Former resident sues county, Department of Social Services
By: Alexandra Bogdanovic
06/05/2007


A former Warrenton resident is suing the Fauquier County Board of
Supervisors and three employees of the Fauquier Department of Social
Services for approximately $3 million in punitive and compensatory
damages.


http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab2.cfm?newsid=18432226&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506069&rfi=6


Fairfax attorney Earl N. Mayfield III is the attorney for the plaintiffs,
Alexandra Wolf and her children.


In the suit, which was filed in federal court in Alexandria, Mayfield says
Wolf was "falsely accused of threatening to kill herself and her
children." He further claims that "government officials" knew the
allegations were false, but still began a "nine-month campaign of
harassment."

Fauquier County and the DSS employees are accused of violating the
plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

Specifically, they are accused of "false imprisonment in violation of the
Fourth Amendment"; and "denial of rights to familial relations, integrity
and association under the First Amendment."

The defendants are also accused of violating the plaintiffs' rights to due
process under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Mayfield said he filed the lawsuit last August. The "discovery" portion of
the proceedings is due to wrap up June 15. He anticipates that a date for
a jury trial will be set by the end of the month.

Fairfax attorney Julia Judkins, who is representing the county and DSS,
said she will file a motion requesting that the case be dismissed,
however.

"The case has no substantive merit. This suit should never have been
filed," Judkins said this week. "There is no basis in fact or law for what
the plaintiff believes happened."



Additional details

The Chrysalis Counseling Center, which has offices in Reston, Culpeper and
Gainesville, and three of its employees are also named in the suit. They
are accused of slander, breach of contract, negligence, negligent hiring
and supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress and
professional negligence.

The allegations against all parties stem from a series of events that
began in August 2005.

According to the lawsuit, Wolf sought treatment for panic attacks at that
time. After going to the Chrysalis Counseling Center in Culpeper, Wolf was
allegedly referred to a "life coach" to help resolve the issue.

During one conversation with the life coach, Wolf apparently related that
she'd had thoughts of suicide in the past, but no longer thought about
harming herself. When asked, Wolf said she did not intend to hurt her
kids, either.

Even so, the lawsuit indicates that the life coach told a psychiatrist and
a licensed social worker at the center that Wolf intended to kill herself
and her children. The lawsuit further indicates that someone from the
center then informed police and the Department of Social Services that
Wolf was considering suicide and that she was a threat to her children.

The police discontinued their investigation of Wolf once they learned the
allegations were false, according to the lawsuit. Once the DSS also
learned that the allegations of Wolf's suicidal tendencies were false,
they initiated an investigation - totally bogus, according to the
lawsuit - into the possibility of child abuse.

As a result, Wolf's children were temporarily removed from her home and
placed in a friend's custody, according to the lawsuit.

By removing the children from their mother's house, the lawsuit contends
that the defendants violated the children's' right under the Fourth
Amendment "to be free from unreasonable seizures of their persons."

Removing the children from the children from their mother's house also
deprived them of their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law,
the lawsuit maintains.

The defendants' actions as they continued their investigation allegedly
deprived Wolf of her right to due process of law under the Fourteenth
Amendment, and deprived the family of its First Amendment rights to
"familial relations, integrity and association."

In addition to punitive and compensatory damages from the county and DSS,
the plaintiffs are seeking approximately $3 million in punitive and
compensatory damages from the other defendants.

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