| Presto | 07-20-2014 09:17 PM |
Stop posting moldy news, Timpo. Hell, even the follow-up is old: Federal judge dismisses Staten Island mom's $900 trillion civil-rights lawsuit | SILive.com Quote:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It stands to reason that a Staten Island mom wouldn't realize anything close to the $900 trillion she sought from the city for placing her two sons in a Queens foster home in 2008.
But Fausat Ogunbayo, 48, won't see a penny now that a Brooklyn federal court judge has thrown out her civil-rights lawsuit.
District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis said Ms. Ogunbayo - despite amending her court filings - failed to plead or show, for that matter, that her alleged damages were caused by a city policy or custom.
To establish liability against a municipality under the section of law she cited, Ms. Ogunbayo needed to claim and to demonstrate that her rights were violated by the application of a formal city policy or procedure, through an unlawful custom or use allowed by policy-making officials or through a "deliberate indifference" to the proper training of workers, said court rulings.
Ms. Ogunbayo, who filed the suit in January 2012 and represented herself, alleged that the removal of the boys from their West Brighton home in June 2008 violated both her civil rights and her children's.
She contended that she and her boys suffered "over three years of terror, horror, grievous harm, time lost, substantial economic hardship and injuries" due to their separation.
The children, then 12 and 10 years old, are now 18 and 15.
In removing the boys, the city contended that Ms. Ogunbayo was mentally unstable and had refused treatment, said court papers. She allegedly suffered from hallucinations and delusions, and also left the boys at home alone for extended periods while she was working, the city maintained.
Ms. Ogunbayo, whom public records indicate now lives in Stapleton, branded the allegations a "huge lie."
She received some legal ammunition shortly before filing the federal suit when a state appellate court vacated a Staten Island Family Court judge's finding of neglect against her.
There was no evidence, the appellate panel determined, that the children were ever in "imminent danger" of harm despite Ms. Ogunbayo's refusal to acknowledge her mental condition.
"Proof of mental illness alone will not support a finding of neglect," without a causal link between the parent's condition and actual or potential harm to the child, said the court.
In fact, the youngsters had "near-perfect" attendance in school and "were doing well, even thriving, academically," while in their mother's care, the appellate division said. In addition, the boys were up to date on their medical examinations and vaccinations, and their heights and weights were appropriate for their ages, said the court.
The panel also recommended that the city Administration for Children's Services (ACS) provide - and Ms. Ogunbayo accept - "appropriate services or referrals" to aid her reunification with her children, after more than three years apart.
On Feb. 17, 2012, ACS returned Ms. Ogunbayo's younger son to her custody. Two months later, a Family Court finding held that Ms. Ogunbayo had neglected her children by failing to visit them or communicate with ACS between June 8, 2011, and Feb. 15, 2012, said court records.
Ms. Ogunbayo, who denied abandoning her boys, was placed under ACS supervision, court documents said.
Her older son was, for a time, housed in juvenile detention for a criminal offense, said court papers. He was later released and remained in foster care until Nov. 15, 2012, court documents said.
Ms. Ogunbayo also sued the ACS in her federal action. That part of the case was dismissed in December 2012, court documents show.
"We agree with Judge Garaufis' decision," said Charles Carey, assistant corporation counsel in the city Law Department's General Litigation Division. "The plaintiff in these cases failed to demonstrate any violation of her constitutional rights."
Ms. Ogunbayo did not immediately return a telephone message left Tuesday seeking comment.
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