Pepke v. Fla. Dep't of Families

324 F. Supp. 3d 1258
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 20, 2018
DocketCase No. 18-cv-60432-BLOOM/Valle
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 324 F. Supp. 3d 1258 (Pepke v. Fla. Dep't of Families) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pepke v. Fla. Dep't of Families, 324 F. Supp. 3d 1258 (S.D. Fla. 2018).

Opinion

BETH BLOOM, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant Department of Children and Families' ("DCF") Motion to Dismiss Amended, ECF No. [73], Defendant Maria Gandul's ("Gandul") Motion to Dismiss *1261Amended Complaint, ECF No. [74], Defendant Annette Jose's ("Jose") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [83], Defendant Quina Munson's ("Munson") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [84], Defendant Center for Family and Child Enrichment, Inc.'s ("CFCE") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [85], Defendant Yolanda Nogueras's ("Nogueras") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [113], Defendant Mike Caroll's ("Caroll") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [114], Defendant Erica Lee's ("Lee") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [147], and Defendant Belia Pena's ("Pena") Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF No. [148], (collectively "Motions"). The Court has reviewed the Motions, all supporting and opposing filings, the record in this case, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons that follow, the Court finds that, under the Rooker - Feldman doctrine, it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims of constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, requiring the dismissal of this action without prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Randolph Scott Pepke Jr. ("Plaintiff"), filed this lawsuit individually and as the natural parent and guardian of Lila Snow Pepke, Layla Sky Pepke, and Lily Rain Pepke (collectively "the children") against Defendants arising out of dependency proceedings filed against Plaintiff in state court. See ECF No. [60]. According to the Amended Complaint, DCF and CFCE are two political subdivisions of the State of Florida, Defendants Nogueras, Pena, and Lee were child protective investigators working for DCF, Gandul was a client relations coordinator working for DCF, Caroll was a secretary working for DCF, Jose was a quality management manager working for DCF, and Munson was a mental health professional responsible for providing reports to DCF and CFCE. Id. at ¶¶ 3-4, 7-12, 14. On November 6, 2015, DCF allegedly removed the children from Plaintiff's care and custody, placing them in foster care after receiving frivolous reports of abuse. Id. at ¶ 16. Plaintiff alleges the foregoing occurred without proper investigation or without use of alternative measures to consider the children's best interests. Id.

While the children were in foster care, Plaintiff alleges that CFCE failed to maintain their proper welfare and failed to maintain supervision over the children after receiving reports that the children were neglected, abused, and abandoned by foster families, the children's biological mother, and CFCE personnel. Id. at ¶ 17. In addition, Plaintiff alleges that CFCE's case managers failed to complete and submit multiple vital reports, documentation and welfare concerns to DCF. Id. at ¶ 18. DCF, in turn, ignored information it received regarding reports of child abuse, neglect, and abandonment of the children while in foster care and with the biological mother, and ignored incomplete home studies, case plans, the lack of communication with other agencies, the failure to provide services for the children, and the lack of communication with Plaintiff regarding the unavailability of case manager replacements. Id. at ¶ 19. Child protective investigators Pena, Nogueras, and Lee failed to properly investigate, knowingly gave false information at the shelter hearing, ignored medical examiner facts, and worked with the biological mother in an attempt to falsely accuse Plaintiff and deprive him of custody over the children. Id. at ¶¶ 21-22. Pena also directed non-party *1262Sandra Murillo to file a false restraining order against Plaintiff which was later dismissed. Id. at ¶ 23. With regard to Gandul and Caroll, Plaintiff alleges they failed to properly investigate Plaintiff's numerous requests and complaints about Pena, Nogueras, and Lee's conduct during the years 2015 through 2017. Id. at ¶ 24. Jose purportedly failed to maintain an accurate record of the facts and events despite knowing about the abuse to the children and the reports of false information by DCF. Id. at ¶ 25. Munson failed to report known abuse to the children while in the biological mother's custody and the care of foster families while the children were in DCF's protective custody and under CFCE's supervision. Id. at ¶ 26. Plaintiff further alleges that Munson falsified information to DCF, the dependency judge, and CFCE about Plaintiff's conduct on two occasions.

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Bluebook (online)
324 F. Supp. 3d 1258, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pepke-v-fla-dept-of-families-flsd-2018.