Civil Rights — due process — qualified immunity

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Civil Rights — due process — qualified immunity

The officials who denied a child care provider certificate after doing a background check are entitled to qualified immunity.

“To the extent Humphries is arguing that Muniz and Xiong violated her constitutional right to due process by concluding that the 1988 substantiated abuse finding was the equivalent of a determination under § 48.981(3)(c)4, and denying her certification as a result, we disagree that it was clearly established that they were wrong to do so. Wisconsin Statute § 48.685(4m)(a)4 strictly prohibits a county department from certifying an applicant as a child care provider if there has been a determination under § 48.981(3)(c)4 that the person has abused or neglected a child. The County has no discretion to overlook a finding of abuse. The 1988 finding was entered into the State’s database prior to the enactment of Wisconsin Statute § 48.685(4m)(a)4, but the statute gives no guidance as to how a government employee conducting the requisite background check is to treat a finding of abuse made prior to its passage. Nor does Humphries point to any case law that might have provided guidance. The County’s internal caregiver background check manual, while recognizing that a person might not be aware of a pre-1999 finding of abuse entered against her as before then the agency often did not provide due process to the person against whom the finding was made, also does not address what a child care specialist should do when a pre-1999 finding of substantiated abuse is discovered as part of a background check. In light of Wisconsin’s strict direction against certification when there is an existing abuse finding on the books and a lack of direction as to how to treat a pre-1999 finding, Muniz and Xiong did not act unreasonably. That is, Humphries has not demonstrated that it was clearly established that Muniz and Xiong were wrong to deny Humphries’s certification based on a pre-1998 substantiated finding of abuse.”

Affirmed.

11-3758 Humphries v. Milwaukee County

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Stadtmueller, J., Williams, J.