J.R. v. Gloria

• Decision Date: 26 February 2009
• Docket Number: C.A. No. 08-137 S.
• Citation: 599 F.Supp.2d 182
• Parties: J.R., a minor, P.P.A. Molly Raymond; B.R., a minor, P.P.A. Molly Raymond, Plaintiffs, v. Margaret GLORIA, Individually and in her Capacity as a Social Worker; Stephanie Terry, Individually and in her Capacity as Supervisor; State of Rhode Island Dept. of Children, Youth, and Families, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

Page 182

599 F.Supp.2d 182

J.R., a minor, P.P.A. Molly Raymond; B.R., a minor, P.P.A. Molly Raymond, Plaintiffs, v. Margaret GLORIA, Individually and in her Capacity as a Social Worker; Stephanie Terry, Individually and in her Capacity as Supervisor; State of Rhode Island Dept. of Children, Youth, and Families, Defendants.

C.A. No. 08-137 S.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

February 26, 2009.

Mary Ann Violette, Samuel C. Bazar, Audette Bazar Cordeiro & Grasso, East Providence, RI, Thomas L. Mirza, Pelletier & Mirza, LLP, Providence, RI, for Plaintiffs.

Genevieve M. Allaire Johnson, Attorney General's Office, Adam J. Sholes, Suzette I. Pintard, R.I. Department of Attorney General, Providence, RI, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

WILLIAM E. SMITH, District Judge.

In this case, twin boys through their mother Molly Raymond have sued a social worker and supervisor of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families ("DCYF"). They claim the DCYF employees were negligent and, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, violated their substantive due process rights by failing to remove them from a foster home in which they were (allegedly) abused. After six days of trial before a jury, at the close of Plaintiffs' case, the Court granted Defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a). This decision explains in detail the Court's reasons for granting the motion.

I. Procedural History

Some discussion of the travel of this case is helpful in order to understand its lengthy gestation, and to explain why the qualified immunity defense was not addressed earlier. Qualified immunity is, after all, immunity from suit, not a "mere defense to liability" and in the usual course is decided before trial. Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985); Hunter v. Bryant, 502 U.S. 224, 228, 112 S.Ct. 534, 116 L.Ed.2d 589 (1991).

Plaintiffs originally brought a negligence action against Defendants in Rhode Island Superior Court in 2001. Years of sporadic activity followed and on or about April 3 2008, Plaintiffs amended their complaint to allege a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. After defending in state court for seven years without reaching trial, Defendants seized the opportunity to remove the case to this Court once it presented a federal question under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Defendants deliberately (and understandably) chose not to press the qualified immunity defense until the Rule 50 stage, because a favorable decision might result in remand of the negligence claims to state court, thus delaying final resolution.

II. Plaintiffs' Fourth Amended Complaint

On the first day of trial, the Court inquired whether the § 1983 claims were against the DCYF employees in their individual capacities, official capacities, or both, because the Complaint was unclear.¹ Plaintiffs' counsel responded that Defendants were named in their official capacities as social worker and supervisor. While the § 1983 claim is further discussed infra, the reason for the Court's inquiry was that except for an Ex parte Young claim for prospective, injunctive relief (inapplicable here), a § 1983 claim against a state actor in her official capacity is treated as a suit against the government entity where she works. 209 U.S. 123, 28 S.Ct. 441, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908); Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 165-67, 105 S.Ct. 3099, 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985); Dirrane v. Brookline Police Dep't, 315 F.3d 65, 71 (1st Cir.2002). And, because Rhode Island and its agencies are not "persons" under § 1983, Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 71, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989), official capacity claims are not a viable theory for § 1983 money damages. Any discernable claim for money damages out of official capacity liability against DCYF employees would ordinarily be dismissed because DCYF, as an arm of the State, is entitled to Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. See Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 100, 104 S.Ct. 900, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984) ("a suit in which the State or one of its agencies or departments is named as the defendant is proscribed by the Eleventh Amendment"); Quern v. Jordan, 440 U.S. 332, 341-42, 99 S.Ct. 1139, 59 L.Ed.2d 358 (1979) (absent other waiver or consent, Eleventh Amendment immunity applies to § 1983 cases). See discussion Section VI, infra.

Recognizing their self-described "confusion" and "erroneous response" to the Court's questions, Plaintiffs moved to submit a Fourth Amended Complaint, adding "clarifying language" to reflect an intention to sue Defendants Margaret ("Peggy") Gloria and Stephanie Terry in their individual capacities. Plaintiffs argued that regardless of counsel's misstatement, the travel of the case and substance of the prior complaint reflected their intent to actually pursue individual liability.

Uncertainty in pleading § 1983 claims is not uncommon. Specificity is encouraged but when the issue is left "murky," the First Circuit looks to the "substance of the pleadings and the course of proceedings in order to determine whether the suit is for individual or official liability." Powell v. Alexander, 391 F.3d 1, 22 (1st Cir.2004) (quoting Pride v. Does, 997 F.2d 712, 715 (10th Cir.1993)). Almost all relevant considerations here signaled an intent to seek individual liability. Plaintiffs' complaint sought punitive damages and mentioned no DCYF failures with respect to policy or custom. The allegations involved individual knowledge and inaction. Defendants asserted the qualified immunity defense (only available for individual § 1983 claims) from the beginning, and DCYF counsel was "surprised" to hear Plaintiffs state to the Court that they intended to bring only official capacity claims. There is no dispute that Defendants had notice of individual claims, as Plaintiffs' intentions "can be ascertained fairly." Id. at 22-23 (quoting Biggs v. Meadows, 66 F.3d 56, 61 (4th Cir.1995)). The Court therefore accepts the Fourth Amended Complaint as alleging individual capacity § 1983 claims against Defendants Gloria and Terry (trial proceeded on that basis).²

III. Factual Background

While the true inception of this case may date back as far as 1985,³ the Court begins its summary in 1992, reviewing the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs.

A. Pre-Placement History

J.R. and B.R. (now age 16) were born to Molly Raymond on August 10, 1992.⁴ Ms. Raymond has three other children: James (now age 34), Richard (now age 29), and Jeffrey (now age 19). DCYF first removed J.R., B.R. and Jeffrey from Ms. Raymond's care after an incident in March of 1994, when police responded to her home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island for a domestic incident. At trial, Ms. Raymond described this as "a family thing" involving Dennis Drake, who lived with her at the time and is said to be the twins' biological father. DCYF was notified and removed the children because of the condition of the home and close confinement concerns stemming from a hook latch on an upstairs bedroom door where the twins slept.

After temporary care, the three young boys were soon returned to Ms. Raymond, who had moved to Connecticut. The Connecticut Department of Children and Families became involved in overseeing the case, and in May of 1995 expressed concerns to Ms. Terry, the DCYF Rhode Island case supervisor. DCYF received reports about Ms. Raymond's failure to follow through with offered services, domestic violence, and inability to provide basic parenting and supervision. Ms. Terry and a social worker (not Ms. Gloria) retrieved the three boys in Connecticut under the watch of the State Police, who were called because of what Ms. Terry described as past hostile and threatening encounters with Ms. Raymond and Mr. Drake.

The boys were again placed in temporary care and then returned to their mother upon her move back to Rhode Island in or around August 1995.⁵ Ms. Raymond began required parenting, domestic abuse and substance abuse services, and testified that the twins were doing well in a Woonsocket head start program. In the fall of 1996, Ms. Gloria was assigned to be the social worker on the Raymond case for Jeffrey and the twins. In November 1996, police and DCYF responded to another domestic dispute between Ms. Raymond and Mr. Drake, who both appeared intoxicated. At trial, there were varying accounts of the details of this incident, including that Ms. Raymond was pushed into a car and broke the car door window and/or that she attempted to drive away before police arrived. The children were home during the altercation, and Ms. Raymond was arrested. The children were again removed from the home and after short-term emergency care, DCYF placed the twins (then age 4) in the licensed foster home of Faith Sykes.⁶

B. The Sykes Foster Home

In 1996 Faith Sykes, an African-American woman, lived in a two-family dwelling in Providence. Ms. Gloria and Ms. Terry were not involved in the placement decision. Ms. Raymond testified that she had no problem with her Caucasian children living in a "black foster home" so long as they were cared for, although there was testimony that she told the twins to call their foster parents "monkey men" and used other racial slurs. Ms. Terry testified to having some concern about the placement because DCYF generally tries to place minority children in minority homes. She discussed this with a placement worker who, based on the history of the Raymond case, felt comfortable Ms. Sykes could "manage."⁷ Former DCYF licensing unit worker Linda Iaciofano referred to Ms. Sykes as an even-tempered, nice person whose home she visited and relicensed. Ms. Gloria said Ms. Raymond expressed an initial concern that the twins would be scared in a "black" home but then said it was fine.

There was much conflicting testimony about who lived in the Sykes home and when. The DCYF license covered the second and third floors, and it is undisputed that Ms. Sykes...