New York, New York — A federal appeals court has ruled that a New York City Administration for Children’s Services caseworker can be sued for taking a six-day-old boy from his father without a court order and then leaving the family in legal limbo for nearly three years, even though the agency never accused the father of anything.
In a May 19, 2026, decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of the father’s civil rights lawsuit against the City of New York and ACS caseworker Amar Moody. It also held that Moody is not shielded by qualified immunity.
What the father says happened
According to the lawsuit, as summarized in the court’s opinion, the boy was born on or about March 2, 2017, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. His father signed an acknowledgment of paternity at the hospital and brought the baby home. ACS opened an investigation because the child’s mother had a history with the agency involving her other children, who were fathered by other men. The father had no such history.
On March 7, 2017, Moody and another ACS employee made a “welfare check” at the father’s home, saw the baby and left him there overnight. They told the father to bring the child to an ACS office the next day. When he did, on March 8, ACS staff separated the infant from him and told him his son was being removed on an emergency basis because of the mother’s history. The father was given no chance to say goodbye, the opinion states.
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Later that day, ACS filed a neglect petition in family court against the mother only. The father was labeled a “non-respondent,” meaning he was accused of no wrongdoing. The petition, the lawsuit alleges, left out key facts about his role as the child’s caregiver.
Nearly three years in foster care
The baby was placed in a non-kinship foster home run by the Children’s Aid Society, a nonprofit contractor. At first the father was limited to a few hours of supervised visits a week. Although ACS never alleged he was unfit, he was told to file a paternity petition and to complete a service plan of parenting and safety classes and assessments. He completed the program.
The boy was not returned to his father until December 16, 2019, after two years, eight months and seven days in foster care. The father’s petition for full custody was not granted until August 14, 2020, according to the opinion.
What the court decided
The panel, made up of Circuit Judges Sack and Pérez and U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti, found that the lawsuit plausibly alleged an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. The judges noted that ACS left the baby with his father overnight and obtained a court order within hours of the removal, which they said suggested there was time to seek one before taking the child. A jury could conclude that the boy, sitting in an ACS office, was at “virtually no risk,” the court wrote.
The court also revived a due process claim brought on the child’s behalf over the years of separation without a hearing on the father’s fitness.
Assuming, as we must, that the facts are as alleged, by leaving the plaintiffs in procedural limbo for nearly three years, Moody evidently fell within the ranks of “the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.”
Second Circuit opinion, K.W. v. City of New York, No. 24-3042
The court did not rule entirely for the family. It agreed that the father’s own due process claim was filed too late under the statute of limitations, and it upheld the dismissal of all claims against the Children’s Aid Society and its caseworker. Because the case was decided on a motion to dismiss, the court accepted the father’s allegations as true. They have not been proven at trial.
What’s next
The Second Circuit sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for further proceedings. A city Law Department spokesperson told amNewYork the city was reviewing the ruling.
The case shows how a parent who is accused of nothing can still lose a child for years once an agency decides to act first and seek a judge’s approval later. Rulings like this one are among the few ways caseworkers are held personally accountable. Fathers facing a removal can learn more in FAN’s guide to fathers’ rights.
Key facts
- ACS removed a six-day-old boy from his father at an agency office on March 8, 2017, without a court order.
- The father was never accused of abuse or neglect and was named a “non-respondent” in family court.
- The child spent two years, eight months and seven days in non-kinship foster care before being returned on December 16, 2019.
- On May 19, 2026, the Second Circuit revived Fourth Amendment and child due process claims against the city and caseworker Amar Moody.
- The court ruled Moody is not entitled to qualified immunity on the alleged facts.
- Claims against the Children’s Aid Society and the father’s own due process claim remain dismissed.
- The case returns to federal district court in Manhattan.
Sources
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — K.W. v. City of New York, No. 24-3042, opinion (2026-05-19)
- amNewYork — Federal appeals court allows constitutional rights claim against NYC’s child welfare agency (2026-05-21)
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