United States Sixth Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that defendants violated plaintiff's right to substantive due process by subjecting her to dangerous working conditions in her job as a teacher's aide for special education students, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where, under the "state-created danger doctrine" theory of liability, defendants did not have the requisite degree of culpability for an assault on plaintiff by an autistic girl on a field trip. Where a governmental actor does not intentionally harm the victim or invidiously discriminate against him, conduct endangering the victim will not shock the conscience if the victim has voluntarily undertaken public employment involving the kind of risk at issue and the risk results from the governmental actor's attempt to carry out its mandatory duties to the public.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/11/2008
• Published 09/11/2008

Judges

• Before:  MARTIN, GRIFFIN, and GIBSON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Sixth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Marc D. Mezibov, Law Office Of Marc Mezibov, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellant.  R. Gary Winters, McCaslin, Imbus & McCaslin, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Marc D. Mezibov, Stacy A. Hinners, Law Office of Marc Mezibov, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellant.  R. Gary Winters, Ian R. Smith, McCaslin, Imbus & McCaslin, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellees.