Cunningham v. Falmier

District Court, S.D. Illinois·Decided January 15, 2020·No. 3:17-cv-00126·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

TIMOTHY J. CUNNINGHAM, SR., ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) Case No. 17-cv-126-RJD MARCUS JENKINS, JANA CARRIE, ) JOSHUA SIMMS, NATHAN T. SANDERS, ) CHARLES TANNER, RONALD BRUNER, ) JONAVAN BRIDWELL, DEREK R. ) JOHNSON, MICHAEL DUNLAP, ILLINOIS ) DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, and ) WARDEN OF LAWRENCE ) CORRECTIONAL CENTER, ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER DALY, Magistrate Judge: Plaintiff Timothy J. Cunningham, Sr., an inmate in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections (“IDOC”), sets forth claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. Plaintiff’s claims arise from his incarceration at Pinckneyville Correctional Center and Lawrence Correctional Center. Plaintiff is proceeding on the following claims (as enumerated in the Court’s threshold order): Count 8: Rehabilitation Act claim against the Illinois Department of Corrections for denying Plaintiff access to telephone privileges on a comparable basis to non-disabled inmates while he was incarcerated at Pinckneyville Correctional Center and Lawrence Correctional Center.

Count 9: Rehabilitation Act claim against the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Warden of Lawrence for failing to provide Plaintiff with the same accommodations in the ADA gym as was offered to inmates using the regular gym in relation to excessive heat from March 11, 2016 through September 16, 2016.

Page 1 of 15 Count 10: Eighth Amendment claim against Defendant Jenkins for failing to accommodate Plaintiff’s disability when he transported him on February 10, 2015 and March 28, 2015, causing Plaintiff to wet himself and suffer humiliation. Claim under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act against the IDOC for failing to accommodate Plaintiff’s disability-related needs during trips to the doctor’s office.

Count 11: First Amendment retaliation claim against Defendants Carie, Simms, Sanders, Tanner, Bruner, Jenkins, Bridwell, Johnson, and Dunlap for denying Plaintiff ice distribution between June 19, 2015 and October 22, 2015, conducting compliance checks, and cutting short meal times in response to Plaintiff filing grievances.

On April 3, 2019, Defendants IDOC, the Warden of Lawrence Correctional Center, Jana Carie, Ronald Bruner, Joshua Simms, Nathan Sanders, and Charles Tanner filed a Motion for Summary Judgment that is now before the Court1 (Doc. 55). Plaintiff filed his response on June 4, 2019 (Doc. 64). For the reasons set forth below, Defendants’ Motion is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Background Plaintiff Timothy J. Cunningham, Sr. is a wheelchair-bound inmate who was incarcerated at Pinckneyville Correctional Center (“Pinckneyville”) and Lawrence Correctional Center (“Lawrence”) at all times relevant (Doc. 56-1 at 27). While at Pinckneyville, and after his transfer to Lawrence in September 2014, telephones were available on the gallery based on a first-come, first-serve basis (Id. at 27-28). Due to his handicap, Plaintiff was unable to “compete” with able-bodied inmates to secure a telephone (Id.). As a result, Plaintiff would have to pay other inmates to secure a phone on his behalf and was only able to make a phone call about once a week (Id. at 31). Plaintiff’s testimony was reflective of complaints he had set forth in his grievances attached to his summary judgment response (see Doc. 64 at 21-25).

1 Defendants Jenkins, Bridwell, Johnson, and Dunlap have not filed a motion for summary judgment as to the claims against them. Accordingly, Plaintiff will proceed in this action against these defendants. Page 2 of 15 While at Lawrence, there were two gyms that were used interchangeably for the ADA gym — neither gym was designated as the “ADA” gym and use of a gym as the ADA gym was based on scheduling (Doc. 56-1 at 33-34). The gyms were not air conditioned and, during the warm months of 2016, Plaintiff testified that the heaters were still on in both gyms (Id. at 35-37). Plaintiff testified it was extremely hot and estimated it was “120 degrees” (Id. at 34-35). In

response to Defendants’ motion, Plaintiff submitted a grievance in which he complained that officers placed a large fan near the gym for able-bodied inmates, but did not provide a fan for the ADA gym (see Doc. 64 at 20). Plaintiff reiterates the statements set forth in this grievance in his verified response to Defendants’ summary judgment motion. On February 10, 2015 and March 27, 20152, Plaintiff was transported by Defendant Jenkins and one other, unknown correctional officer to doctor’s appointments in Mt. Vernon, Illinois (Doc. 56-1 at 37-38). During these trips, Plaintiff, who is incontinent, was denied the use of a urinal and was not provided an opportunity to change his Depends diaper, so he wet himself (Id. at 39-40). Plaintiff approximated these trips lasted approximately four to five hours (Id. at

51). Plaintiff testified that other officers were able to handle his incontinence without issue during transport, but Defendant Jenkins handled it improperly (Id. at 50). Plaintiff explained he believed the IDOC should have taken corrective action with regard to Defendant Jenkins after he filed a grievance concerning the February 10, 2015 trip (Id. at 51). Plaintiff’s testimony was reflective of complaints he had set forth in his grievances attached to his summary judgment response (see Doc. 64-1 at 2-7). Following the filing of several grievances, Defendants Bridwell, Dunlap, and Johnson

2 In his complaint, Plaintiff indicates the dates at issue are February 10, 2015 and March 27, 2015; however, in his response to Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, he indicates the relevant dates are February 10, 2015 and March 17, 2015. The Court notes this discrepancy for clarification, but it has no effect on the nature of Plaintiff’s claims and is not dispositive of any issue. Page 3 of 15 denied Plaintiff ice on various occasions (Doc. 56-1 at 54-55, 70, and 76-77). Defendant Bridwell also conducted two compliance checks while Plaintiff was in the healthcare unit, and, at his deposition, Plaintiff testified that Bridwell wrote two citations due to Plaintiff being out of compliance (Id. at 56). Defendant Carie heard the first ticket and found Plaintiff guilty, imposing 30 days of C-grade or commissary denial (Id. at 61-63). Plaintiff testified Carie did not listen to

Plaintiff’s arguments (Id. at 61). With regard to Defendant Simms, Plaintiff testified he was a correctional officer and heard a ticket issued to Plaintiff regarding a coffee cup (Id. at 73). Plaintiff testified that Simms found Plaintiff guilty of the infraction based on testimony provided by Dunlap at the hearing and imposed 30 days of commissary denial (Id. at 73-76). Plaintiff testified that Simms violated his due process rights by not sufficiently investigating the ticket (Id. at 76). With regard to Defendants Bruner and Tanner, Plaintiff testified these Defendants failed to provide Plaintiff with a mailing that was directed to the law library for copying, but was ultimately delayed in the control center of Lawrence (Id. at 65, 79). More specifically, Plaintiff testified that

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Cunningham v. Falmier, (S.D. Ill. 2020).

Cunningham v. Falmier (Cunningham v. Falmier) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Michael J. Winger v. Susan M. Winger
82 F.3d 140 (Seventh Circuit, 1996)
Cleo Love v. Westville Correctional Center
103 F.3d 558 (Seventh Circuit, 1996)
Kidwell v. Eisenhauer
679 F.3d 957 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Jaros v. Illinois Department of Corrections
684 F.3d 667 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Bridges v. Gilbert
557 F.3d 541 (Seventh Circuit, 2009)
Woodruff v. Mason
542 F.3d 545 (Seventh Circuit, 2008)
Apex Digital, Incorporated v. Sears, Roebuck & Company
735 F.3d 962 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Richard Wagoner v. Indiana Department of Correcti
778 F.3d 586 (Seventh Circuit, 2015)
Estate of Simpson v. Gorbett
863 F.3d 740 (Seventh Circuit, 2017)