Sutton v. Tompkins County
Plaintiffs Douglas Sutton and Anne Serling-Sutton sued Tompkins County Department of Social Services (DSS) and its employees, alleging violations of their substantive due process rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. They claimed DSS improperly removed their daughter, E.S., from their custody based on unsubstantiated sexual abuse allegations. The court found that DSS conducted an extensive investigation, which included interviews with E.S. and her therapist, and had a reasonable, good-faith basis for its findings, supported by E.S.'s consistent claims of abuse. The court concluded that DSS's conduct did not "shock the conscience" and granted summary judgment to the defendants, dismissing the federal civil rights claim on the merits and the state law claims without prejudice.