Malone v. IDOC
Filing
111
ORDER granting 101 Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel on 7/8/2020. (anp)
Case 3:17-cv-00952-NJR Document 111 Filed 07/08/20 Page 1 of 7 Page ID #1719
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
WILLIAM A. MALONE,
Plaintiff,
Case No. 17-cv-952-NJR
v.
CHRISTINE BROWN and SCOTT
THOMPSON, 1
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:
This matter is before the Court on a motion for summary judgment (Docs. 101, 102,
104) filed by Christine Brown and Scott Thompson. Malone is considered a restricted filer
and has not filed a response to the motion. 2
BACKGROUND
William A. Malone, an inmate of the Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”)
who is currently incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center (“Menard”), filed his
Complaint for deliberate indifference against Christine Brown for medical care which
Karen Jaimet, as the current warden of Pinckneyville Correctional Center, was originally added
to the case for purposes of implementing any injunctive relief awarded at the close of the case
(Doc. 11, p. 12). Scott Thompson is the current warden of Pinckneyville, and thus the Clerk is
DIRECTED to SUBSTITUTE Thompson in place of Jaimet as the proper party for implementing
injunctive relief.
2 On June 6, 2018, the Seventh Circuit imposed a filing ban on Malone until he pays in full all
outstanding filing fees and sanctions in his civil actions. Malone v. Ill. Dep’t of Corr., et al, SDIL
Case No. 17-cv-935-SMY, Doc. 21. The practical effect of a filing ban is that Malone cannot file any
papers in this civil rights action notwithstanding his claim of imminent danger. See Support
Systems Intern., Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185, 186-7 (7th Cir. 1995); Isby-Israel v. Lemmon, 674 F App’x
569 (7th Cir. 2017).
1
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occurred while he was housed at Pinckneyville Correctional Center (“Pinckneyville”).
Malone was allowed to proceed on a single count against Brown:
Count 1:
Brown was deliberately indifferent to Malone’s serious
medical condition (allegedly defective hip replacement and
associated symptoms) in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Specifically, his Complaint alleged that Brown overruled a doctor’s referral to an
orthopedic specialist (Doc. 11, p. 8). She also denied prescribed treatment and grievances
related to his care (Id. at pp. 8-9). The warden of Pinckneyville was added to the case
solely for the purpose of implementing any injunctive relief awarded.
Prior to filing suit, Malone had ten cases that were dismissed as frivolous or
because he failed to state a claim (Doc. 11, pp. 2-4). Thus, he was prevented from bringing
his action in forma pauperis unless he demonstrated that he was in imminent danger of
serious physical injury. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); Ciarpaglini v. Saini, 352 F.3d 328, 330 (7th
Cir. 2003) (citing Lewis v. Sullivan, 279 F.3d 526, 529 (7th Cir. 2002)). The Court found that
Malone’s claim regarding the treatment of his hip and back pain, which he believed to be
the result of a defective hip replacement implanted prior to his incarceration, constituted
imminent danger (Doc. 11, p. 9). In July 2018, the Court granted Malone’s request for a
preliminary injunction and ordered Defendants to schedule him for an evaluation by an
orthopedic specialist (Docs. 2, 54, and 59). As a result of that evaluation, Malone had hip
surgery on October 22, 2018 (Doc. 87, p. 4; Doc. 96, p. 2).
During the relevant time period, Christine Brown was the Healthcare Unit
Administrator at Pinckneyville. Her duties included supervising administrative issues in
the healthcare unit (Doc. 104, p. 1). Although she is a nurse, in the role of Healthcare Unit
Administrator, she does not provide medical care to inmates nor does she write
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prescriptions, refer inmates to specialists, or prescribe testing (Id.; Doc. 102-1, p. 49). She
also cannot override a doctor’s referral and she does not provide any oversight of medical
care (Id.).
Brown provided responses to three grievances written by Malone. On April 12,
2016, Brown responded to Counselor Rolla regarding Malone’s February 25, 2016
grievance (Docs. 104, p. 1; 102-2, p. 12). She stated that all of Malone’s treating physicians
were licensed and treated his medical complaints (Id.). She also noted that Dr. Shah,
Dr. Scott, and the nurse practitioner determined that neither physical therapy nor an
outside orthopedic appointment was warranted for his condition (Id.). On June 14, 2016,
she responded to a letter from Malone dated June 6, 2016 (Docs. 104, p. 1; 102-2, p. 13).
She informed Malone that the doctors order his medication and may refill his prescription
if medically necessary (Id.).
Brown also responded to an emergency grievance sent by Malone on March 17,
2017, about continuing pain (Docs. 104, p. 2; 102-5, pp. 4-6). She informed the grievance
officer that Malone was refusing sick call appointments (Id.). She also noted that he saw
the doctor on March 19, 2017 and did not request pain medication (Id.). She responded to
another emergency grievance dated July 13, 2017 (Doc. 104, p. 2; 102-5, pp. 1-3). The
grievance complained of continuing pain in his hip (Id.). Malone also complained that
Brown denied a recommendation for a referral to an orthopedist despite lacking any
expertise in the area (Doc. 102-5, p. 3). Brown responded that the referral was denied by
Wexford because they wanted to have x-rays prior to any referral (Doc. 102-5, p. 1). She
also noted that he received pain medication and his wheelchair was evaluated by a
physical therapist (Id.).
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LEGAL STANDARDS
A. Summary Judgment Standard
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 governs motions for summary judgment.
Summary judgment is appropriate if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute
as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Archdiocese of Milwaukee v. Doe, 743 F.3d 1101, 1105 (7th Cir. 2014), citing FED. R. CIV. P.
56(a). Accord Anderson v. Donahoe, 699 F.3d 989, 994 (7th Cir. 2012). A genuine issue of
material fact remains “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict
for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). Accord
Bunn v. Khoury Enter., Inc., 753 F.3d 676, 681-82 (7th Cir. 2014).
In assessing a summary judgment motion, a district court views the facts in the
light most favorable to, and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of, the nonmoving
party. Anderson, 699 F.3d at 994; Delapaz v. Richardson, 634 F.3d 895, 899 (7th Cir. 2011).
As the Seventh Circuit has explained, as required by Rule 56(a), “we set forth the facts by
examining the evidence in the light reasonably most favorable to the non-moving party,
giving [him] the benefit of reasonable, favorable inferences and resolving conflicts in the
evidence in [his] favor.” Spaine v. Community Contacts, Inc., 756 F.3d 542 (7th Cir. 2014).
B. Deliberate Indifference
Prison officials violate the Eighth Amendment’s proscription against “cruel and
unusual punishments” if they display deliberate indifference to an inmate’s serious
medical needs. Greeno v. Daley, 414 F.3d 645, 652–53 (7th Cir. 2005) (quoting Estelle v.
Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104 (1976) (internal quotation marks omitted)). Accord Rodriguez v.
Plymouth Ambulance Serv., 577 F.3d 816, 828 (7th Cir. 2009) (“[D]eliberate indifference to
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serious medical needs of a prisoner constitutes the unnecessary and wanton infliction of
pain forbidden by the Constitution.”). A prisoner is entitled to reasonable measures to
meet a substantial risk of serious harm — not to demand specific care. Forbes v. Edgar, 112
F.3d 262, 267 (7th Cir. 1997).
To prevail, a prisoner who brings an Eighth Amendment challenge of
constitutionally-deficient medical care must satisfy a two-part test. Arnett v. Webster, 658
F.3d 742, 750 (7th Cir. 2011) (citing Johnson v. Snyder, 444 F.3d 579, 584 (7th Cir. 2006)). The
first prong that must be satisfied is whether the prisoner has shown he has an objectively
serious medical need. Arnett, 658 F.3d at 750. Accord Greeno, 414 F.3d at 653. A medical
condition need not be life-threatening to be serious; rather, it could be a condition that
would result in further significant injury or unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain if
not treated. Gayton v. McCoy, 593 F.3d 610, 620 (7th Cir. 2010). Accord Farmer v. Brennan,
511 U.S. 825, 828 (1994) (violating the Eighth Amendment requires “deliberate
indifference to a substantial risk of serious harm.”) (internal quotation marks omitted)
(emphasis added).
Prevailing on the subjective prong requires a prisoner to show that a prison official
has subjective knowledge of—and then disregards—an excessive risk to inmate health.
Greeno, 414 F.3d at 653. A plaintiff need not show the individual literally ignored his
complaint, just that the individual was aware of the serious medical condition and either
knowingly or recklessly disregarded it. Hayes v. Snyder, 546 F.3d 516, 524 (7th Cir. 2008).
ANALYSIS
Simply put, there is no evidence that Brown acted with deliberate indifference.
Malone fails to offer any evidence that Brown was personally involved in his care.
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Although he alleges that she denied his referral to a specialist, this is based solely on his
own belief. Malone testified that he believed Brown could override a medical doctor’s
directive because she was a department head (Doc. 102-1, p. 65), but there is no evidence
in the record to support that belief. In fact, the medical records show that Dr. Fischer
denied the request to see a specialist until he received updated x-rays (Doc. 102-2, p. 9).
There is no evidence in the medical records to suggest that Brown participated in those
discussions or made any decisions regarding his care (Doc. 102-2).
Instead, the evidence in the record indicates that Brown only responded to his
grievances regarding his care. In doing so, she noted what care he was receiving at the
time. Although those grievances were ultimately denied, the mere denial of a grievance
does not amount to deliberate indifference. Owens v. Hinsley, 635 F.3d 950, 953 (7th Cir.
2011) (“[T]he alleged mishandling of [a prisoner’s] grievance by persons who otherwise
did not cause or participate in the underlying conduct states no claim.”); George v. Smith,
507 F.3d 605, 609-10 (7th Cir. 2007) (“Ruling against a prisoner on an administrative
complaint does not cause or contribute to the violation.”). Because there is no evidence
that Brown participated in the decision to deny Malone’s referral to a specialist, the Court
finds that Brown is entitled to summary judgment.
The Court further notes that Malone’s request for injunctive relief is now moot
because he is no longer housed at Pinckneyville, and he has already received the hip
surgery that he requested (Docs. 87 and 96). See also Higgason v. Farley, 83 F.3d 807, 811
(7th Cir. 1996) (a prisoner’s request for injunctive relief is rendered moot by his transfer
to another prison); Koger v. Bryan, 523 F.3d 789, 804 (7th Cir. 2008). Thus, Scott Thompson
is no longer a necessary party, and the claims against him are DISMISSED without
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prejudice.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the motion for summary judgment (Docs. 101, 102,
104) is GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to close the case and enter judgment
accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: July 8, 2020
____________________________
NANCY J. ROSENSTENGEL
Chief U.S. District Judge
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