Orange County will pay $28 million to settle a lawsuit involving an infant who sustained a catastrophic brain injury in 2019 after she allegedly was placed by a social services worker in a tiny, two-bedroom apartment that housed 10 people, including a known domestic abuser.
Just before the case was set to go to trial, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Gilbert Ochoa approved the settlement on Jan. 17. The proceeds will be put into a special trust for the lifelong medical care of “Minor I.H.” of Anaheim, who is now 5 and restricted to a wheelchair as a result of injuries that left her unable to walk or use her hands.
The injuries allegedly occurred after the Orange County Social Services Agency placed Minor I.H. with a family member in Rancho Cucamonga.
OCSSA officials said they don’t comment on lawsuit settlements. “However, it’s important to note that a settlement doesn’t imply an admission of wrongdoing,” Orange County spokesperson Molly Nichelson said in an email.
Attorney William Shapiro, who along with his son and law partner, Brian D. Shapiro, represented Minor I.H., said it took a lot of gumshoe work to uncover mistakes made by OCSSA. The pair plowed through bureaucratic gridlock, sifted through heavily redacted reports, conducted several depositions, and kept photos of Minor I.H. on their desks as a reminder of their mission.
“Pictures of that baby motivated the crap out of me,” William Shapiro said in a phone interview. “But it’s not just the photos on your desk. It’s also the images (of the injuries) in your mind.”
Minor I.H. was born on June 30, 2019. Less than two months later, on Aug. 16, an argument between Minor I.H.’s mother, ReeAnna Espino, and her father, Leslie Hooker Jr., became violent, the suit states. Espino was arrested by Anaheim police following a 911 call, leaving Minor I.H. in the care of her father.
The case was referred to the Orange County Social Services Agency, which placed Minor I.H. and her two siblings in the temporary custody of their paternal grandmother, Juana Hooker, in Rancho Cucamonga. However, OCSSA failed to conduct background checks on any of the adults living in the 923-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment that housed 10 people and didn’t properly inspect the dwelling, the suit states.
On Oct. 12, 2019, Minor I.H.’s grandmother called 911 and requested emergency medical services at the Rancho Cucamonga apartment.
The infant was taken first to San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland and then transferred to Loma Linda Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with a catastrophic hypoxic brain injury due to a lack of oxygen, the suit states.
Minor I.H.’s grandmother told OCSSA staff she went to check on the infant and found her lying face up in her bassinette struggling to breathe and moaning, according to the suit. Previously, Minor I.H.’s mother had contacted OCSSA about the grandmother’s use of soft blankets in the bassinette, expressing fear that the infant might suffocate, the suit states.
Several days later, doctors discovered a retinal hemorrhage on Minor I.H.’s right eye that was “suspicious for non-accidental trauma” but the specific cause of the injury was not determined.
The only adult male in the household had multiple convictions for domestic violence, battery and child abuse. The man initially told OCSSA he saw Minor I.H. face up in the bassinet, but deposition testimony showed that was not true because the grandmother had already picked up the infant as she struggled to breathe. The man was not charged in connection with Minor I.H.’s injuries.
William Shapiro said he is hopeful the lawsuit and settlement will serve as a wake-up call for the Orange County Social Services Agency. “The county is going to do better and there are going to be babies who don’t get wrongfully placed because of this case,” he said.