Doe v. County of Milwaukee

225 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2016 WL 7017375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165975
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedDecember 1, 2016
DocketCase No. 14-CV-200-JPS
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 225 F. Supp. 3d 790 (Doe v. County of Milwaukee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doe v. County of Milwaukee, 225 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2016 WL 7017375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165975 (E.D. Wis. 2016).

Opinion

[793]*793ORDER

J.P. Stadtmueller, U.S. District Judge

1. INTRODUCTION

On August 31, 2016, the defendants David A. Clarke, Jr. (“Clarke”) and the County of Milwaukee (the “County”) (collectively, “Defendants” 1), and the interve-nor Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation (“WCMIC”), filed separate motions for summary judgment. (Defendants’ Motion, Docket # 132; WCMIC’s Motion, Docket # 129). Each motion was accompanied by a statement of facts, brief in support, and for Defendants, a number of affidavits and exhibits. See (WCMIC’s Statement of Facts, Docket # 130; WCMIC’s Brief in Support, Docket # 131; Defendants’ Brief in Support, Docket # 133; Defendants’ Statement of Facts, Docket # 134, Affidavits in Support of Defendants’ Motion, Docket # 135 and # 136). On October 21, 2016, the plaintiff Jane Doe (“Doe”) offered her responses in opposition to each motion, responses to each statement of facts, her own unified statement of facts, and an affidavit of counsel attaching exhibits. See (Affidavit of Doe’s Counsel, Docket # 145; Doe’s Statement of Facts, Docket # 146; Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion, Docket # 147; Response to Defendants’ Statement of Facts, Docket #148; Brief in Opposition to WCMIC’s Motion, Docket # 149; Response to WCMIC’s Statement of Facts, Docket # 150). On November 4 and November 7, 2016, respectively, WCMIC and Defendants submitted replies in support of their motions and responses to Doe’s statement of facts. See (WCMIC’s Reply, Docket # 153; WCMIC’s Response to Doe’s Statement of Facts, Docket # 152; Defendants’ Reply, Docket # 156; Defendants’ Response to Doe’s Statement of Facts, Docket # 154). The motions are fully briefed and, for the reasons explained below, they will be granted in part and denied in part. As they deal with interrelated issues, the Court addresses both motions in this Order.

2. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 provides that the court “shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see Boss v. Castro, 816 F.3d 910, 916 (7th Cir. 2016). A fact is “material” if it “might affect the outcome of the suit” under the applicable substantive law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A dispute of fact is “genuine” if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Id. The court construes all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Bridge v. New Holland Logansport, Inc., 815 F.3d 356, 360 (7th Cir. 2016). The court must not weigh the evidence presented or determine credibility of witnesses; the Seventh Circuit instructs that “we leave those tasks to fact-finders;” Berry v. Chicago Transit Auth., 618 F.3d 688, 691 (7th Cir. 2010). The party opposing summary judgment “need not match the movant witness for witness, nor persuade the court that [her] case is [794]*794convincing, [she] need only come forward with appropriate evidence demonstrating that there is a pending dispute of material fact.” Waldridge v. American Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 921 (7th Cir. 1994).

3. RELEVANT FACTS

The following facts are gleaned from the parties’ collective factual briefing. They have been construed, as required by the standard of review, in a light most favorable to Doe. The Court will provide a timeline of the underyling events and then a discussion of other relevant topics. To the extent the parties dispute any material facts, the Court addresses the disputes as necessary.2

3.1 Thicklen’s Sexual Assaults on Doe in 20133

In February 2013, Doe was detained at the Milwaukee County Jail (the “Jail”). The Jail houses up to 960 inmates at any time, and approximately 35,000 inmates are booked into the Jail each year. Thick-len was a correctional officer at the Jail during Doe’s stay, one of as many as sixty-five on duty at any particular time. Throughout these events, he always wore his uniform while on duty and carried a taser, as required by Jail policy. Doe first met Thicken in April, when he was on-duty as a “clinic transport officer.” He used this position to move Doe from her normal cell to the Jail clinic. Once in a clinic holding cell, he sexually assaulted Doe by putting his hands down her pants, and later ordered her to show him her breasts.

In July, Thicklen again used his authority, this time as a “floor control officer,” to take Doe to an attorney booth and assaulted her by forcing her to have anal intercourse. A nearly identical assault occurred in September, save that this time, Thicklen forced vaginal intercourse with Doe. When Doe opposed Thicklen’s advances, he said “[t]hese are my co-workers. They’re going to believe me, not you. I’m in gray, you’re in blue.” (Docket # 154 at ¶ 5).

The next assault was committed in October. Thicklen was working in the infirmary, known as the “Special Medical Unit” (“SMU”).4 Doe had given birth a few days before, and was therefore housed in the SMU to recover. Thicklen entered Doe’s SMU cell and forced her to perform oral sex.

The final assault occurred in November. Thicklen was again a “clinic transport officer,” and like the first incident, he moved Doe to the Jail clinic and assaulted her. Thicklen compelled Doe to have oral and anal intercourse. This time, Thicklen moved Doe by removing her “tier card” (an item used in the Jail to monitor inmate movement) without authorization.

Doe filed a grievance about Thicklen’s assaults on December 3. This was the first time she told any Jail officials about her sexual encounters with Thicklen. An investigator from the Sheriffs Office’s Criminal [795]*795Investigations Division, Detective Desotell (“Desotell”), interviewed Thicklen later that day. Thicklen, without being told why he was being questioned, stated that Doe was trying to “kill his life” and that he was worried about “spend[ing] his life in jail.” (Docket # 154 at ¶ 11). Desotell then interviewed Doe, also on December 3. Desotell continued his investigation by interviewing other witnesses, including re-interviewing Thicklen and Doe at a later time, and reviewing Thicklen’s time cards and assignments, Doe’s attorney visit and clinic appointments, and video from Jail cameras. He concluded that Thicklen did commit the assaults as Doe had alleged. Specifically, Desotell found that Thicklen had created a fake clinic appointment to move Doe for the November assault, and had contrived an attorney visit for the July assault.

On December 5, the investigation was referred to the Sheriff’s Office’s Internal Affairs division. On December 6, Thicklen hired a criminal defense attorney. On December 9, Thicklen was suspended without pay, and later that day, he resigned from his position with the Jail.

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Bluebook (online)
225 F. Supp. 3d 790, 2016 WL 7017375, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doe-v-county-of-milwaukee-wied-2016.