Dorsey v. Ghosh

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedSeptember 29, 2024
Docket1:20-cv-00088
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Dorsey v. Ghosh, (N.D. Ill. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

JAMES LEE DORSEY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) No. 20-cv-00088 v. ) ) Judge Andrea R. Wood PARTHASARATHI GHOSH, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff James Lee Dorsey has brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Dr. Parthasarathi Ghosh, Dr. Imhotep Carter, and Dr. Christian Okezie (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging that they were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical condition in the form of persistent knee pain. Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations and Dorsey’s purported failure to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit. (Dkt. No. 89.)1 Dorsey does not dispute that his claims against Dr. Ghosh and Dr. Carter are time-barred, so summary judgment is granted in their favor. But he does contest whether he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to Dr. Okezie. Nonetheless, for the reasons stated below, there is no question of fact that Dorsey failed to exhaust his available administrative remedies before suing Dr. Okezie. Thus, Dr. Okezie is entitled to summary judgment in his favor as well.

1 Dorsey has also sued Ghaliah Obaisi, in her capacity as the independent administrator of the estate of Dr. Saleh Obaisi. Dorsey’s claims based on Dr. Obaisi’s conduct are not the subject of this motion. (See Defs. Mem. at 2 n.1, Dkt. No. 90 (“Defendants have reviewed [Dorsey’s] Grievance File and are not pursuing a grievance or statute of limitations challenge on [behalf of] Dr. Obaisi”).) BACKGROUND The following summary of the material facts is taken from the parties’ submissions pursuant to Northern District of Illinois Local Rule 56.1. (Pl.’s Resp. to Defs.’ Statement of Material Facts (“PRDSF”), Dkt. No. 94; Defs.’ Resp. to Pl.’s Statement of Additional Material Facts (“DRPSAF”), Dkt. No. 98.) For purposes of the present summary judgment motion, this

Court will view the evidence in the light most favorable to Dorsey as the non-moving party and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. Leibas v. Dart, 108 F.4th 1021, 1024 (7th Cir. 2024). The events underlying this lawsuit largely occurred while Dorsey was an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center (“Stateville”). (PRDSF ¶ 3.) Between 2010 and 2021, Dorsey submitted numerous complaints through Stateville’s grievance process. (DRPSAF ¶¶ 1, 29.) These grievances mostly concerned his claimed medical ailments, especially with respect to pain in his right knee. (E.g., id. ¶¶ 1–12; see also PRDSF ¶ 8.) Of particular significance for present purposes is a grievance dated November 3, 2018 (“November 3, 2018 Grievance”). (PRDSF ¶ 44; DRPSAF ¶ 17; see also Pl.’s Statement of

Additional Material Facts, Ex. 17, Nov. 3, 2018 Grievance, Dkt. No. 96-17.) Where the grievance form called for “a description of what happened, when and where it happened, and the name or identifying information for each person involved,” Dorsey responded as follows: This Grievance concerns non-treatment of my right knee. For some years, I’ve been having pain, swelling, locking, weakness and the feeling of bone on bone pain. I need an M.R.I. This issue has gone untreated for years. (Nov. 3, 2018 Grievance at 3.) In terms of relief, Dorsey requests “an M.R.I. to see the extent of damage.” (Id.) The Grievance Counselor forwarded the November 3, 2018 Grievance for review on November 28, 2018. (Id.) The Chief Administrative Officer concurred with the Grievance Officer’s recommendation to deny the grievance on April 19, 2019. (Id. at 2.) Dorsey promptly appealed (id.), but on May 20, 2019, the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) returned the grievance, stating, “Offender does not provide dates he requested treatment and was denied therefore unable to address” (id. at 1). Dorsey subsequently filed this lawsuit under § 1983 on January 3, 2020. (Compl., Dkt. No. 1.) In the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), he asserts claims based on constitutionally deficient medical care against Dr. Ghosh, Dr. Carter, and Dr. Okezie; each of whom had served

as a Medical Director at Stateville. (FAC ¶¶ 5–9, Dkt. No. 30.) Dr. Okezie, for his part, served as the Interim Medical Director from March 21, 2018, until October 10, 2018 (PRDSF ¶ 7); he left the prison afterwards (Defs.’ Statement of Material Facts, Ex. 45, Ebbitt Decl. ¶ 7, Dkt. No. 91- 2). In the FAC, Dorsey alleges that he had two appointments with Dr. Okezie: one on April 9, 2018, and the other on July 20, 2018. (FAC ¶¶ 38–39.) Dorsey accuses Dr. Okezie, along with the other Defendants, of deliberate indifference, seeking damages and injunctive relief. (Id. at 13–14.) Upon review of his pro se complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the Court allowed Dorsey’s claims to proceed against these Defendants so far as they concern Dorsey’s medical complaints regarding his right knee. (June 25, 2021 Order-Statement at 3, Dkt. No. 27.)

Dorsey’s current counsel was recruited through the Northern District of Illinois’s pro bono program on August 26, 2022. (Dkt. No. 82.) After a period of limited discovery, chiefly involving Dorsey’s grievance file, Dr. Ghosh, Dr. Carter, and Dr. Okezie now seek summary judgment in their favor. With respect to Dr. Ghosh and Dr. Carter, Defendants argue that Dorsey’s claims are barred by the statute of limitations. With respect to Dr. Okezie, they argue that Dorsey failed to exhaust his grievances before filing suit. Dorsey does not contest the motion as to Dr. Ghosh and Dr. Carter, so summary judgment will be entered in their favor. But as to Dr. Okezie, Dorsey argues that he did exhaust his claim or, alternatively, that he is excused from the exhaustion requirement due to the unavailability of the grievance process. DISCUSSION When considering a summary judgment motion, courts must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving parties and draw all reasonable inferences in their favor. Leibas v. Dart, 108 F.4th 1021, 1024 (7th Cir. 2024). “Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a

matter of law.” Clacks v. Kwik Trip, Inc., 108 F.4th 950, 957 (7th Cir. 2024). The Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”) prohibits prisoner plaintiffs, like Dorsey, from bringing a lawsuit before they have exhausted their available administrative remedies. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a). “The PLRA exhaustion requirement ensures that a prison has received notice of, and an opportunity to correct, a problem before being drawn into litigation.” Jackson v. Esser, 105 F.4th 948, 958–59 (7th Cir. 2024) (internal quotation marks omitted). The requirement is “strict but not absolute.” King v. Dart, 63 F.4th 602, 606 (7th Cir. 2023). Because failure-to- exhaust is an affirmative defense, the defendants have the burden of proof. Hernandez v. Dart, 814 F.3d 836, 840 (7th Cir. 2016). “[D]isputed factual questions that bear on exhaustion can be

resolved by a district court judge (rather than a jury) as a preliminary matter, in what is known as a ‘Pavey hearing.’” Smallwood v. Williams, 59 F.4th 306, 315 (7th Cir. 2023) (citing Pavey v.

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