United States Second Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action based on the termination of plaintiff's parental rights due to an allegedly false diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, a denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed where: 1) even if defendant-city employees had been aware of a physician's alleged reputation for overdiagnosing child abuse, it still would not have been unreasonable for them to rely on his diagnosis of plaintiff's child in these circumstances; and 2) city defendants were absolutely immune from a claim of abuse of process.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/07/2009
• Decided 02/17/2010
• Published 02/17/2010

Judges

• RAKOFF, District Judge:, Before MINER and CABRANES, Circuit Judges, and RAKOFF, District Judge.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Deborah A. Brenner, Of Counsel, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York (Michael A. Cardozo, Barry P. Schwartz, Of Counsel, Deborah A. Brenner, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellants., Carolyn A. Kubitschek, Lansner & Kubitschek, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs-Appellees.