Johnson v. Westville Correctional Facility

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedFebruary 18, 2022
Docket3:21-cv-00337
StatusUnknown

This text of Johnson v. Westville Correctional Facility (Johnson v. Westville Correctional Facility) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.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. Westville Correctional Facility, (N.D. Ind. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION

DANIEL JOHNSON,

Plaintiff,

v. CAUSE NO. 3:21-CV-337 DRL-MGG

JOHN GALIPEAU et al.,

Defendants. OPINION AND ORDER On August 17, 2021, Daniel Johnson, a former inmate at the Westville Correctional Facility, filed a second amended complaint against Warden John Galipeau, Sergeant Nichols, Officer Brown, Captain Armstrong, Lieutenant Escabado, and unnamed John Doe Guards 1-10.1 His complaint alleges claims under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Indiana Constitution, and state law claims for negligence and battery arising out of incidents in October 2019 and March 2020. The defendants move to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. The court now grants and denies the motion to dismiss in specific parts. BACKGROUND These facts assume the truth of the allegations pleaded within the second amended complaint. While incarcerated at the Westville Correctional Facility, two inmates assaulted Mr. Johnson on October 27, 2019, leaving him unconscious with a broken face bone and multiple lacerations [ECF 14 ¶¶ 17-19]. His attackers are believed to be members of the Folks Gang [id. ¶ 20].

1 It is important to this court that each party is referred to by their proper title. The docket uses the title “sergeant” in reference to defendant Brown. However, both parties use the title “officer.” Because both parties use the designation of Officer Brown, so will the court. Following the attack, inmates who supported the attackers threatened and harassed Mr. Johnson in his dormitory [id. ¶ 22]. Sergeant Nichols and Officer Brown took Mr. Johnson to get medical attention for his injuries from the attack [id. ¶ 25]. Mr. Johnson pleaded with the guards not to return him to the same dormitory after informing the guards of the threats and harassment he was receiving from the Folks Gang and his fear of retaliation [id. ¶¶ 24-26]. Subsequently, as alleged, Officer Brown pushed a handcuffed Mr. Johnson into a concrete

pillar breaking two of his teeth, threw him onto his bed, and twisted his wrists [id. ¶¶ 29-31]. Mr. Johnson says Officer Brown also threatened him [id. ¶ 32]. Mr. Johnson was then transferred to a new dorm after Officer Brown beat him [id. ¶ 33]. One of the inmates who attacked Mr. Johnson was transferred to Mr. Johnson’s new dormitory in November 2019 [id. ¶ 34]. Mr. Johnson was placed in protective custody on November 4, 2019, and eventually returned to his dormitory [id. ¶¶ 35-36]. He says the threats and harassment from other inmates continued, but he never alleges that he reported anything new for four months. On March 19, 2020, Mr. Johnson reported threats and harassment to Captain Armstrong and Lieutenant Escabado who laughed off his concerns [id. ¶¶ 38, 41, 43]. He also told Officer Mix and two unknown guards [id.]. Mr. Johnson’s commissary was stolen and property destroyed while he talked with the prison guards and the guards looked on [id. ¶¶ 44-45]. That same night, he was raped by an inmate in the shower [id. ¶ 46]. The operative complaint never explains whether this occurred by one of the inmates who had threatened him or whether the inmate was part of the Folks Gang.

The defendants, excluding Sergeant Nichols and John Doe Guards 1-10, filed a motion to dismiss all claims against them on October 15, 2021. Mr. Johnson responded on November 8, 2021. No reply was filed. Sergeant Nichols filed an unopposed motion to join the motion to dismiss on December 21, 2021 because he hadn’t been served when this motion to dismiss was filed. No one objects to the joinder. STANDARD In reviewing a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court accepts all well-pleaded factual allegations as true and draws all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor. Reynolds v. CB Sports Bar, Inc., 623 F.3d 1143, 1146 (7th Cir. 2010). A complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). To survive a motion to dismiss, a “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief

that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). The plaintiff need not plead “detailed factual allegations.” Id. A plaintiff’s claim must be plausible, not probable. Indep. Trust Corp. v. Stewart Info. Servs. Corp., 665 F.3d 930, 935 (7th Cir. 2012). “Evaluating whether a claim is sufficiently plausible to survive a motion to dismiss is ‘a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.’” McCauley v. City of Chi., 671 F.3d 611, 616 (7th Cir. 2011) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). DISCUSSION Mr. Johnson’s second amended complaint includes seventeen counts. Counts 1-5, brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, allege the defendants violated Mr. Johnson’s Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. He says they were deliberately indifferent to his safety and well-being by ignoring his pleas for safety and forcing him into an environment they knew to be unsafe. Additionally, he alleges in count 3 that Officer Brown violated his Eighth Amendment right

by using excessive force. He sues Warden Galipeau under a theory of supervisory liability. Counts 6–16 allege numerous state law violations. Counts 6–10 assert violations of the Indiana Constitution’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, counts 11–15 allege negligence on the part of all defendants for their breach of duty to protect Mr. Johnson, and count 16 alleges Officer Brown committed battery. In count 17, Mr. Johnson pursues a Monell claim against Warden Galipeau for maintaining policies and practices that enabled the violations of Mr. Johnson’s Eighth Amendment right. Mr. Johnson withdraws this claim in his response to the motion to dismiss [ECF 23 at 5]. The court need not address this claim further since both parties agree to its dismissal. The defendants argue that all counts should be dismissed for failure to state a claim. They say counts 1–5 should be dismissed because Mr. Johnson failed to plead sufficient facts to support a

plausible claim, counts 6–10 should be dismissed for the same reasons as counts 1-5, and counts 11- 16 because they are barred by the Indiana Tort Claims Act (ITCA). Alternatively, the defendants argue that the state law claims should be dismissed for lack of supplemental jurisdiction once the federal claims are dismissed. Mr. Johnson argues that he properly pleaded his claims and that he complied with the notice requirements of the ITCA. A. A Plausible Claim Wasn’t Alleged against Warden Galipeau (Count 1). In count 1, Mr. Johnson alleges that Warden Galipeau violated Mr. Johnson’s Eighth Amendment right because he “is responsible for [Westville Correctional Facility’s] [c]onstitutional operation” [ECF 14 ¶ 54]. In response, Warden Galipeau argues Mr. Johnson failed to plead sufficient facts indicating Warden Galipeau was directly involved in the alleged constitutional violations.

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