Nadra v. Mbah, 2007 Ohio 501 (Ohio App. 2/6/2007)
| Decision Date | 06 February 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06AP-829.,06AP-829. |
| Citation | 2007 Ohio 501 |
| Parties | Rev. Iyabo Nadra, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Susan Mbah and Mindy Grote, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. (C.P.C. No. 05CVH02-2202).
Rev. Iyabo Nadra, pro se.
Ron O'Brien, Prosecuting Attorney, and R. Matthew Colon, for appellees.
{¶1} Plaintiff-appellant, Rev. Iyabo Nadra ("appellant"), appeals from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas' entry of summary judgment in favor of defendants-appellees, Susan Mbah ("Mbah") and Mindy Grote ("Grote") (collectively "appellees"). For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part.
{¶2} On February 25, 2005, appellant filed a civil complaint in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, purporting to allege claims of fraud against Mbah, a Franklin County Children Services ("FCCS") caseworker, and Grote, an FCCS intake worker. Appellant's claims arise from the removal of her minor son, M.M., from her custody on January 2, 2002, and the subsequent filing of a complaint in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Juvenile Branch, alleging that M.M. was an abused, neglected, and dependent child ("juvenile complaint").
{¶3} The juvenile complaint, signed by Grote, was filed on January 3, 2002, in case No. 02JU01-97, and lists appellees, in their capacities as FCCS caseworker and intake worker, as the complainants. In addition to allegations that M.M. was an abused child, as defined by R.C. 2151.031(D), a neglected child, as defined by R.C. 2151.03(A)(2) and (A)(6), and a dependent child, as defined by R.C. 2151.04(C), the juvenile complaint set forth particular facts upon which such allegations were based. The juvenile complaint alleges that FCCS received referrals on or about December 19, 2001 and January 2, 2002, reporting that appellant was locking M.M. in the basement as punishment, with a cot for sleeping and a bucket to use as a toilet. The second referral reported that M.M. was being chained to a pole in the basement and that appellant fed M.M. once a day and withheld food depending on M.M.'s behavior. As a result of such referrals, FCCS, accompanied by the Columbus Police Department, obtained entrance to appellant's home on January 2, 2002, where they found M.M. locked in the basement with a cot, a bucket, and a chain attached to a pole. The home's electricity had been off for a week. According to the complaint, M.M. stated that he had to stay in the basement all day, that he sometimes had to sleep in the basement, and that he was sometimes chained to a pole by his wrist. M.M.'s 17-year-old sibling confirmed M.M.'s report, and appellant did not deny the form of punishment she inflicted on M.M. Columbus Police Department personnel removed M.M. from the home. The juvenile complaint prayed for disposition, including, but not limited to, an order of temporary custody or permanent commitment.
{¶4} The juvenile court initially granted temporary custody of M.M. to FCCS. However, on August 20, 2002, the juvenile court entered judgment, terminating FCCS's temporary custody of M.M., maintaining a wardship over M.M., and awarding legal custody of M.M. to his father.
{¶5} Appellant was arrested on June 13, 2002, and was indicted on charges of child endangering, abduction, and kidnapping. On November 12, 2003, a jury returned a verdict of not guilty on the abduction and kidnapping charges but could not reach a verdict on the child endangering charge. On March 22, 2004, the trial court, in appellant's criminal case, granted a Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal on the charge of child endangering and entered judgment acquitting appellant of all indicted charges.
{¶6} In her civil complaint, appellant alleges that the allegations in the juvenile complaint were false and that appellees violated R.C. 2151.441 by filing it. Appellant also alleges that appellees violated R.C. 2151.4192 by failing to return M.M. to her custody after the dismissal of criminal charges against her. Appellant alleges that appellees' actions:
* * * [C]aused [her] to [lose] her minor child [M.M.], monetary support from the Social Security benefits, their family dwelling, and subsidies from the Franklin County Public Housing Program, a decline in her health as a result of 5 ½ months incarceration, denial of her right to family obligation, and her moral standing in the community as a law abiding citizen.
{¶7} Appellees filed an answer to appellant's complaint on April 7, 2005, admitting:
* * * [T]hat law enforcement transported [M.M.] to Franklin County Children Services Intake Center on January 2, 2002 and that an investigation began at that time. Defendants further admit that an emergency court order was granted on January 3, 2002, that a temporary order of the court was granted on January 4, 2002, and that a temporary court commitment was eventually granted. Defendants further admit that Susan Mbah was the intake worker who handled the [M.M.] referral, that a NetCare assessment was performed, and that [M.M.'s] father was granted supervised visitation on April 2, 2002.
Appellees denied the remaining allegations in appellant's complaint for lack of sufficient knowledge and information. Appellees also asserted various affirmative defenses, including failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and immunity. On August 26, 2005, the trial court granted appellees leave to amend their answer to raise the statute of limitations as an additional affirmative defense.
{¶8} On November 28, 2005, appellees filed a motion for summary judgment, in response to which appellant filed a memorandum contra on December 27, 2005. Appellees argued that appellant's claims were barred by the two-year statute of limitations applicable to actions for damages against a political subdivision, as set forth in R.C. 2744.04(A). Appellees also argued that, if the trial court deemed appellant's complaint to assert claims pursuant to Section 1983, Title 42, U.S.Code ("Section 1983"), such claims were likewise subject to a two-year statute of limitations and time-barred. Additionally, appellees argued that they were immune from liability, pursuant to R.C. 2151.421(G), as persons who participated in good faith in a judicial proceeding resulting from a report of child abuse or neglect, and that they were entitled to qualified immunity for the exercise of discretionary functions as FCCS employees.
{¶9} On March 30, 2006, the trial court partially granted appellees' motion for summary judgment. After noting the R.C. 2744.04(A) two-year statute of limitations and agreeing with appellees' assertion that any Section 1983 claims were also subject to a two-year statute of limitations, the trial court concluded that appellant's claims, arising from the removal of M.M. and the filing of the juvenile complaint in January 2002, were time-barred. However, the trial court found that the evidence did not demonstrate that appellant's claim alleging appellees' ongoing failure to return M.M. to her custody was time-barred. Lastly, the trial court stated that the record contained insufficient evidence to evaluate appellees' entitlement to immunity. Accordingly, the trial court granted appellees' motion for summary judgment with respect to appellant's claims arising out of appellees' conduct in January 2002, and denied appellees' motion for summary judgment with respect to appellant's claims arising out of appellees' alleged failure to restore appellant's custody of M.M.
{¶10} On May 4, 2006, the trial court granted appellees leave to file a second motion for summary judgment, which appellees filed on May 10, 2006. In their second motion for summary judgment, appellees argued that appellant's claim based on the failure to return M.M. was time-barred because FCCS's temporary custody of M.M. terminated on August 20, 2002, when the juvenile court awarded legal custody of M.M. to his father. In support of their motion, appellees submitted a certified copy of the juvenile court's judgment entry. Appellant filed a memorandum contra appellees' second motion for summary judgment on May 30, 2006. While appellant did not dispute that FCCS's temporary custody of M.M. terminated on August 20, 2002, she argued that the limitations period on her claims should have been tolled based on her continuing harm.
{¶11} On June 27, 2006, before the trial court ruled on appellees' second motion for summary judgment, appellant filed a motion for default judgment. Appellant argued that she was entitled to default judgment, pursuant to Civ.R. 55, based on appellees' failure to file a reply memorandum in support of their second motion for summary judgment.
{¶12} The trial court denied appellant's motion for default judgment and granted appellees' second motion for summary judgment on July 20, 2006. The trial court concluded that any conduct that might serve as the basis of a claim regarding FCCS's failure to return M.M. ceased no later than August 20, 2002, upon the termination of FCCS's temporary custody. The trial court also rejected appellant's tolling argument stating that "the statute of limitations is not tolled by continued suffering, but only by continuing conduct." Accordingly, the trial court concluded that appellant's complaint was time-barred in its entirety and entered final judgment in favor of appellees.
{¶13} Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal and assigns the following as error:
The trial court erred by partially granting defendants' motion for summary judgment, granting final judgment for motion for summary judgment in favor of defendants, overlooking Pro Se Standard of Review and various genuine issues of material fact entered by Plaintiff throughout the Court Record, and denial of the Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment, when the record presents genuine issues of material fact that demand...
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