212433P.pdf   07/01/2022  J.T.H.  v.  Spring Cook
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  21-2433
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - Cape Girardeau   
   [PUBLISHED] [Stras, Author, with Benton and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Civil rights. In action alleging defendant, a child-welfare 
   investigator, conducted a child-neglect investigation against them in 
   retaliation for their earlier threat to sue a sheriff's deputy, thereby 
   violating their First Amendment rights, defendant's actions in 
   investigating the matter and filing an investigation report were not 
   entitled to absolute immunity; however, plaintiffs failed to show that 
   defendant violated a clearly established right not to be subject to a 
   retaliatory investigation, and defendant is entitled to qualified immunity 
   for conducting the investigation and writing a report; defendant was also 
   entitled to qualified immunity for her actions in reviewing her own report 
   in her role as circuit manager; the finding that defendant was not 
   entitled to summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds is reversed, 
   and the matter is remanded for dismissal of the plaintiffs' First 
   Amendment retaliation claims.