Circuit Watcher

07-7021 Robbins v. State of Oklahoma
Before McCONNELL, BALDOCK, and GORSUCH Circuit Judges.
McCONNELL, Circuit Judge. This case arises from the tragic death of an eight month old infant, Renee Dawn Robbins, the child of Dustin Robbins and Melissa Gillum. In 2003, Renee’s parents sought financial assistance and other social services from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (“DHS”). Employees of DHS informed Mr. Robbins and Ms. Gillum that Carla Beth McKinney operated a licensed and privately-owned daycare center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where they might obtain state subsidized care for Renee. Plaintiffs further allege that employees of DHS “informed” them that “the McKinney Daycare was the only daycare to which Renee could attend due to financial considerations.” Comp. ¶¶ 19 & 20 (emphasis added). Following this consultation, Renee’s parents placed her in Ms. McKinney’s daycare where she suffered blunt force trauma to the head resulting in her death. The Chief Medical Examiner listed the manner of death as homicide; the state filed criminal charges of first degree murder against Ms. McKinney.
.
Renee’s parents originally filed suit against the State of Oklahoma Department of Human Services, five named employees of DHS in their individual capacities, ten unnamed employees of DHS in their individual capacities, Carla Beth McKinney, and the McKinney Daycare, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma on June 9, 2005. That case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiffs on September 7, 2005. This case was filed by Mr. Robbins and Ms. Gillum on September 7, 2006, against the same parties seeking damages and other relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of Renee’s constitutional rights and various torts in connection with Renee’s death.
.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services, Howard H. Hendrick, Nancy VonBargen, and Casey Foreman filed a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss against DHS on the basis of sovereign immunity, but denied the motion with respect to the individual defendants. Hendrick, VonBargen, and Foreman filed a motion to reconsider. The court granted the motion with regard to the prayer for declaratory relief, but once again denied the individual defendants’ qualified immunity claim on the prayer for damages because the court found that “it ha[d] insufficient information,” and therefore that some discovery was necessary to determine whether qualified immunity shielded the defendants from suit. Robbins v. Oklahoma Dep’t of Human Serv., No. 06-CV-367, 2007 WL 756694, *1 (E.D.Okla., March 7, 2007).
.
Defendants Hendrick, VonBargen, and Foreman appeal the partial denial of their motion to dismiss, and ask us to consider whether the plaintiffs have adequately stated a claim on which relief may be granted and whether they are entitled to qualified immunity. We reverse the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss, and instruct that the suit be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. … Robbins v. State of Oklahoma.