Blackburn v. Washington Department of Social & Health Services

MEMORANDUM

Nine employees of a state mental hospital in Washington (“Plaintiffs”) appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment against them. We affirm.

Following entry of summary judgment, Plaintiffs brought suit in state court challenging the same race-based staffing practice at issue here. After a bench trial, the state court concluded that the duration of the staffing practice was limited to a single weekend. We give preclusive effect to that determination. See Christensen v. Grant Cty. Hosp. Dish No. 1, 152 Wash.2d 299 , 96 P.3d 957, 960-961 (2004).

The individual defendants are entitled to qualified immunity with respect to Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because, at the time they acted, it would not have been clear to a reasonable official that avoiding the assignment of African-American employees to care for a particular violent patient, when done temporarily in response to an imminent safety threat posed by the patient to African-American staff, violated the Equal Protection Clause. See Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U.S. 731 , 131 S.Ct. 2074, 2083-85 , 179 L.Ed.2d 1149 (2011); Johnson v. California, 543 U.S. 499, 515 , 125 S.Ct. 1141 , 160…