Jason A. Goodwin v. Lt. Eisenbraum et al.

District Court, D. Delaware·Decided August 21, 2026·No. 1:26-cv-00472·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

JASON A. GOODWIN, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) C.A. No. 26-472-GBW-EGT ) LT. EISENBRAUM et al., ) ) Defendants. )

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

Plaintiff Jason A. Goodwin, an inmate at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (D.I. 3). Plaintiff appears pro se and has been granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis. (D.I. 6). The Court proceeds to screen the Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A(a). For the reasons set forth below, the Court recommends that service proceed as to Defendants Eisenbraum, Gregor and Moore in their individual capacities on the Eighth Amendment excessive force and common law battery claims, that all remaining individual capacity claims against Defendants Eisenbraum, Gregor, Moore, Carter, Gonzalez, Harris, Zack, Warden Brian Emig, Bureau Chief Robert May and Commissioner Terra Taylor (collectively, “Defendants”) be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE and that Plaintiff’s official capacity claims for money damages be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff claims that, on April 11, 2025, he was having a mental breakdown and told Defendant Eisenbraum that he wanted to see mental health. (D.I. 3 at 6). Defendant Eisenbraum denied that request and then sprayed “a whole can” of “capstun” pepper spray under Plaintiff’s cell door. (Id.). Plaintiff renewed his request to visit mental health (again denied), after which Defendant Gregor apparently shot “alot of rounds of paintball” at Plaintiff in his cell and then closed the cell door. (See id.). The Quick Response Team (“QRT”) stormed Plaintiff’s cell and assaulted Plaintiff in some unspecified manner. (Id.). After the QRT team ultimately restrained Plaintiff with handcuffs, Defendant Gregor shot Plaintiff in his buttocks with a paintball gun. (Id.). Plaintiff was ultimately transferred to the Psychiatric Close Observation tier. (D.I. 3 at 6).

Once there, Defendants Harris, Zack and Gonzalez cut off Plaintiff’s clothes while he was lying face down, and Defendant Carter allegedly grabbed Plaintiff’s bare buttocks. (Id. at 6-7). Plaintiff requested to visit mental health again and then flooded his holding cell. (Id. at 7). Defendants Gregor and Moore responded and ended up shooting Plaintiff with rubber bullets and deploying a flashbang. (See id.). Plaintiff was escorted off the tier “butt naked” into the barbershop within the same building. (Id.). There, an unidentified officer apparently bent Plaintiff over, put wet fingers in Plaintiff’s ear and gyrated their hips into Plaintiff’s bare buttocks. (Id.). Plaintiff was then returned to his cell, which remained “filled with mace.” (Id.). Plaintiff further alleges that at some point, “[a]l Defendants” took his legal documents relating to this Complaint. (Id.). Plaintiff sustained multiple physical injuries to his lower back and wrist, eye damage due to pepper spray

to the face, mental anguish, anxiety, humiliation and embarrassment. (D.I. 3 at 8). Plaintiff alleges various constitutional claims against Defendants Eisenbraum, Gregor, Moore, Carter, Gonzalez, Harris and Zack based on their involvement in the foregoing events, as well as Warden Brian Emig, Bureau Chief Robert May, and Commissioner Terra Taylor for failing to train the correctional officers. (Id. at 7). Plaintiff sues Defendants in their individual and official capacities and seeks monetary damages. (Id. at 1 & 9). II. LEGAL STANDARDS A federal court may properly dismiss an action sua sponte under the screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B) and 1915A if “the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.” Ball v. Famiglio, 726 F.3d 448, 452 (3d Cir. 2013) (quotation marks omitted); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) (in forma pauperis actions); 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (civil actions filed by prisoners seeking redress from governmental entities or government officers and employees). The Court must accept all factual allegations in a complaint as true and view them in the light most

favorable to a pro se plaintiff. See Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 229 (3d Cir. 2008). Because Plaintiff proceeds pro se, his pleading is liberally construed and his Complaint, “however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007). A complaint is not automatically frivolous because it fails to state a claim. See Dooley v. Wetzel, 957 F.3d. 366, 374 (3d Cir. 2020). Rather, a claim is deemed frivolous only where it relies on an “‘indisputably meritless legal theory’ or a ‘clearly baseless’ or ‘fantastic or delusional’ factual scenario.’” Id. The legal standard for dismissing a complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to §§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and 1915A(b)(1) is identical to the legal standard used when ruling on

Rule 12(b)(6) motions. Tourscher v. McCullough, 184 F.3d 236, 240 (3d Cir. 1999). Before dismissing a complaint or claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted pursuant to the screening provisions of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915 and 1915A, however, the Court must grant Plaintiff leave to amend his complaint unless amendment would be inequitable or futile. See Grayson v. Mayview State Hosp., 293 F.3d 103, 114 (3d Cir. 2002). A well-pleaded complaint must contain more than mere labels and conclusions. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (2009); Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). A plaintiff must plead facts sufficient to show that a claim has substantive plausibility. See Johnson v. City of Shelby, 574 U.S. 10, 12 (2014). A complaint may not be dismissed, however, for imperfect statements of the legal theory supporting the claim asserted. See id. at 11. A court reviewing the sufficiency of a complaint must take three steps: (1) take note of the elements the plaintiff must plead to state a claim; (2) identify allegations that, because they are no

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Jason A. Goodwin v. Lt. Eisenbraum et al., (D. Del. 2026).

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