Horridge v. St. Mary's County Department of Social Services7/28/2004
Cathell and Battaglia, JJ., Dissent
Maryland law requires any person having reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect to make a fairly detailed report to either the local department of social services (DSS), which is a unit of the State Department of Human Resources and therefore a State agency, or an appropriate law enforcement agency. The law requires DSS, promptly after receiving such a report, to make a "thorough investigation" in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the child. Part of that requirement is the directive that, if the report is of physical or sexual abuse, DSS must, within 24 hours, "see the child," attempt to have an on-site interview with the child's caretaker, and decide on the safety of the child. The principal questions before us are whether (1) the statutory obligation to conduct a thorough investigation and take appropriate steps to protect the child creates a civil duty on the part of DSS to the child who is the subject of a report of abuse, and (2) if so, and subject to the State Tort Claims Act, liability exists on the part of the State or individual social workers if harm ensues to a child because of a negligent breach of that duty. We shall answer both questions in the affirmative.
BACKGROUND
In an amended complaint filed in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, plaintiff, Eric Horridge, alleged that, between December, 1999, and February, 2000, he made eight reports to the St. Mary's County DSS of physical abuse being inflicted on his nineteen-month-old son Collin by Collin's mother or her boyfriend, that a neighbor also reported that Collin was being abused, that DSS failed to make a thorough investigation and take steps to protect Collin, as required by law, and that, as a result of that failure, Collin remained in mortal danger and, in fact, was beaten to death by his mother or her boyfriend eight days after the last report was made and ignored. The complaint charged the State and two DSS social workers, Briana Shirey and Deborah Walsh, with negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress on Collin, and depriving Collin of his State Constitutional right to procedural and substantive due process, and it added a count against the State for negligent selection, supervision, and retention of Ms. Shirey and Ms. Walsh.
The court dismissed the complaint as failing to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted. Its decision was ultimately grounded on its conclusion that no duty was owed to Collin by any of the defendants and that, even if a duty were owed to him, the breach of that duty was not the proximate cause of the harm that ensued. Horridge appealed, and we granted certiorari prior to proceedings in the Court of Special Appeals.
Because the complaint was dismissed on the ground that it failed to state a cause of action, the issues before us are purely ones of law. We must assume the truth of all well-pled factual allegations in the complaint, as well as any reasonable inferences that may be drawn from those allegations. Adamson v. Correctional Medical, 359 Md. 238, 246, 753 A.2d 501, 505 (2000); Muthukumarana v. Montgomery County, 370 Md. 447, 474, 805 A.2d 372, 388 (2002). Accordingly, we shall recite as fact that which, at this point, is merely alleged.
Collin was born in Texas, in June, 1998, to plaintiff, Eric Horridge, and Tiffany Fairris. In October, 1999, Ms. Fairris moved to St. Mary's County, Maryland, along with Collin, his three-year-old sister, Erica, and Ms. Fairris's boyfriend, Daniel Fowkes. Plaintiff remained in Texas. In December, 1999, he reported to "Defendants" that Collin was being abused. That abuse, the complaint a
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