A federal appeals court in Boston on Tuesday denied an appeal from two correctional officers facing a lawsuit from a Maine woman who alleges the officers violated her constitutional rights to privacy by staying in a hospital room while she was giving birth.

Jaden Brown, of Lewiston, who was pregnant when she turned herself in for a probation violation in July 2018, was sentenced to 15 months in Cumberland County Jail. When she went into labor on Feb. 11, 2019, she said multiple officers came in and out of the hospital room, two of whom sat within a couple of feet of her while she underwent exams and delivered the baby. She said the officers saw both her and her child’s “naked and exposed bodies.”

She filed a civil lawsuit in December 2020 against the county sheriff, jail administrator and the corrections officers for a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights, which offer protection from unreasonable searches, including officers observing “personal activities,” like undressing and showering, even if they aren’t formally conducting a search.

Corrections officers Carrie Brady, Sam Dickey and Daniel Haskell monitored Brown during her stay at the hospital. Last year, they asked a federal judge to dismiss them from the case under qualified immunity – a protection that shields an officer from civil lawsuits unless they violate a law that a “reasonable” officer would be aware of.

Brady was dismissed from the suit in August 2023 because of her lack of experience as a corrections officer, but the district court judge denied Dickey’s and Haskell’s requests, meaning Brown’s lawsuit can proceed to trial.

Dickey and Haskell appealed that decision, arguing that there isn’t enough evidence to prove they actually saw her while naked, according to court documents. But in August 2023, the U.S. District Court said that question is still in dispute. Because that fact is still up for debate in the district court, the appeals court said it has no jurisdiction.

Also named as defendants in Brown’s lawsuit are Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce and Maj. Timothy Kortes, the jail’s head administrator.

Brown’s attorney did not return messages asking to discuss the appellate court’s ruling Wednesday. The attorney for Dickey and Haskell, John Wall, declined to comment.

Joyce said Dickey retired earlier this summer and Haskell is still employed with the jail. He also declined to comment on Tuesday’s ruling, saying he had not had time to read it.

Brown also alleges that the officers violated jail policy and Maine law, which states “when a prisoner or juvenile is admitted to a medical facility or birthing center for labor or childbirth, a corrections officer may not be present in the room during labor or childbirth unless specifically requested by medical personnel.” Medical personnel did not request their presence, according to the lawsuit.

Another officer, who Brown said she invited into the hospital room, reminded Dickey and Haskell of that law when her shift ended, but they still stayed in the hospital room anyway, Brown alleges in the suit.

In her August 2023 order, district court Judge Nancy Torresen noted that the room was large and suggested that even if the officers stayed in the room, they could have “afforded Brown more privacy” by standing farther away from her hospital bed, rather than sit for hours on the bench “immediately to the side” of Brown.

Brown said she did not ask the officers to leave the room during the various procedures or the baby’s delivery, because “when you’re naked and your legs are spread open … it’s over. Let’s just get it done with,” according to the ruling issued by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

In her lawsuit, Brown also says she was handcuffed while pregnant, a violation of jail policy as well as federal and state law.