The Ohio Attorney General’s Office filed a formal motion to dismiss Printup’s lawsuit and U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith granted that motion, saying Ohio JFS Director Cynthia C. Dungey has qualified immunity. Butler County officials have yet to make a formal motion for dismissal, but did ask the judge to throw out the case in their initial response to the lawsuit filed with the court.
Dave Riepenhoff, the county’s attorney, said he could not discuss whether he will file a formal motion to dismiss.
The attorney general argued in its motion that the case should be dismissed because Printup is no longer designated a child abuser in the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) and retroactive relief is barred by the 11th Amendment.
Printup’s attorney Chris Pagan actually agreed with the dismissal, stating in court documents that they weren’t aware her name had been removed from SACWIS until this action was filed. Pagan said the claim against the state might be over, but Butler County is not protected by the 11th Amendment.
When asked about the fact his client is no longer erroneously labeled a child abuser, Pagan said Printup has still been harmed.
“Butler County acted unconstitutionally in the way it adjudicated her claim, and she lost her job for a year because she was placed on that list,” Pagan said. “She had her reputation smeared for an entire year.”
Printup was teaching students coping skills and how to de-escalate their behavior at the school, when an 11-year-old boy became combative after he was told he couldn’t go to the gym during lunch because of a problem the previous day.
Court documents indicate the student ran out of the school and was nearly hit by a car. Staffers were able to get him back into the school, but he became upset again and knocked over some desks and chairs. Printup then allegedly applied what is known as a “small child restraint,” bear-hugging him from behind on the floor while another staffer restrained the student’s legs.
After he allegedly bit Printup on the arm, they called in more staff to employ a “supine restraint,” where both arms and legs were pinned to the floor by staff, until he stopped struggling and referring to staff using racial slurs. After he calmed down and they released him, court documents said he indicated he was “fine,” but after he got home his grandmother discovered scratches and bruises and called Hamilton police and Butler County Children Services.
After an investigation, Children Services ombudsman Bill Morrison — who is now the agency’s director — found physical abuse was “indicated.”
The police never charged Printup with child abuse, but after Morrison made his finding, she was fired from St. Aloysius and her name was added to the state registry of child abusers. She appealed to Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Pater, who found Morrison was wrong.
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