Nutter in fury over 2nd DHS lawsuit seeking damages for '28,000 children'

You could almost see the smoke coming out of Mayor Nutter's ears all the way from Denver.

"This is outrageous!" Nutter said last night during a phone call from the Democratic Convention. "It is a disgrace!"

What got Nutter fuming - yet again - was yesterday's filing of a class-action civil lawsuit against the Department of Human Services, and city and state officials. The suit, which seeks more than $150,000 in damages, was filed in federal court by one of the same law firms that brought a civil lawsuit in the case of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly, a disabled girl who starved to death while in her mother's care as DHS workers allegedly stood idly by.

The latest lawsuit, filed on behalf of Veronica Spencer, a mother of eight, Bryan Jones, the father of one of them, and more than "28,000 children and 56,000 parents," broadly alleges that "DHS is an unsafe agency for children." The suit does not provide specific examples of how DHS allegedly violated the plaintiffs' civil rights.

The Daily News was unsuccessful in trying to reach Spencer, of Southwest Philadelphia, and Jones, of Germantown, for comment.

The suit was filed by attorney David Mildenberg, of Mildenberg & Stalbaum. Brian Mildenberg, of the same firm, was one of two attorneys who filed a separate lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Danieal Kelly.

Nutter called the class-action lawsuit "opportunistic," and accused lawyers of "trying to rehabilitate their reputation" in the wake of public outrage over the Danieal Kelly litigation.

"They should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for trying to create this kind of hysteria," Nutter said. "In the aftermath of intense negative reaction from the public in the other case, now they want to come back with this suit and act like they are riding to the rescue when all they are really doing is riding in an ambulance. . . . Some people chase ambulances - they are literally in the ambulance."

The class-action lawsuit alleges that the city and state are depriving "abused, neglected and dependent children" of their rights "to receive services from a safe and appropriate agency, not a dangerous one."

The suit, citing DHS' lack of "full compliance" with state and federal laws, also claims that parents are being deprived of their right "to have a safe DHS agency providing services to their children. . . . "

In addition to financial damages, the plaintiffs want the federal court to appoint an independent trustee or master to oversee DHS' reform efforts.

As defendants, the suit names Nutter, new DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose, state Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman and Gov. Rendell.