Coverdell v. Department Of Social And Health Services

834 F.2d 758 10 Fed.R.Serv.3d 143 Alice COVERDELL, acting on her own behalf and as the natural guardian of her daughter, Christina Robyn Coverdell, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, STATE OF WASHINGTON; Barbara McLaughlin; Laura Langston; and Albert J. Golden, Defendants-Appellees. No. 86-3825. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Oct. 9, 1987 * . Decided Dec. 15, 1987. William F. Etter, Spokane, Wash., and Aaron Horowitz, Dayton, Wash., for plaintiffs-appellants. Kenneth O. Eikenberry and H. Andrew Saller, Jr., Olympia, Wash., and Thomas M. Roberts, Spokane, Wash., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Before GOODWIN, ALARCON and LEAVY, Circuit Judges. ALARCON, Circuit Judge: 1 This appeal raises the following issues: (1) Did the district court err in dismissing plaintiff's complaint for damages under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1982) against a state-employed child protective services worker, on the ground that the worker enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for her actions in seeking, obtaining, and executing an ex parte court order directing that…