Wertheimer Fleder LLP sues Nassau County DSS and Cohen Children’s Medical Center’s Child Abuse Pediatrician Over False Accusations of Shaken Baby Syndrome That Separated a Family

In December 2022, one-year-old Empress Johnson tragically died from complications from the flu. Rather than be able to mourn their infant’s death as a family, Tiffany Cabrera and John Johnson had to spend nearly a year fighting false allegations that they had caused their daughter’s death by violently shaking her.  Nassau County Department of Social Services removed Ms. Cabrera’s four older children based on allegations of “Shaken Baby Syndrome,” a diagnosis that has been widely criticized in the past ten years and is responsible for dozens of wrongful convictions.

The allegations were also fabricated even using the flawed diagnosis, with clear medical evidence showing that our clients did not harm their child and showing her death was a result of natural disease processes.  Yet DSS employees and the child abuse pediatrician at Cohen Children's Medical Center (“CCMC”) advanced the allegation that Empress’s death could only be the result of abuse.  Even after an autopsy concluded that Empress had died of the flu, the child abuse pediatrician and DSS continued the removal, insisting, against all evidence, her death was caused by abusive head trauma. 

Wertheimer Fleder LLP has filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the County of Nassau, two DSS employees, CCMC, and a medical doctor employed by CCMC and Northwell Health. The complaint maintains violations of the family's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, including claims for malicious prosecution, due process violations, fabrication of evidence, unlawful seizure, and a pattern of deliberate indifference to those rights based upon a decades-long pattern of false allegations of abuse from child abuse doctors at CCMC. 

Not only does this complaint seek justice for our clients, but it also exposes a concerning pattern of professionals misusing outdated forensic theories and highlights the need for reform in how medical findings are interpreted and applied in child protection cases. 

The lawsuit, Cabrera et al v. The County of Nassau et al., is Docket No. 25-cv-05838, in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York.  Lead counsel on the case is Mara Fleder, who leads the firm’s family justice practice.  She previously spent a decade fighting on behalf of parents at The Bronx Defenders. For press inquiries, contact Mara at mara@wfllp.com.