JOHNSON v. KARDIS

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedAugust 4, 2023
Docket1:21-cv-03021
StatusUnknown

This text of JOHNSON v. KARDIS (JOHNSON v. KARDIS) 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
JOHNSON v. KARDIS, (S.D. Ind. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

RANDOLL D. JOHNSON, JR., ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:21-cv-03021-TWP-TAB ) EMILY KARDIS, ) CHRISTINA LIEDTKE, ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Emily Kardis' and Christina Liedtke's (collectively the "Defendants") Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 27). Pro se Plaintiff Randoll D. Johnson, Jr., ("Mr. Johnson") initiated this civil rights action alleging that Defendants, two mental health care providers at Pendleton Correctional Facility ("Pendleton"), were deliberately indifferent to his serious mental health needs while he was enrolled in the Intensive Residential Treatment ("IRT") Program. Because the undisputed evidence shows that Mr. Johnson received constitutionally adequate treatment, the motion is granted. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Parties in a civil dispute may move for summary judgment, which is a way of resolving a case short of a trial. See Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a). Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute as to any of the material facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.; Pack v. Middlebury Comm. Schs., 990 F.3d 1013, 1017 (7th Cir. 2021). A "genuine dispute" exists when a reasonable factfinder could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). "Material facts" are those that might affect the outcome of the suit. Id. When reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the court views the record and draws all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Khungar v. Access Cmty. Health Network, 985 F.3d 565, 572-73 (7th Cir. 2021). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because those tasks are left to the fact-

finder. Miller v. Gonzalez, 761 F.3d 822, 827 (7th Cir. 2014). The court is only required to consider the materials cited by the parties, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(3); it is not required to "scour every inch of the record" for evidence that is potentially relevant. Grant v. Trs. of Ind. Univ., 870 F.3d 562, 573−74 (7th Cir. 2017). "[A] party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of 'the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). "[T]he burden on the moving party may be discharged by 'showing'—that is, pointing out to the district court—that there is an absence of evidence to support

the nonmoving party's case." Id. at 325. In this case, despite Defendants having notified Mr. Johnson of his right to respond to and submit evidence in opposition to motion for summary judgment, (Dkt. 30), Mr. Johnson failed to respond to the summary judgment motion. Accordingly, facts alleged in the motion are "admitted without controversy" so long as support for them exists in the record. S.D. Ind. L.R. 56-1(f); see S.D. Ind. L.R. 56-1(b) (party opposing judgment must file response brief and identify disputed facts). "Even where a non-movant fails to respond to a motion for summary judgment, the movant still has to show that summary judgment is proper given the undisputed facts." Robinson v. Waterman, 1 F.4th 480, 483 (7th Cir. 2021) (cleaned up). II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Because Defendants have moved for summary judgment under Rule 56(a), the Court views and recites the evidence "in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw[s] all reasonable inferences in that party's favor." Zerante v. DeLuca, 555 F.3d 582, 584 (7th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). As noted earlier, Mr. Johnson has not responded to the summary judgment motion, so the Court treats Defendants' supported factual assertions as uncontested. See Hinterberger v. City of Indianapolis, 966 F.3d 523, 527 (7th Cir. 2020); S.D. Ind. L.R. 56-1(b), (f). A. Background of the Intensive Residential Treatment (IRT) Program and Parties The IRT Program at Pendleton is a specialized mental health treatment unit, with a specialized mental health treatment program, designed to address and treat inmates with serious mental illnesses. (Dkt. 29-1 at ¶ 3.) Treatment in the IRT Program consists of hours of group therapy per week, individualized therapy once per month, access to a counselor, staff that complete rounds in the housing units, and psychiatrists to conduct medicine-related evaluations. Id. at ¶¶

29, 31. Further, patients in the IRT Program can request additional mental health treatment by submitting a healthcare request form. Id. at ¶ 29. Mr. Johnson has struggled with mental illness since he was six years old. (Dkt. 29-4 at 9 (30:22−24).)1 He has a history of diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder and had been hospitalized at Logansport State Hospital for a competency evaluation before his arrival to the Indiana Department of Correction ("IDOC"). (Dkt. 29-3 at

1 With respect to Mr. Johnson's deposition at Docket 29-4, the Court first cites to the page of the PDF, then to the pages and lines of the deposition. The Court refers to the page number of the PDF for Mr. Johnson's mental health records at Docket 29-3. 5−7.) Mr. Johnson has a history of suicide attempts and had been prescribed antidepressants before his incarceration. Id. at 5. He had stopped taking the medications due to side effects. Id. At the Reception Diagnostic Center, Mr. Johnson was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder but not any depressive disorder because the evaluating psychiatrist was

unable to identify enough symptoms to meet the criteria for a depressive disorder. (Dkt. 29-3 at 10−13.) Upon his transfer to Pendleton, he was placed in the IRT Program. (Dkt. 29-1 at ¶ 8.) Emily Kardis, PsyD ("Dr. Kardis"), is a psychologist licensed to practice in Indiana. (Dkt. 29-1 at ¶ 1.) She was employed by Wexford of Indiana, LLC ("Wexford"), as a psychologist at Pendleton from April 1, 2017 through April 2019, when she transferred to Logansport Juvenile Facility. Id. at ¶¶ 2, 27. Christine Liedtke, PsyD ("Dr. Liedtke"), is a psychologist licensed to practice in Indiana. (Dkt. 29-2 at ¶ 1.) From May 20, 2019 through June 30, 2021, she was a psychologist at Pendleton employed by Wexford. Id. at ¶ 2. Since July 1, 2021, she has been employed in this capacity by Centurion LLC, IDOC's current healthcare provider. Id. at ¶ 3.

Both Dr. Kardis and Dr. Liedtke treated patients in Pendleton's IRT Program. (Dkt.

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JOHNSON v. KARDIS, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-kardis-insd-2023.