Tamas v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., No. 08-35862

Civil Rights Action Against Department of Social Services

In Tamas v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., No. 08-35862, an action against the Department of Social and Health Services and nine of its employees alleging negligence and civil rights violations, the court vacated the denial of summary judgment for defendants where the deliberate indifference standard, as applied to foster children, requires a showing of an objectively substantial risk of harm and a showing that the officials were subjectively aware of facts from which an inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm existed and that either the official actually drew that inference or that a reasonable official would have been compelled to draw that inference.

As the court wrote:  "Enrique Fabregas (Fabregas) is a predator who slithered into the lives of vulnerable women with young daughters.  There is no question that Fabregas molested his foster daughters, one of whom he legally adopted. The more challenging question this case presents is whether the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and nine DSHS employees' involved in overseeing the foster care of Monica (Monica), Ruth Tamas (Ruth), and Estera Tamas (Estera) are legally responsible for the injuries inflicted by Fabregas."

Related Resources

Read the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Tamas v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., No. 08-35862