Ramsey County will pay $875,000 to settle a data practices lawsuit brought by a Little Canada couple who had their foster care license revoked and planned adoption terminated following allegations the woman abused one of their foster children.

The county received a report in May 2019 that Amy Waters injured one of the three foster children placed with Waters and her husband John Waters on a pre-adoptive basis, according to the county.

According to the lawsuit, the county charged Amy Waters with gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child at the urging of Kathryn Fiega, a child protection investigator employed by Ramsey County. Fiega also regularly contacted Clay County officials urging them to remove the children from the Waters home, according to the complaint.

The Waterses alleg

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