Coston v. Rahimifar et al
Filing
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ORDER DENYING 37 42 Motions for Summary Judgment for Failure to Exhaust, signed by Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson on 11/19/2019. Objections Due Within 14-DAYS. (Orozco, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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DANIEL M. COSTON,
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Plaintiff,
v.
MAJID RAHIMIFAR, et al.,
Defendants.
Case No. 1:17-cv-00765-JDP
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’
MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
FOR FAILURE TO EXHAUST
ECF Nos. 37, 42
OBJECTIONS DUE WITHIN 14 DAYS
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Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights action brought
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under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, complains about his post-operative medical care following major back
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surgery in November 2015. Plaintiff alleges that on the same day of his surgery at Bakersfield
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Hospital, November 23, 2015, he was discharged and forced to load himself into a prison sedan,
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despite his delicate, post-surgical condition. Plaintiff was transported to the prison, which did not
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have a bed capable of stabilizing and controlling his symptoms. He was discharged from the
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prison and returned to the hospital the next day, causing more discomfort. Plaintiff has stated
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Eighth Amendment medical deliberate indifference claims against (1) defendant Rahimifar, who
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advised plaintiff prior to the surgery that he would require a two- to three-day hospital stay for
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post-operative recovery and then discharged plaintiff on the day of the surgery, and (2) defendant
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Ahmed,1 who discharged plaintiff from the hospital upon re-admittance the day after surgery. See
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ECF No. 12 at 6-7. Both defendants are physicians at Bakersfield Hospital.
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Defendants move for summary judgment based upon an alleged failure to exhaust
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administrative remedies. ECF Nos. 37, 42. In response, plaintiff provides documentation of his
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administrative exhaustion process for his claims of medical deliberate indifference against
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defendants. ECF Nos. 47, 48, 49. Defendants replied, renewing their exhaustion arguments and
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asserting that plaintiff’s signed statement is inadmissible. ECF Nos. 50, 51. This matter is now
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ripe for review.
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Evidentiary Objections
As an initial matter, defendants’ evidentiary objection that plaintiff’s signed declaration
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must be sworn under penalty of perjury is meritless for multiple reasons. First, plaintiff is the
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non-moving party on the instant motions and does not bear the burden of proof. His evidence,
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though it should be substantively admissible, need not be presented in admissible form. See Fed.
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R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2) (allowing evidentiary objections only if the asserted facts “cannot be presented
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in a form that would be admissible in evidence”); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324
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(1986) (recognizing that the nonmoving party does not need to “produce evidence in a form that
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would be admissible at trial in order to avoid summary judgment”). Second, “courts should
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construe liberally motion papers and pleadings filed by pro se inmates and should avoid applying
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summary judgment rules strictly.” Thomas v. Ponder, 611 F.3d 1144, 1150 (9th Cir. 2010).
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Finally, attorneys, as officers of the court, have an obligation to narrow issues and facilitate the
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process, not hinder it with unfounded objections. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 1. For these reasons,
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defendants’ evidentiary objections are overruled, and I will consider plaintiff’s declaration.
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Summary Judgment Standard
The “purpose of summary judgment is to pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in
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order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. Ltd. v. Zenith
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This defendant was sued as Ahmed Mushtaq, but refers to himself as Mushtaq Ahmed. I use the
defendant’s preferred surname in this order. Should defendant Ahmed wish to correct the docket,
he may file an appropriate motion.
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Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (citation omitted). Summary judgment is appropriate
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when there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment
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as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).
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Summary judgment should be entered “after adequate time for discovery and upon
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motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an
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element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at
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trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). The moving party bears the “initial
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responsibility” of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 323. An
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issue of material fact is genuine only if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable fact finder to
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find for the non-moving party. A fact is material if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under
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the governing law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). A party
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demonstrates that summary judgment is appropriate by “informing the district court of the basis
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of its motion, and identifying those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to
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interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, if any,’ which it believes
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demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323 (quoting
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)).
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If the moving party meets its initial burden, the burden shifts to the opposing party to
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present specific facts that show there to be a genuine issue of a material fact. See Fed R. Civ. P.
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56(e); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586. An opposing party “must do more than simply show that
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there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587. The
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party is required to tender evidence of specific facts in the form of affidavits, and/or admissible
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discovery material, in support of its contention that a factual dispute exists. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c);
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Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 n.11. The opposing party is not required to establish a material issue
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of fact conclusively in its favor; it is sufficient that “the claimed factual dispute be shown to
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require a jury or judge to resolve the parties’ differing versions of the truth at trial.” T.W.
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Electrical Serv., Inc. v. Pacific Elec. Contractors Assoc., 809 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir. 1987).
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However, “failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case
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necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323.
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The court must apply standards consistent with Rule 56 to determine whether the moving
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party demonstrated there to be no genuine issue of material fact and showed judgment to be
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appropriate as a matter of law. See Henry v. Gill Indus., Inc., 983 F.2d 943, 950 (9th Cir. 1993).
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“[A] court ruling on a motion for summary judgment may not engage in credibility
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determinations or the weighing of evidence.” Manley v. Rowley, 847 F.3d 705, 711 (9th Cir.
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2017) (citation omitted). The evidence must be viewed “in the light most favorable to the
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nonmoving party” and “all justifiable inferences” must be drawn in favor of the nonmoving party.
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Orr v. Bank of America, NT & SA, 285 F.3d 764, 772 (9th Cir. 2002).
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In a summary judgment motion for failure to exhaust, the defendant has the initial burden
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to establish “that there was an available administrative remedy, and that the prisoner did not
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exhaust that available remedy.” Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d 1162, 1172 (9th Cir. 2014). If the
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defendant carries that burden, “the burden shifts to the prisoner to come forward with evidence
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showing that there is something in his particular case that made the existing and generally
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available administrative remedies effectively unavailable to him.” Id. The ultimate burden of
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persuasion remains with defendant, however. Id.
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Exhaustion Requirement
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Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995, “[n]o action shall be brought with
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respect to prison conditions under [42 U.S.C. § 1983], or any other Federal law, by a prisoner
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confined in any jail, prison, or other correctional facility until such administrative remedies as are
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available are exhausted.” 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). This statutory exhaustion requirement “applies
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to all inmate suits about prison life,” Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 532 (2002), regardless of the
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relief sought by the prisoner or the relief offered by the process, Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731,
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741 (2001). Unexhausted claims require dismissal. See Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 211 (2007).
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In this case the administrative remedy process of the California Department of Corrections and
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Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) is applicable. See Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3084.1 (2016). To exhaust
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available remedies during the relevant time period, an inmate must proceed through three formal
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levels of review unless otherwise excused under the regulations. Id. § 3084.5. A prisoner
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initiates the exhaustion process by submitting a CDCR Form 602 “Inmate/Parolee Appeal”
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(“grievance”). Id. §§ 3084.2(a), 3084.8(b) (quotation marks omitted).
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The grievance must “describe the specific issue under appeal and the relief requested,”
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and the inmate “shall list all staff member(s) involved and shall describe their involvement in the
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issue.” Id. § 3084.2(a). Furthermore, the inmate “shall state all facts known and available to
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him/her regarding the issue being appealed at the time of submitting the Inmate/Parolee Appeal
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Form, and if needed, the Inmate Parolee/Appeal Form Attachment.” Id. § 3084.2(a)(4).
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The PLRA recognizes no exception to the exhaustion requirement, and the court may not
recognize a new exception. See Ross v. Blake, 136 S. Ct. 1850, 1862 (2016). The one significant
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qualifier is that “the remedies must indeed be ‘available’ to the prisoner.” Id. at 1856. If the
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court concludes that plaintiff has failed to exhaust available remedies, the proper remedy is
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dismissal without prejudice of the portions of the complaint barred by § 1997e(a). See Jones, 549
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U.S. at 223-24; Lira v. Herrera, 427 F.3d 1164, 1175-76 (9th Cir. 2005).
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Discussion
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The parties do not contest that plaintiff filed a grievance with the prison and that his
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grievance was exhausted through the third-level appeal. Instead, defendants argue that the
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content of the administrative grievance should have described plaintiff’s medical deliberate
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indifference claims against defendants with more specificity. The exhaustion requirement is
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intended to give a prison the notice and opportunity to correct an issue before it is brought to
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court, and to create an administrative record. See Reyes v. Smith, 810 F.3d 654, 657 (9th Cir.
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2016) (citing Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81 (2006)). “A grievance need not include legal
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terminology or legal theories unless they are in some way needed to provide notice of the harm
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being grieved. A grievance also need not contain every fact necessary to prove each element of
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an eventual legal claim.” Griffin v. Arpaio, 557 F.3d 1117, 1120 (9th Cir. 2009). “The grievance
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process is only required to ‘alert prison officials to a problem, not to provide personal notice to a
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particular official that he may be sued.’” Reyes, 810 F.3d at 659 (quoting Jones, 549 U.S. at 219).
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Defendants argue that plaintiff’s grievance failed to alert the prison to the nature of
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plaintiff’s claim and failed to name the individual defendants. In his grievance, plaintiff
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complained about his post-surgical care and raised the issue of being transported the same day
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and the day after surgery. See ECF No. 42-3 at 15-18. Defendants argue that plaintiff does not
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specifically connect these transportation decisions to defendants in the grievance. However,
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plaintiff is not required to provide “personal notice” in his grievance. See Reyes, 810 F.3d at 659.
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Plaintiff asserts, and defendants do not dispute, that his medical records were attached to
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his grievance. See ECF No. 48 at 2. These medical records named both defendants. See id. at
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20-32. Even so, defendants argue that plaintiff should have been more specific in his grievance,
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apparently expecting plaintiff to have raised his claims with precision, as they would eventually
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be laid out in this court’s screening order. See ECF Nos. 50, 51. There is no such requirement.
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See Griffin, 557 F.3d at 1120. The prison had the opportunity to consider, and did consider,
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whether plaintiff’s post-operative care was medically adequate. Plaintiff’s grievance was
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sufficiently detailed to exhaust his administrative remedies as to his Eighth Amendment claim.
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See Reyes, 810 F.3d at 659 (recognizing that a grievance meets the requirements of the PLRA if it
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“‘alerts the prison to the nature of the wrong for which redress is sought’” (quoting Sapp v.
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Kimbrell, 623 F.3d 813, 824 (9th Cir. 2010))). See also Fuqua v. Ryan, 890 F.3d 838, 847-50
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(9th Cir. 2018) (recognizing that a request that was considered and rejected by the prison during
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the grievance process had been exhausted).
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Order
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Defendants have failed to meet their burden on summary judgment as to plaintiff’s
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medical indifference claims. Accordingly, I deny defendants’ motions for summary judgment for
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failure to exhaust administrative remedies. ECF Nos. 37, 42.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:
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November 19, 2019
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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No. 204.
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