Fromer v. Corizon, Inc.

54 F. Supp. 3d 1012, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147823, 2014 WL 5308089
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedOctober 15, 2014
DocketNo. 1:13-cv-00220-JMS-DML
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 54 F. Supp. 3d 1012 (Fromer v. Corizon, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fromer v. Corizon, Inc., 54 F. Supp. 3d 1012, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147823, 2014 WL 5308089 (S.D. Ind. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

JANE MAGNUS-STINSON, District Judge.

Presently pending before the Court is a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and/or Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Corizon, Inc. (“Cori-zon”), Dr. Noe Marandet, Dr. Naveen Ra-joli, Miami Correctional Facility Health Services Administrator (“Miami HSA”), and Putnamville Correctional Facility Health Services Administrator (“Putnamville HSA”). [Filing No. 87.]

I.

Standard of Review

Defendants’ motion is for judgment on the pleadings or for summary judgment. [Filing No. 87.] In ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the Court may only consider the complaint, answer, and any documents attached thereto as exhibits. See N. Ind. Gun & Outdoor Shows, Inc. v. City of South Bend, 163 F.3d 449, 452-53 (7th Cir.1998). Defendants rely on matters outside of the pleadings for all of their arguments.1 Accordingly, the Court will treat Defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings as one for summary judgment, and apply that standard. See U.S. v. $183,026.36 in U.S. Currency, 2014 WL 3734172, *5 (N.D.Ind.2014) (“Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(d) requires the Court to convert a motion for judgment on the pleadings to a motion for summary judgment when matters outside the pleadings are presented and not excluded by the Court”).

A motion for summary judgment asks the Court to find that a trial is unnecessary because there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and, instead, the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). As the current version of Rule 56 makes clear, [1016]*1016whether a party asserts that a fact is undisputed or genuinely disputed, the party must support the asserted fact by citing to particular parts of the record, including depositions, documents, or affidavits. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1)(A). A party can also support a fact by showing that the materials cited do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute or that the adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(1)(B). Affidavits or declarations must be made on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant is competent to testify on matters stated. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c)(4). Failure to properly support a fact in opposition to a movant’s factual assertion can result in the movant’s fact being considered undisputed, and potentially in the grant of summary judgment. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e).

In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court need only consider disputed facts that are material to the decision. A disputed fact is material if it might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law. Hampton v. Ford Motor Co., 561 F.3d 709, 713 (7th Cir.2009). In other words, while there may be facts that are in dispute, summary judgment is appropriate if those facts are not outcome determinative. Harper v. Vigilant Ins. Co., 433 F.3d 521, 525 (7th Cir.2005). Fact disputes that are irrelevant to the legal question will not be considered. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

On summary judgment, a party must show the Court what evidence it has that would convince a trier of fact to accept its version of the events. Johnson v. Cambridge Indus., 325 F.3d 892, 901 (7th Cir.2003). The moving party is entitled to summary judgment if no reasonable fact-finder could return a verdict for the non-moving party. Nelson v. Miller, 570 F.3d 868, 875 (7th Cir.2009). The Court views the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draws all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. Darst v. Interstate Brands Corp., 512 F.3d 903, 907 (7th Cir.2008). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because those tasks are left to the fact-finder. O’Leary v. Accretive Health, Inc., 657 F.3d 625, 630 (7th Cir.2011). The Court need only consider the cited materials, Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(3), and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has “repeatedly assured the district courts that they are not required to scour every inch of the record for evidence that is potentially relevant to the summary judgment motion before them,” Johnson, 325 F.3d at 898. Any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue for trial is resolved against the moving party. Ponsetti v. GE Pension Plan, 614 F.3d 684, 691 (7th Cir.2010).

II.

Background

The Court notes at the outset that Mr. Fromer has not complied with Local Rule 56 — 1(b), which provides that a response to a motion for summary judgment “must include a section labeled ‘Statement of Material Facts in Dispute’ that identifies the potentially determinative facts and factual disputes that the party contends demonstrate a dispute of fact precluding summary judgment.” While Mr. Fromer includes a section titled “Statement Of Material Facts In Dispute,” [Filing No. 107 at 8], he does not specifically identify facts that he is disputing. Instead, he provides his version of events, but without tying it to alleged inaccuracies in Defendants’ Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute. This approach does not comply with Local Rule 56-l(b), and has made. [1017]*1017review of Defendants’ motion unnecessarily cumbersome.

Nevertheless, the Court has at- ’ tempted to sift through Mr. Fromer’s version of events, determine which facts set forth by Defendants he disputes, and construe disputed facts in his favor when he has provided citations to evidence in the record. But failure to comply with Local, Rule 56 — 1(b) can result in a concession of the movant’s version of events. See, e.g., Waldridge v. Am. Hoechst Corp., 24 F.3d 918, 922 (7th Cir.1994) (the Seventh Circuit has “repeatedly upheld the strict enforcement of these rules, sustaining the entry of summary judgment when the non-movant has failed to submit a factual statement in the form called for by the pertinent rule and thereby conceded the mov-ant’s version of the facts”).

The Court also notes that Mr. Fromer’s Statement of Material Facts In Dispute contains a great deal of legal argument, purportedly supported by Mr. Fromer’s expert’s report. [See, e.g., Filing No.

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Bluebook (online)
54 F. Supp. 3d 1012, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147823, 2014 WL 5308089, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fromer-v-corizon-inc-insd-2014.