc. 52] with respect to the counts in the Amended Complaint naming them as defendants.

II. Factual Background

These uncontested facts are drawn from the Parties' various statements of fact, filed in the format prescribed by Local Rule 56(a). See Docs. 48, 52-2, 59-1, 71, 73, 75-1, 76-2.

During the pertinent times, Plaintiffs were citizens of the United States and the State of Connecticut. They resided together in the Town of Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Defendant Elizabeth Ferreira was employed as a social worker by the Connecticut Department of Children and Families ("DCF"), assigned to its Manchester, Connecticut office.

Defendant Town of Glastonbury, Connecticut is a municipality which operates, directs and controls the Glastonbury Police Department. Defendant James Kennedy is a Glastonbury police officer.

All claims against named Defendants Joette Katz and William Trantalis were dismissed by prior Ruling [Doc. 46] of this Court. See 239 F.Supp.3d 461, 506-07.

Plaintiffs advised DCF that they were willing to take in foster children for adoption, providing that none had past sex abuse issues. Over the years, DCF was responsive to Plaintiffs' offer. Prior to 2011, Harasz and Wirth adopted nine children, who were born during the years 1990 though 2006.

The events underlying Plaintiffs' remaining claims, which survived the prior motion to dismiss and lie at the heart of the present summary judgment motions, relate to disclosures allegedly made by their youngest child, a boy born August 2006 and adopted by Plaintiffs in April 2007, identified throughout as "Doe # 9." Doe # 9 suffers from learning disabilities and developmental delay.

Doe # 9 and four of his siblings were in DCF's care and custody as of February 8, 2011, pursuant to an order of temporary custody. The siblings were removed from Plaintiffs' care following disclosures of abuse made by an older sibling, Doe # 4.

Defendant Ferreira was assigned to Doe # 9's case as a treatment social worker on or about February 28, 2011. In early June 2011, Doe # 9 began receiving therapy from Dr. Carol Kagel, a psychologist.

On August 3, 2011, Doe # 9 attended his ninth therapy session with Dr. Kagel. Dr. Kagel reported that, during the August 3 session, Doe # 9 made a spontaneous disclosure of sexual abuse by Plaintiff Harasz. On or about August 9, 2011, Dr. Kagel, a mandated reporter, made a report of suspected child abuse to the DCF telephone hotline. On August 9, 2011, Defendant Kennedy received a call from DCF, alerting him to Dr. Kagel's report of Doe # 9's disclosure.

As a result of Dr. Kagel's report, Defendant Kennedy arranged for a forensic interview of Doe # 9. On August 11, 2011, Doe # 9 was interviewed at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, in Hartford, Connecticut ("the forensic interview"). The forensic interview was conducted by Ann Glaser, a diagnostic interviewer on the staff of the St. Francis Children's Center, and was video-recorded. Defendants Ferreira and Kennedy observed the forensic interview from behind a one-way mirror in an adjoining room. Glaser wore an earpiece during the interview, through which the observers could communicate with her. Ferreira and Kennedy were also equipped with devices which enabled them to hear what was being said in the interview room.

Following the forensic interview on August 11, and according to the reports of Defendant Ferreira, on Friday, August 12, 2011, Doe # 9 made a disclosure of sexual abuse to his foster parent, Lisa K. That same day, Defendant Ferreira supervised Doe # 9 during a sibling visit at DCF's Manchester office. Ferreira reports that Doe # 9 made a disclosure of sexual abuse to Ferreira during that sibling visit. Defendant Ferreira reported these additional disclosures to Defendant Kennedy on August 16, 2011.

On September 1, 2011, Defendant Kennedy signed a five-page, 16-numbered-paragraph sworn affidavit captioned "Application for Arrest Warrant" and addressed to "A Judge of the Superior Court." Under the caption on the application reading "Name and Residence of Accused," the name of Plaintiff George F. Harasz and his Glastonbury address are typed in. Kennedy's affidavit supporting the arrest warrant application describes, inter alia , the content of the August 11 forensic interview, as well as Doe # 9's disclosures to Kagel, Defendant Ferreira, and Lisa K. Defendant Kennedy consulted the videotape of the forensic interview in drafting his affidavit. The affidavit concluded that there was probable cause to believe that Plaintiff Harasz had violated Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-70 and § 53a-73 (sexual assault).

On November 22, 2011, Judge Taylor of the Connecticut Superior Court, sitting in Manchester, signed the arrest affidavit, thereby converting that document into a warrant for Plaintiff Harasz's arrest.

On November 30, 2011, Harasz and Wirth were arrested by the State of Connecticut authorities on charges of misconduct with respect to some of the adopted children in their care. Specifically, the Plaintiffs were charged, inter alia , with sexual assault, cruelty to persons, and risk of injury to a minor. Plaintiffs denied all charges. In September 2014, following a bench trial before a state court judge, Wirth was found not guilty of all charges against him. In October 2014, Harasz moved successfully for the dismissal of all charges against him. Plaintiffs' state court exonerations on these charges led directly to the federal constitutional and state law claims they allege in the present action.

III. Standard for Summary Judgment

The principles governing summary judgment motions are well established. Smith v. Champion Int'l Corp. , 573 F.Supp.2d 599, 607 (D. Conn. 2008) (citing Gibbs ex rel. Estate of Gibbs v. CIGNA Corp. , 440 F.3d 571, 575 (2d Cir. 2006) ). A motion for summary judgment shall be granted "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). If, after discovery, the nonmoving party "has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of [his] case with respect to which [he] has the burden of proof," then summary judgment is appropriate. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett , 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The moving party must "demonstrate the absence of any material factual issue genuinely in dispute" to be entitled to summary judgment. Am. Int'l Grp., Inc. v. London Am. Int'l Corp. , 664 F.2d 348, 351 (2d Cir. 1981) (quoting Heyman v. Commerce & Indus. Ins. Co. , 524 F.2d 1317, 1319-20 (2d Cir. 1975) ).

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