Facts

Plaintiff Gina Gonzales was married to plaintiff Tim Gonzales with whom she had one daughter, plaintiff SG. Mrs. Gonzales had another daughter, plaintiff MG, from a previous relationship, who TG adopted and raised as his own. The Gonzales family lived at Fort Irwin, California.

On Jan. 12, 2006, MG was grounded for telling a lie. At school the next day, MG told classmates that Mr. Gonzales had made her do chores in the nude while he took photographs. MG told different versions of the story to defendant County of San Bernardino Child Protective Services (CPS), to school employees, and to the military police (CID). MG consistently made clear, though, that Mrs. Gonzales did not know about the incidents and that Mr. Gonzales did not penetrate her or make sexual advances on SG. CID called Mrs. Gonzales to their office where defendants Joanne Watts and Anna Kempf informed her that they would be removing MG and SG. Watts later filed a petition with the juvenile court alleging sexual abuse and failure to protect against Mr. Gonzales and Mrs. Gonzales, respectively. After several months, MG and SG were returned to Mrs. Gonzales on the condition that Mr. Gonzales not remain in the home and attend counseling. Exculpatory evidence of MG's fabrications remained in a file on the desk of defendant Daniela Fernandez, a CPS employee, and was not turned over to Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales' attorney. The juvenile dependency case was closed in October 2007 without any convictions.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that MG and SG were improperly removed and CPS violated their civil rights when they entered without a warrant.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
The defendants countered that they had qualified immunity in removing the children based on the circumstances.

Injuries

The plaintiffs suffered emotional distress.

Result

The plaintiffs accepted a settlement in the amount of $150,000.

Other Information

FILING DATE: May 14, 2008.