Zavatsky v. Anderson
| Decision Date | 12 February 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:00CV00844 AVC.,3:00CV00844 AVC. |
| Citation | 130 F.Supp.2d 349 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
| Parties | Karen ZAVATSKY, Plaintiff, v. Marcia ANDERSON, Ralph Arnone, Thomas Bisch, Angel Miranda, Bette Randlette, Terri Lockovitch-Morabito, Dorothea Hamilton, and Linda Madigan, Defendants. |
John R. Williams, Williams & Prattis, New Haven, CT, for plaintiff.
John Essex Tucker, Attorney General's Office, Hartford, CT, for defendants.
RULING ON THE DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
The plaintiff, Karen Zavatsky, brings this action for damages against the defendants, Marcia Anderson, Ralph Arnone, Angel Miranda, Bette Randlette, Terri Lockavitch-Morabito, Dorothea Hamilton, Thomas Bisch and Linda Madigan pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"). She alleges that the defendants, all employees of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (the "DCF"), interfered with her right to family integrity and family association and deprived her of equal protection of the laws in violation of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the state of Connecticut. The defendants bring the within motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that the complaint fails to state a cause of action upon which the court can grant relief.
The issues presented are: 1) whether the complaint states a claim for violation of the Fourteenth Amendment right to family integrity based on an adult's strong emotional relationship with the unrelated, non-adopted child of her partner; 2) whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state an equal protection claim where employees of a state agency administered internal agency policies in a discriminatory manner based on sexual orientation; and if so, whether the state employees' unequal implementation of those policies can be said to have violated clearly established law; 3) whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state a cause of action under Section 1983 where it fails to allege the personal involvement of certain individual defendants; and 4) whether the complaint states a cause of action under Section 1983 based on violations of the plaintiff's state constitutional rights by agency employees.
As set forth in more detail below, the court concludes that: 1) the complaint fails to state a cause of action for interference with the right to family integrity based on the emotional link between an adult and the unrelated, non-adopted child of that adult's partner; 2) the complaint states a cause of action for deprivation of equal protection where it alleges that state agency employees administered a facially neutral policy unequally as against the plaintiff, based on the plaintiff's sexual orientation and without a readily apparent justification; 3) the complaint fails to state a cause of action under Section 1983 against individual defendants where it fails to allege their personal involvement and only names them in the caption of the complaint; and 4) the complaint fails to state a cause of action under Section 1983 where it bases liability on alleged violations of the plaintiff's state constitutional rights that do not also give rise to a constitutional violation under the United States Constitution.
For the following reasons, the defendants' motion to dismiss is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
Examination of the complaint and supporting papers discloses the following relevant facts:
The plaintiff, Karen Zavatsky, is a lesbian who resides with her partner in the Town of East Haven, Connecticut. The defendants, Marcia Anderson, Ralph Arnone, Angel Miranda, Bette Randlette, Terri Lockavitch-Morabito, Dorothea Hamilton, Thomas Bisch and Linda Madigan are all employees of the DCF.
On July 9, 1989, Zavatsky's partner gave birth to a son, Terrel Alston. Since his birth, Terrel has "suffered from psychological disturbances ... and as a result has been placed ... in treatment programs ... and has been the subject of study an/or intervention by the [DCF]."
Beginning in mid-May of 1997, the DCF From that time forward, "the [DCF] continued to receive ... and document in its files proof of the continuing existence of the ... family relationship among [Zavatsky, her partner, and Terrel]." The individual defendants knew about this documentation.
On November 26, 1997, defendants Anderson, Miranda and Bartlett submitted a petition to the Connecticut Superior Court for Juvenile Matters. The petition alleged that Terrel was neglected and was "being denied proper care and attention, physically, educationally, emotionally or morally." At the time the defendants filed this petition, Terrel was a committed patient at Hall-Brooke Hospital in Westport, Connecticut, a licensed psychiatric facility. The complaint alleges that in submitting the petition to the court, defendants Anderson, Miranda and Randlett "concealed and made no mention of" Zavatsky or the family unit comprising Zavatsky, her partner, and Terrel, despite their knowledge thereof. It further alleges that the defendants would not have treated a member of a similarly situated heterosexual couple in the same manner.
Sometime after November 26, 1997, Terrel was placed in foster care.
Between November 26, 1997 and April 1998, while Terrel was in foster care, defendants Anderson, Arnone, Miranda, Randlett, Lockavitch-Morabito and Hamilton participated in the handling of Terrel's case. During this time, according to the allegations, these named defendants "refused to acknowledge the existence of the family unit of [Zavatsky, her partner, and Terrel] and deprived [Zavatsky] of her right to be a part of the conferencing and planning relating to [Terrel] and interfered with [Terrel's] familial relationship with [Zavatsky] to the detriment of [Zavatsky] and her family."
During this same time, in violation of the DCF's own rules, defendants Anderson, Arnone, Miranda, Randlett, Lockavitch-Morabito and Hamilton:
1) "failed and refused to provide [Zavatsky] and her partner with a Family Treatment Plan despite their requests."
2) "failed and refused to provide [Zavatsky] and her partner with an Individual Treatment Plan for [Terrel] until March 5, 1998."
3) "failed and refused to grant [Zavatsky] a visit with [Terrel] until long after he was taken into custody."
4) "refused to allow [Zavatsky] to see [Terrel]" on Thanksgiving or Christmas in 1997.
5) "denied [Zavatsky] telephone communication with [Terrel,]" despite repeated requests.
6) "refused to include [Zavatsky] in ... family reunification planning."
The complaint further alleges that the conduct described in paragraphs one through six above would not have taken place had Zavatsky been a member of a heterosexual couple. As a result of the conduct of defendants Anderson, Arnone, Miranda, Randlett, Lockavitch-Morabito and Hamilton, Zavatsky has suffered severe emotional distress.
On May 9, 2000, Zavatsky commenced this action.
A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "merely ... assess[es] the legal feasibility of the complaint, [it does] not ... assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof." Ryder Energy Distrib. Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir.1984). When ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must presume that the well-pleaded facts alleged in the complaint are true and draw all reasonable inferences from those facts in favor of the plaintiff. See Sykes v. James, 13 F.3d 515, 519 (2d Cir.1993). A court may dismiss a complaint at this stage only where "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of [her] claim." Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).
The defendants first argue that they are entitled to qualified immunity because the complaint fails to "advance a cognizable claim." In the alternative, they contend that even if the complaint states a cognizable claim the court should grant them qualified immunity because the constitutional rights that they allegedly violated were not clearly established. Zavatsky responds that the defendants' arguments are "irrelevant to [her] complaint since her contention is that facially neutral state policies and regulations were unequally applied to her."
"[G]overnment officials performing discretionary functions generally are granted a qualified immunity and are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 609, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999). The Supreme Court recently held that courts resolving cases in which defendants raise the defense of qualified immunity should determine first1 whether the plaintiff has alleged a deprivation of a constitutional right at all. See id. If such a deprivation has occurred, a defendant may establish a qualified immunity defense if "(a) the defendant's action did not violate clearly established law, or (b) it was objectively reasonable for the defendant to believe that his action did not violate such law." Wilkinson v. Russell, 182 F.3d 89, 103 (2d Cir.1999). In compliance with the Supreme Court's mandate in Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 609, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999), the court first addresses whether Zavatsky has alleged the deprivation of an actual constitutional right. See id.
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