Social Worker May Be Liable for Coercing Blood Draw From Child

An Indiana social worker will face reinstated civil rights claims by parents who say she coerced them into taking their daughter for a blood test, after the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday said the facts were “too murky” to grant qualified immunity.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana was wrong to grant summary judgment for the social worker and her supervisor on the basis of qualified immunity, because there are factual disputes whether the parents consented to the blood draw for their child J.J., the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said, in an opinion ...