BURGOS v. NUTTER

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 11, 2020
Docket2:13-cv-04894
StatusUnknown

This text of BURGOS v. NUTTER (BURGOS v. NUTTER) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BURGOS v. NUTTER, (E.D. Pa. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA ____________________________________ DAVID BURGOS : Plaintiff, : : v. : CIVIL ACTION NO. 13-4894 : CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, et al. : Defendants. : ____________________________________:

MEMORANDUM OPINION Rufe, J. February 11, 2020 Plaintiff David Burgos, who initially proceeded pro se but is now represented by counsel, filed this civil action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Pennsylvania law to recover damages for injuries he suffered at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (“CFCF”). Burgos alleges Fourteenth Amendment conditions-of-confinement claims against Defendants City of Philadelphia, former Philadelphia Prison System Commissioner Louis Giorla, Warden John Delaney, and Warden Michele Farrell (“City Defendants”); a Fourteenth Amendment inadequate medical care claim and a First Amendment retaliation claim against Delaney and Farrell; a state- law conversion claim against Delaney; and Fourteenth Amendment inadequate medical care claims against Defendant Corizon Health, Inc. Both the City Defendants and Corizon have filed motions for summary judgment. Burgos has filed a motion for sanctions based on Corizon’s 30(b)(6) witnesses’ inability to provide information on Burgos’s medical records and treatment while in detention. For the following reasons, the City Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment will be granted, Corizon’s Motion for Summary Judgment will be granted in part and denied in part, and Burgos’s Motion for Sanctions will be granted. I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND1

In 2012, Burgos injured his knees, back, and neck in a car accident. From the time of his accident until July 1, 2013, Burgos went to physical therapy for his injuries.2 On July 4, 2013, Burgos began a six month period of incarceration at CFCF.3 Burgos alleges claims based on two separate issues with his confinement. First, he asserts that overcrowding and poor sanitization at CFCF caused him to contract scabies. While at CFCF, “a large portion of” his time was spent in a triple cell4 (a cell meant for two prisoners but housing three due to overcrowding) where he “was only ever given the boat” which was a plastic mattress frame on the floor.5 Burgos further contends that there were daily lockdowns which prevented his cells from being cleaned and did not allow him to shower.6 Sleeping in the boat on the floor, near feces and urine, caused Burgos to contract scabies.7 Second, he asserts that his prior injuries were not accommodated, causing him further injury. When he was not in a triple cell he was only assigned to a “top bunk.”8 Burgos alleges that he “re-injured [his] back and neck

lifting [himself] up to, and descending from, a top bunk and sleeping in the plastic boat” and that he “reinjured [his] wrist pushing [himself] up from the plastic boat.”9

1 Besides the issue of whether Burgos properly exhausted his administrative remedies, Defendants largely appear not to dispute Burgos’s factual assertions. Rather, the majority of Defendants’ briefs argue that as a matter of law Burgos has failed to present sufficient evidence for his claims. Moreover, partly due to Corizon’s failure to retain Burgos’s medical records, the record in this case is decidedly sparse. 2 See Statement of Stipulated Material Facts [Doc. No. 106-1] at 2. 3 See id. at 1. During this time, Burgos had three temporary transfers 4 Prison records indicate that Burgos was triple-celled for 89 days in total, with the longest consecutive period of time being 39 days. See id. at 3. 5 Affidavit [Doc. No. 116] at 1. 6 See id. at 2. 7 Burgos Dep. [Doc. No. 110-6] at 30:21. 8 Affidavit [Doc. No. 116] at 1. 9 See id. at 2. Burgos also asserts claims against Corizon Health, which contracted with the Philadelphia Prison System to provide medical services to inmates incarcerated at CFCF, asserting that he was not properly treated by Corizon. With regard to Burgos’s back, wrist, and neck injuries, he asserts that he was only given Tylenol but that, although the Tylenol did not work, Corizon refused to have a doctor examine him or assign him to a bottom bunk.10

According to Burgos, he still has “considerable pain in [his] back, wrist and neck from [his] injuries at CFCF” and he “currently walk[s] with a cane, wear[s] a wrist brace, and sleep[s] with a neck brace.”11 With regard to his scabies, Corizon gave Burgos Motrin and cream, but refused to decontaminate his cell and bedding.12 Burgos asserts that he only received appropriate treatment for his scabies during his temporary transfers to a state facility Cumberland County.13 However, while he was at Cumberland, Burgos asserts that his property was twice lost or misplaced by prison officials at CFCF. Moreover, Burgos avers that he filed grievances complaining about the conditions of his confinement, the medical care he received, and the disappearance of his property but that prison officials retaliated against him by placing him back in triple cells.14

Defendants assert that Burgos only filed two grievances and that those grievances were procedurally deficient.

10 See id. 11 Id. at 3. 12 See id. 13 Burgos Dep. at 22:14-22:23, 27:05-27:1; 79:07-80:06. 14 Affidavit [Doc. No. 116] at 2. II. LEGAL STANDARD “The underlying purpose of summary judgment is to avoid a pointless trial in cases where it is unnecessary and would only cause delay and expense.”15 A court will award summary judgment on a claim or part of a claim where there is “no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”16 A fact is “material” if it could affect

the outcome of the suit, given the applicable substantive law.17 A dispute is “genuine” if the evidence presented “is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.”18 In evaluating a summary judgment motion, a court “must view the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party,” and make every reasonable inference in that party’s favor.19 Further, a court may not weigh the evidence or make credibility determinations.20 Nevertheless, the party opposing summary judgment must support each essential element of the opposition with concrete evidence in the record.21 “If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.”22 Therefore, if, after drawing all

reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, the court determines that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, summary judgment is appropriate.23

15 Walden v. Saint Gobain Corp., 323 F. Supp. 2d 637, 641 (E.D. Pa. 2004) (citing Goodman v. Mead Johnson & Co., 534 F.2d 566, 573 (3d Cir. 1976)). 16 Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). 17 Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). 18 Id. 19 Hugh v. Butler Cty. Family YMCA, 418 F.3d 265, 267 (3d Cir. 2005) (citation omitted). 20 Boyle v. Cty. of Allegheny, 139 F.3d 386, 393 (3d Cir. 1998). 21 Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322–23 (1986). 22 Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249–50 (internal citations omitted). 23 Wisniewski v. Johns–Manville Corp., 812 F.2d 81, 83 (3d Cir. 1987). III. DISCUSSION

A. Exhaustion

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Bluebook (online)
BURGOS v. NUTTER, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burgos-v-nutter-paed-2020.