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A federal judge has dismissed a Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure claim filed against four Department of Child Services employees who were sued after five children were removed from their adoptive parents and were subsequently killed in a house fire.
Magistrate Judge Kellie Barr of the Indiana Southern District Court on Monday granted summary judgment to Michelle Adams, Kelsey Smitha, Kelsey Barrett and Whitney McKay on a Fourth Amendment claim brought by Lisa and Darwin Ridener, whose five adopted children and adult daughter were killed in a Vevay house fire in March 2020.
The fire occurred just two weeks after the five adopted children were removed from the Rideners’ care.
DCS had received a report of abuse and neglect on March 14, 2020, and Lisa Ridener consented to interviews of herself and the children. Lisa admitted in her interview that she had screamed at and used physical discipline on the children, while some of the adopted children as well as two foster children disclosed abuse at Lisa’s hand. One child had a mark/scar on the back of his head.
DCS subsequently obtained verbal authorization from the Switzerland Circuit Court to remove the children. Indiana State Police also conducted an investigation but ultimately declined to criminally charge Lisa.
The Switzerland Circuit Court later allowed DCS to file a child-in-need-of-services petition as to the five adopted children, then found probable cause for the continued detention of the children. The Rideners left the family home while the children returned and were placed in the care of their adult sister, Paige Ridener.
The fire broke out on March 28, while the children were in Paige’s care. The only survivor was Paige’s boyfriend, according to the Indianapolis Star.
The state fire marshal was unable to determine the cause of the fire.
The Rideners sued DCS and several of its employees in May 2021, alleging Fourth and 14th Amendment violations, as well as abuse of process, frivolous litigation, wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress, IndyStar reported.
Barr’s Monday order only addressed the Fourth Amendment claim against four DCS employees: Adams, the regional DCS manager in Dearborn, Decatur, Jefferson, Ripley and Switzerland counties; Smitha, a DCS supervisor; Barrett, the family case manager who was assigned to investigate the allegations against the Rideners; and McKay, a former DCS family case manager.
The Rideners’ remaining claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 were dismissed in a previous motion for judgment on the pleadings, so only the Fourth Amendment claim remained.
Granting summary judgment to the defendants on that claim, Barr wrote, “While the facts of this case are undeniably tragic, it is undisputed that the Children died from a fire of unknown origin two weeks after a report of abuse and neglect led to Defendants becoming involved with the Rideners and the Children being remove from the Rideners’ care and placed with their adult sister, Paige. … (T)he Rideners cannot allege that Defendants’ actions caused the deaths of the Children, given the circumstances surrounding their deaths and the completely speculative nature of any connection the Rideners try to make between that and the Defendants’ conduct.”
As an initial matter, Barr ruled that the Rideners did not bring their Fourth Amendment claim on behalf of themselves, but rather on behalf of their adopted children. She then ruled that the claim did not survive the children’s death.
The magistrate judge relied on Bentz v. City of Kendallville, 577 F.3d 776 (7th Cir. 2009), to hold that the elements of a Fourth Amendment unreasonable seizure claim in the context of a child removal are analogous to the Indiana tort of false imprisonment, which does not survive a decedent’s death. She rejected the Rideners’ reliance on Green v. Carlson, 581 F.2d 669 (7th Cir. 1978), to argue otherwise.
“The Rideners suggest that Defendants’ actions ‘led to the deaths’ of the Children because Paige had two prior alcohol-related offenses and DCS allegedly did not follow its typical waiver process related to that during a hearing,” Barr wrote. “… But the deaths of the Children two weeks later were neither the Rideners’ fault nor the Defendants’ fault — rather, the evidence before the Court shows that their tragic and untimely deaths were the result of a fire of unknown origin for which neither the Defendants nor the Rideners were responsible.”
The court further ruled that application of Indiana’s survival statute is not inconsistent with federal policy.
Finally, even if the Fourth Amendment claim survived the children’s deaths, Barr determined the defendants would be entitled to qualified immunity.
“Importantly, the Rideners expressly acknowledge in their response brief that the Children disclosed abuse at the hands of Lisa. This evidence, which the Rideners do not challenge, is sufficient for a finding that a reasonable caseworker could have found probable cause for removal,” she wrote.
“… Moreover, the record shows that there was a significant amount of additional evidence,” Barr continued. “… Based on all of this evidence, a reasonable caseworker certainly could have believed that there was probable cause for removal.
“… While the facts of this case are undeniably tragic and while the Court recognizes the tremendous loss that the Rideners have experienced,” the magistrate concluded, “the law requires the Court to conclude that the Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the Rideners’ sole remaining claim in this litigation.”
Barr entered final judgment in a separate order also issued Monday in Lisa Maureen Ridener and Darwin Ridener v. Indiana Department of Child Services, et al., 4:21-cv-74.
Indiana Lawyer has reached out to counsel for the Rideners for comment.
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