Rachel Ziegler v. County of Riverside

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Rachel Ziegler (“Ziegler”), individually and as Guardian Ad Litem for her nine-year-old daughter (“SAR”), appeals from a district court grant of summary judgment for Defendants-Appellees on the basis of qualified immunity. Ziegler filed suit against social workers Thomas Hall (“Hall”) and Blanca Alonso Hall (“Alonso”), and Riverside County pursuant to 42 U.S.C § 1983 claiming that they violated Ziegler’s and SAR’s Fourteenth Amendment right to familial association and SAR’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures of her person when they removed SAR from Ziegler’s custody at a hospital without a warrant. Ziegler also sued under various state tort laws.

The district court granted Hall and Alonso’s motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds and denied Ziegler’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that her constitutional rights were not violated, dismissing her other state and federal claims. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 and 1292. We reverse in part, affirm in part and remand for proceedings consistent with this disposition.

I.

To determine whether a defendant is entitled to qualified…