Collett v. Hanson

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedAugust 9, 2024
Docket3:23-cv-06051
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Collett v. Hanson, (W.D. Wash. 2024).

Opinion

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5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 9 10 MATHEW COLLETT, CASE NO. 3:23-CV-6051-JCC-DWC 11 Plaintiff, v. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION 12 KEVIN HASON, et al., Noting Date: August 9, 2024 13 Defendants. 14

15 The District Court has referred this action, filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, to United 16 States Magistrate Judge David W. Christel. Presently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to 17 Dismiss filed by Defendants Kevin Hanson, Shane Schoeneberg, and Mason County (“County 18 Defendants”) and joined by Defendants Healthcare Delivery Systems (“HDS”), Diane Houlton, 19 and Nurse Bree (“HDS Defendants”). Dkts. 22, 42. 20 After consideration of the relevant record, the Court recommends the Motion to Dismiss 21 (Dkt. 22) and the Notice of Joinder (Dkt. 42) be granted-in-part and denied-in-part as follows: 22 Plaintiff’s due process constitutional claims should proceed against Defendants Mason County, 23 Hanson, Schoeneberg, Bree, and Houlton; Defendant HDS should be dismissed; the ADA claim 24 1 should be dismissed; and HDS Defendants’ request to find Plaintiff a vexatious litigant should be 2 denied. 3 I. Background 4 Plaintiff, a pretrial detainee who is in Mason County’s custody but housed at the Monroe

5 Correctional Complex (“MCC”), alleges his constitutional rights (both federal and state) were 6 violated when Defendants failed to provide him with adequate medical and dental treatment. 7 Dkt. 16. Plaintiff also states Defendants’ conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act 8 (“ADA”). Id. 9 The County Defendants filed the pending Motion to Dismiss on April 25, 2024. Dkt. 22. 10 After the deadline to file a response to the Motion to Dismiss, the Court was notified Plaintiff’s 11 mail was returned as undeliverable. Dkt. 30. The Court directed Plaintiff to update his address 12 and re-noted the Motion to Dismiss to July 26, 2024. Dkt. 33. The Court noted it would not 13 accept further briefing on the Motion to Dismiss. Id. 14 Plaintiff notified the Court that his address was correct on June 18, 2024 (Dkt. 34) and,

15 on July 11, 2024, filed a response to the Motion to Dismiss. Dkt. 35. The HDS Defendants filed 16 a Notice of Joinder on July 23, 2024. Dkt. 42. In the Notice of Joinder, the HDS Defendants did 17 not merely join the Motion to Dismiss, but also raised three separate, distinct arguments. Id. On 18 July 29, 2024, Plaintiff filed a response to the Notice of Joinder. Dkt. 44.1 As Plaintiff is in 19 custody and proceeding pro se and as the HDS Defendants filed the Notice of Joinder with new 20 arguments, the Court finds it appropriate to consider Plaintiff’s late-filed response to the Motion 21 to Dismiss and Plaintiff’s response to the Notice of Joinder. 22 23 1 Plaintiff filed a response to the Notice of Joinder; therefore, the Court finds it is unnecessary to re-note the 24 Notice of Joinder to allow a response time. 1 II. Standard of Review 2 A motion to dismiss can be granted only if a plaintiff’s complaint, with all factual 3 allegations accepted as true, fails to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level”. Bell 4 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 545 (2007).

5 To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” A claim has 6 facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct 7 alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a probability requirement, but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully. 8 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 570). 9 A complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the 10 pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “Specific facts are not necessary; the 11 statement need only give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon 12 which it rests.” Erickson v. Pardus, et al., 551 U.S. 89, 93 (2007) (internal citations omitted). 13 However, the pleading must be more than an “unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me 14 accusation.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. 15 While the Court must accept all the allegations contained in the complaint as true, the 16 Court does not have to accept a “legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.” Id. 17 “Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory 18 statements, do not suffice.” Id.; Jones v. Community Development Agency, 733 F.2d 646, 649 19 (9th Cir. 1984) (vague and mere conclusory allegations unsupported by facts are not sufficient to 20 state section 1983 claims); Pena v. Gardner, 976 F.2d 469, 471 (9th Cir. 1992). While the Court 21 is to construe a complaint liberally, such construction “may not supply essential elements of the 22 claim that were not initially pled.” Pena, 976 F.2d at 471. 23 24 1 III. Discussion 2 In the Motion to Dismiss, County Defendants argue (1) Plaintiff’s claims for injunctive 3 relief should be denied as moot; (2) Plaintiff failed to allege Defendants personally participated 4 in the alleged constitutional violations; (3) Plaintiff was not entitled to the medical treatment of

5 his choice; (4) Plaintiff failed to state an ADA claim; and (5) Defendants are entitled to qualified 6 immunity. Dkt. 22. In the Notice of Joinder, the HDS Defendants state they join the County 7 Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and also assert this case should be dismissed because (1) the 8 HDS Defendants have not been properly served; (2) the HDS Defendants did not violate 9 Plaintiff’s constitutional rights; and (3) Plaintiff is a vexatious litigant. Dkt. 42. 10 A. Improper Service 11 As an initial matter, the HDS Defendants assert they have not been properly served and 12 so the claims against them must be dismissed. Dkt. 42. As Plaintiff is in custody and proceeding 13 pro se, the Court has undertaken service on his behalf. On April 4, 2024, the Clerk’s Office 14 attempted to effect service pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(d), but the HDS

15 Defendants did not timely return signed waivers of service of summons. See Dkt. 17. On July 18, 16 2024, the Court directed the U.S. Marshal’s Office to personally serve HDS and Nurse Bree.2 17 Dkt. 39. Counsel John Versnel and Sara Shapland entered appearances on behalf of the HDS 18 Defendants on July 22, 2024. Dkts. 40, 41. On July 25, 2024, Ms. Shapland was served with the 19 summons and complaint on behalf of HDS and Nurse Bree. Dkt. 43. Based on the arguments in 20 the Notice of Joinder, the Court again directed the HDS Defendants to be provided with waivers 21 of service. See Dkt. 45. The HDS Defendants have until August 12, 2024 to file signed waivers 22 23

24 2The Court inadvertently failed to direct personal service on Diane Houlton. See Dkt. 39. 1 or the Court will direct counsel to provide addresses for all the HDS Defendants so they can be 2 personally served. See id.

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Bluebook (online)
Collett v. Hanson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/collett-v-hanson-wawd-2024.