Rebecca Michelle Hamrick, individually v. Kimber Dover-Jackson, in her individual capacity

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 24-1835
REBECCA MICHELLE HAMRICK, individually and as parent of minors A.H. and
K.H.; HAYLEY HARRISON,
Plaintiffs – Appellants,
v.
KIMBER DOVER-JACKSON, in her individual capacity; KELSEY FERGUSON,
in her individual capacity,
Defendants – Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at
Asheville. Martin K. Reidinger, Chief District Judge. (1:22-cv-00143-MR-WCM)
Submitted: March 6, 2025 Decided: June 9, 2025
Before KING, AGEE, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ON BRIEF: Bo Caudill, Sophia M. Pappalardo, VILLMER CAUDILL, PLLC, Charlotte,
North Carolina, for Appellants. Sean Francis Perrin, WOMBLE BOND DICKINSON
(US) LLP, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Plaintiffs Rebecca Michelle Hamrick, individually and as next friend to her minor
children A.H. and K.H., and Hayley Harrison, plaintiff Hamrick’s adult daughter, appeal
from the district court’s award of summary judgment to defendants Kimber Dover-Jackson
and Kelsey Ferguson on various state and federal claims. See Hamrick v. Rutherford Cnty.,
No. 1:22-cv-00143, 2024 WL 3585675 (W.D.N.C. July 30, 2024), ECF No. 42 (the
“Summary Judgment Order”). The plaintiffs initiated this civil action in July 2022 by filing
a 10-count complaint in the Western District of North Carolina. Their complaint alleged
claims against four defendants, Rutherford County, John Carroll, the Director of the
County’s Department of Social Services (the “DSS”), Ms. Dover-Jackson, a supervisor in
the DSS, and Ms. Ferguson, a social worker with the DSS — each in their individual
capacity only. The claims arose from a so-called “Temporary Parental Safety Agreement”
between Hamrick and DSS with respect to Hamrick’s three children, and the Agreement
was initiated due to concerns about their father’s drug use and violent behavior.
On April 17, 2023, after accepting the recommendations of a United States
Magistrate Judge, the district court resolved a substantial part of this litigation, granting a
motion to dismiss and rejecting all claims lodged against defendants Rutherford County
and Director Carroll. See Hamrick v. Rutherford Cnty., No. 1:22-cv-00143, 2023 WL
2978948 (W.D.N.C. April 17, 2023), ECF No. 17 (the “Dismissal Order”). The court
therein also dismissed claims of constructive fraud and violations of the Constitution of

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North Carolina that were alleged against defendants Dover-Jackson and Ferguson.* On
July 30, 2024, the court filed its Summary Judgment Order and resolved the balance of the
pending claims by awarding summary judgment to defendants Dover-Jackson and
Ferguson on all other federal and state claims lodged against them. The plaintiffs now
appeal the Summary Judgment Order.
Having thoroughly assessed the appellate submissions and the record in this
litigation, we are unable to identify any reversible error in any of the challenged rulings.
Accordingly, we are content to adopt the district court’s carefully crafted and well-reasoned
Summary Judgment Order disposing of those issues. Finally, we dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions have been adequately presented in the
materials before this Court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
* None of the rulings made in the Dismissal Order are challenged on appeal. The
claims pursued on appeal relate only to the County’s employees, Ms. Dover-Jackson and
Ms. Ferguson, solely in their individual capacities.

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