Delorenzo v. Sullivan County Jail Administration

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 25, 2022
Docket7:20-cv-07935
StatusUnknown

This text of Delorenzo v. Sullivan County Jail Administration (Delorenzo v. Sullivan County Jail Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Delorenzo v. Sullivan County Jail Administration, (S.D.N.Y. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT USDC SDNY SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOCUMENT ELECTRONICALLY FILED PAUL J. DELORENZO JR., DOC #:

-against- MIKE SCHIFF, ERIC CHABOTY, HAROLD nO MON ORDER SMITH, JAMES GINTY, CHRISTOPHER BINI, OFFICER TAYLOR, DR. WEISS, LYNN WILCOX, DR. MIRZA, WENDY MOORE, JENNIE NORRIS, KATIE SLATER, Defendants.

NELSON S. ROMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiff Paul J. Delorenzo Jr. (“Plaintiff’), proceeding pro se, commenced this action on September 24, 2020 (ECF No. 2) alleging violation of the Eighth Amendment pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”), the Americans With Disabilities Act (“SADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“RA”), 29 U.S.C. § 794, against Michael Schiff, Sheriff of Sullrvan County; Eric Chaboty, Under Sheriff of Sullivan County; Harold Smith, Chief Jail Administrator; James Ginty, Captain of Sullivan County Jail; Christopher Bini, Lieutenant of Sullivan County Jail (together, the “County Defendants”); Lynn Wilcox, Head Nurse; Nurse Wendy Moore; Nurse Katie Slater (together, the “Nurse Defendants”); Jennifer Norris-Manning, Social Worker; Robert Taylor, Corrections Deputy; Dr. Jonathan Weiss; and Dr. Sobia Mirza, (all together, the “Defendants”). Currently before the Court are the County Defendants’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 54), the Nurse Defendants’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 65), Dr. Weiss’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 55), Dr. Mirza’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 77), Norris-Manning’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 74) and Deputy Taylor’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 52). For the following reasons, all of the motions are GRANTED without opposition.

BACKGROUND The following facts are taken from the Complaint and are construed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the non-movant, and accepted as true for purposes of this motion. Plaintiff is a convicted and sentenced prisoner incarcerated at Sullivan County Jail (“SCJ”).

(Compl. at 2.) On July 27, 2020 during the facility’s booking process, Plaintiff told Defendant Taylor that he suffers from seizures and has mental health problems due to a traumatic brain injury, and suffered a loss of 37% of his cognitive functions. (Id. at 6.) This same day, Plaintiff was screened by medical staff including Nurse Slater, and he told her the same information as well as the medications he was on for his seizures and pain due to a prior accident. (Id.) For six days, Plaintiff was denied medication for his seizures, and therefore on August 1, 2020 he suffered a seizure and had to be rushed to the hospital. (Id.) At the hospital he received medication and was brought back to SCJ where he “was not seen by facility Dr. Weiss.” (Id.) After eight days without mental health medication, Plaintiff was seen by Dr. Mirza, but the two had an argument as “she didn’t understand how [he] explained [his] current mental state.” (Id.)

When Plaintiff tried to explain his medications, Dr. Mirza cut him off and told him he was lying, so Plaintiff walked out of the appointment. (Id. at 7.) On August 7, 2020, after twelve days of “no medical/mental health”, Plaintiff sent a letter to Defendant Moore “pleading for help.” (Id.) The letter states that “the voices were getting louder” and the only way to subdue the voices were acts of violence or harming himself. (Id.) Plaintiff was then “placed on 1 on 1”, stripped of his clothes, and placed in solitary confinement. (Id.) On August 13, 2020, he was finally seen by Dr. Mirza and put on medication. (Id.) Since this time, Plaintiff has not seen Dr. Mirza, but instead has had multiple appointments with Defendant Norris-Manning. (Id. at 8-9.) On August 14, 2020, in response to Plaintiff filing a grievance about his missing medication, the grievance coordinator stated that medical requests were sent to Plaintiff’s doctor and pharmacy for records verification, and that the medication could not be provided until such verification was received. (Id. at 15.) He states that since being admitted, Plaintiff had been seen by medical staff twice daily during medication rounds, and six times individually, as well as being

transported to the hospital twice. (Id.) On August 19, 2020, in response to Plaintiff filing another grievance about his missing seizure medication, Lieutenant Bini responded that during booking Plaintiff did not mention any seizure medications, and a list of current medications received by Plaintiff’s pharmacy and doctor did not contain any documentation of seizure disorders or a history of seizures. (Id. at 14.) Therefore, his grievances were denied. (Id. at 14-15.) Plaintiff filed suit on September 24, 2020. (ECF No. 2.) The County Defendants, Nurse Defendants, Deputy Taylor, and Dr. Weiss filed their motions to dismiss on May 18, 2021 (ECF Nos. 52, 54, 55, & 65.) Norris-Manning and Dr. Mirza filed their motions to dismiss on June 9, 2021. (ECF Nos. 74 &77.) Plaintiff did not file any oppositions. LEGAL STANDARD

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), dismissal is proper unless the complaint “contain[s] sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). When there are well-pled factual allegations in the complaint, “a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Id. at 679. The critical inquiry is whether the plaintiff has pled sufficient facts to nudge the claims “across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. A motion to dismiss will be denied where the allegations “allow[] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. Where a motion to dismiss is unopposed, a court should nevertheless “assume the truth of a pleading’s factual allegations and test only its legal sufficiency.” McCall v. Pataki, 232 F.3d

321, 322 (2d Cir. 2000). While the Court must take all material factual allegations as true and draw reasonable inferences in the non-moving party’s favor, the Court is “not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation,” or to credit “mere conclusory statements” or “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 662, 678 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). The critical inquiry is whether the plaintiff has pled sufficient facts to nudge the claims “across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. A motion to dismiss will be denied where the allegations “allow[] the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. Where a pro se plaintiff is concerned, courts must construe the pleadings in a particularly liberal fashion. Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009). Further, courts must interpret a

pro se plaintiff’s pleadings “to raise the strongest arguments that they suggest.” Harris v. City of New York, 607 F.3d 18, 24 (2d Cir. 2010) (internal citation omitted).

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Delorenzo v. Sullivan County Jail Administration, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delorenzo-v-sullivan-county-jail-administration-nysd-2022.