Dyjak v. Unknown Party

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 28, 2022
Docket3:18-cv-01011
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Dyjak v. Unknown Party, (S.D. Ill. 2022).

Opinion

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

LOGAN DYJAK, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 3:18-CV-1011-MAB ) JOSEPH HARPER, GREGG SCOTT, ) MAXINE MURPHY, BREE BARNETT, ) SHIRLEY FORCUM, and ) LAURIE IROSE, ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BEATTY, Magistrate Judge: This matter is currently before the Court on the motion for summary judgment filed by Defendants Joseph Harper, Gregory Scott, Bree Barnett, Shirley Forcum, and Laurie Irose (Doc. 131). For the reasons explained below, the motion is granted. BACKGROUND Plaintiff Logan Dyjak alleges that he suffered a wide range of mistreatment while a resident at Chester Mental Health Center (“CMHC”) regarding the conditions of his confinement, his diet, his medical care, and his access to personal property. He alleged that he attempted to remedy the mistreatment through the formal complaint process but got nowhere (Doc. 85). In the second amended complaint, which is the operative complaint in this matter, Plaintiff asserted the following claims: Count 1 – a claim for unconstitutional conditions of confinement against Defendants Joseph Harper, Gregg Scott, Laurie Irose, and Shirley Forcum; Count 2 – a claim for inadequate medical care and food against Defendants Harper, Scott, Maxine Murphy, and Bree Barnett;

Count 3 – a Fourteenth Amendment and/or Illinois state law claim for the deprivation of his personal property without due process of law against Defendants Harper and Scott.

(Doc. 85).

Plaintiff previously reached a settlement with Defendant Maxine Murphy (Doc. 135; see also Doc. 136). Although the parties indicated they would move to dismiss Murphy after the settlement was finalized (Doc. 136), they have not yet done so. Given that the settlement occurred over five months ago, the Court trusts that it can safely dismiss Murphy at this time. The other Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the merits of Plaintiff’s claims (Doc. 131; see also Doc. 132). Plaintiff filed a response in opposition (Doc. 138). Defendants did not file a reply brief. FACTS A. THE PARTIES Logan Dyjak was involuntarily committed to the Illinois Department of Human Services in February 2013 after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity (Doc. 132- 1, pp. 14–18). He was initially placed at Alton Mental Health Center (“Alton”), where he remained until February 6, 2018, when he was transferred to CMHC (Id.). He stayed at CMHC until August 2018, when he was transferred to McFarland Mental Health Center, where he remains today (Id.). Defendant Joseph Harper was the Hospital Administrator at CMHC from March 2016 to early May 2018 (Doc. 132-3, pp. 11–12). Defendant Gregg Scott replaced Harper

as the Interim Hospital Administrator in May 2018 and served for approximately a year and a half (Doc. 132-4, p. 5). As hospital administrator, Harper and Scott oversaw the overall operations of the facility (Doc. 132-3, p. 13; Doc. 132-4, p. 5). Defendant Shirley Forcum was a licensed clinical social worker at CMHC when Plaintiff arrived there in February 2018, but on April 1, 2018, she became a Unit Director, overseeing the day-to-day activities in Unit A, which is the maximum-security unit (Doc.

132-5, pp. 11–13). Defendant Laurie Irose was, in pertinent part, the Human Rights Chairperson at CMHC, and she was responsible for receiving and reviewing formal complaints from patients (Doc. 132-6, p. 11). Defendant Bree Barnett was a Licensed Practical Nurse at CMHC (Doc. 132-7, p. 10). B. COMPLAINT PROCESS

If a patient at CMHC had an issue or a concern, they could approach unit staff (aides, nurses, unit manager, etc.) or they could talk to their therapist during meetings (Doc. 132-3, p. 24). They could also use the formal complaint process by filling out a complaint form, which were available on the unit, and turning it in to Laurie Irose (Doc. 132-3, pp. 24, 25–26; Doc. 132-4, p. 6; Doc. 132-6, p. 18). Ms. Irose would review the

complaint and decide if it needed to be addressed (Doc. 132-6, p. 18). If so, she could investigate the complaint personally or ask the unit director to do so (Id.). If she passed it off to the unit director, she would review the unit director’s response and decide whether it was accurate and resolved or if it needed to be forwarded on to the hospital administrator for further action (Id.). Joseph Harper and Gregg Scott both acknowledged that they could become involved in the complaint process if there were questions about

a patient’s complaint or it was unable to be resolved at a lower level (Doc. 132-3, pp. 25– 26; Doc. 132-4, p. 6; see also Doc. 132-5, pp. 15–17; Doc. 132-6, p. 14). C. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS RE: CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT 1. Lighting Plaintiff testified that the light in his room was on 24 hours a day, which disrupted his sleep and exacerbated his mental illness (Doc. 132-1, p. 207). Defendants testified the

lighting was necessary for security purposes because CMHC is a maximum-security hospital and patients must be monitored every 15 minutes (Doc. 132-3, p. 57; Doc. 132-5, p. 59). There is no definitive evidence as to how bright the light was at night (e.g., wattage, lumens, etc.). Plaintiff claimed “it was so bright . . . you couldn’t tell if it was day or night . . . [even with a] window in the cell” (Doc. 132-1, p. 208). However, Ms. Irose, testified

that the lights in the patients’ rooms did not stay at the same illumination 24 hours a day (Doc. 132-6, pp. 46–48). She said when the light switch was flipped to the “off” position, the light did not turn all the way off but instead became “like a nightlight,” which she thought was “the lowest amount of [light] that they can have” without impeding any security needs (Id.). Shirley Forcum similarly testified that it was a “dim light” and said,

“I doubt that it can be any dimmer without being off” (Doc. 132-5, pp. 59, 61). Plaintiff filed a complaint on March 7, 2018, about the 24-hour illumination (Doc. 132-8, pp. 1–2).1 Ms. Irose responded on March 19th, stating she met with the Chief of

Security and was told that the hallway lighting was needed for the security cameras to capture images/incidents that may occur, and therefore the lights had to remain on. Two days later, Plaintiff filed another complaint, explaining that the issue was not the lights in the hallway but the light in his room, which he said was excessively bright and could not be dimmed (Doc. 132-8, pp. 11–15). Ms. Irose responded on April 10th, stating that, according to the Chief of Security, the lighting was necessary for security because all

patients have to be checked every 15 minutes and staff needs to have a clear view of the patients. Additionally, the Chief Engineer said the lights provided the minimum amount of illumination required to adequately observe patients in their rooms. Both of Plaintiff’s complaints were submitted and resolved before Gregg Scott became the hospital administrator (see Doc. 132-8, pp. 1–2, 11–15; Doc. 132-4, p. 5). Mr.

Harper testified that he did not review Plaintiff’s complaints regarding the lights, nor did he recall any other patient complaints regarding the 24/7 lighting (Doc. 132-3, p. 58). 2. Temperatures & Bedding Plaintiff testified that he was forced to live in rooms with extremely cold temperatures (Doc. 132-1, pp. 50, 84, 85). While Defendants confirmed that CMHC is an

old building and sometimes the rooms are cold (Doc. 132-5, p. 17; Doc. 132-6, p. 44), there

1 He also indicated that he previously filed a complaint about the lighting on February 12th, which would have been his sixth day at CMHC (Doc. 132-8, pp. 1–2). Plaintiff testified that the first five or so grievances that he submitted in the days after his arrival at CMHC were never responded to (Doc. 132-1, p. 39). He refiled them all “[i]n some iteration” (Id. at p. 40).

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