BOISE, Idaho — The parents of the baby at the center of a child welfare case that prompted protests at hospitals led by far-right activist Ammon Bundy have filed a lawsuit naming St. Luke’s Health System, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the city of Meridian and several individuals.

The lawsuit was filed March 27 by Marissa and Levi Anderson, the parents of the 10-month-old who was separated from them on March 11, 2022, after health authorities determined the child’s weight loss could threaten his life. Roughly a week after the state took custody of the child, he was returned to the Andersons.

Diego Rodriguez, the child’s grandfather and a close associate of Bundy’s, and Miranda Chavoya, the child’s aunt, also are plaintiffs in the suit, which asks for $10 million in damages.

The time in between the baby’s separation and return was marked by protests stirred by Bundy and Rodriguez — first at the St. Luke’s hospital in Meridian and then at its Boise complex. Bundy was arrested for his actions at the Meridian facility, and protests in Boise caused the hospital to go into lockdown. The health system later sued Bundy, Rodriguez and Bundy’s People’s Rights Network, winning over $50 million in damages.

The Andersons’ case was initially brought in Florida, where they now live, but an Orlando judge transferred the venue to Idaho because the events occurred here and because the defendants reside in the Gem State, according to a court order.

The plaintiffs had argued that the case couldn’t be heard in Idaho because of “extreme bias” against them based on the defamation lawsuit that St. Luke’s filed and won. Neither Bundy nor Rodriguez ever came to court.

“I owe St. Luke’s nothing,” Bundy told the Idaho Statesman following the jury verdict. He eventually lost his house in Emmett, and he and his family fled the state.

Bundy and Rodriguez, as well as St. Luke’s, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the family’s lawsuit.

What happened in the child welfare case?

The baby’s pediatrician had recommended the boy be taken to the hospital in the winter of 2022 because he was having trouble digesting proteins and was losing weight. He was hospitalized for “severe malnourishment,” a news release from the Meridian Police Department said, and was discharged a few days later after gaining some weight.

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