Campbell

Plaintiff Loraine Campbell appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants Sonja Pate, Lashonda Mitchell, and Murine McGenty, 1 employees of the State of Washington’s State Operated Living Alternative (“SOLA”) program. Defendants were responsible for the care of Campbell’s 33-year-old developmentally delayed daughter, Justine Booth, at the time Justine was found unconscious in her bathtub. Justine died one week later. Campbell sued Defendants on behalf of herself and Justine’s estate under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , alleging that Defendants deprived Justine of her Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process right to safe physical conditions while in involuntary state custody.

The district court concluded that Campbell did not present a genuine issue of material fact as to her § 1983 claim because she did not proffer evidence that the state owed Justine an affirmative duty of care. The district court also held that Defendants were protected by qualified immunity. We likewise hold that Defendants had no constitutionally required duty of care towards Justine because (1) there was no special relationship between Justine and the state and (2) there…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent because the majority has failed to consider all of the facts and to draw all inferences in Campbell’s favor. In so doing, it concludes that the state owed Justine Booth no duty of care and absolves the state of any responsibility for its employees’ recklessness. We *848 should hold that state employees exposed Justine to a greater danger than she would otherwise have faced by encouraging her to enter the bath and to leave her unattended for far too long. Campbell raised a triable issue of material fact as to whether the state of Washington had a “special relationship” with Justine. Campbell has alleged facts that, if true, establish that the state owed a duty of care to Justine and is liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for its alleged failure to protect her from deprivations of life and liberty without due process of law. See Corales v. Bennett, 567 F.3d 554, 562 (9th Cir.2009). Moreover, defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity because it was clearly established at the time of the events that the state owes an affirmative duty of care when it exposes an individual to danger that she would otherwise not have faced. We should hold that the…