Cook v. Olathe Medical Center, Inc.

773 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20506, 2011 WL 778475
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedMarch 1, 2011
DocketCivil Action 10-2133-KHV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 773 F. Supp. 2d 990 (Cook v. Olathe Medical Center, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Olathe Medical Center, Inc., 773 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20506, 2011 WL 778475 (D. Kan. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KATHRYN H. VRATIL, District Judge.

Samantha Cook brings suit against Olathe Medical Center, Inc. (“OMC”), Melissa Davenport, a nurse at OMC, Lee R. Kibbee and Wesley H. Smith, both Olathe police officers, the City of Olathe (the “City”), Ronald Karlin, a doctor at OMC and Kim Wheeler, a nurse at OMC. 1 Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Kansas law, plaintiff asserts claims for violation of her constitutional rights, battery, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violation of privacy and patient rights. 2 See Second Amended Complaint For Damages (“Second Amended Complaint ”) (Doc. # 160) filed January 7, 2011. This matter comes before the Court on plaintiffs Memorandum In Support Of Plaintiff’s Motion For Partial Summary Judgment Against Defendants Kibbee And Smith (“Plaintiffs Memorandum ”) (Doc. # 53) filed July 27, 2010 and Defendants’ Cross-Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 77) which Kibbee, Smith and the City filed August 24, 2010. For reasons stated below, the Court overrules plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment and sustains in part defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

1. Legal Standards

A. Summary Judgment

Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); accord Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1538-39 (10th Cir.1993). A factual dispute is “material” only if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.” Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A “genuine” factual dispute requires more than a mere scintilla of evidence. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991). Once the moving party meets its burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to demonstrate that genuine issues remain for trial as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof. See Applied Genetics Int’l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 *994 (10th Cir.1991). The nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts. Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241.

The Court must view the record in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion for summary judgment. See Deepwater Invs., Ltd. v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). Summary judgment may be granted if the nonmoving party’s evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rely on ignorance of facts, on speculation or on suspicion, and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial. Conaway v. Smith, 853 F.2d 789, 794 (10th Cir.1988). Essentially, the inquiry is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

B. Qualified Immunity

Government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Qualified immunity provides government officials immunity from suit as well as from liability for their discretionary acts. See Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 526-27, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). The doctrine of qualified immunity serves the goals of protecting officials who are required to exercise their discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority. Butz v. Hconomou, 438 U.S. 478, 506, 98 S.Ct. 2894, 57 L.Ed.2d 895 (1978).

When defendants assert a qualified immunity defense at the summary judgment stage, the burden shifts to plaintiff to show that defendants violated a constitutional right and that the constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. Vondrak v. City of Las Cruces, 535 F.3d 1198, 1204 (10th Cir.2008). To satisfy this burden, plaintiff must show facts which, when viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff, show that defendants conduct violated a constitutional right and that the right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. 3 See Olsen v. Layton Hills Mall, 312 F.3d 1304, 1312 (10th Cir.2002) (citing Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001)). If plaintiff does so, the burden shifts back to defendants to prove that no genuine issues of material fact exist and that defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Olsen, 312 F.3d at 1312. If the record shows an unresolved issue of fact relevant to the qualified immunity analysis, the Court must deny the motion for summary judgment. See id.

II. Facts 4

The following facts are either uncontro *995 verted or where controverted, the contentions of each party are noted.

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773 F. Supp. 2d 990, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20506, 2011 WL 778475, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-olathe-medical-center-inc-ksd-2011.