Jones v. Westchester County

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 18, 2021
Docket1:19-cv-09553
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Jones v. Westchester County, (S.D.N.Y. 2021).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DANIEL JONES, Plaintiff, -against- DR. RAUL ULLOA; SGT. SORRENTINO; 19-CV-9553 (LLS) P.A. STODDARD; KARL VOLLMER; SGT. MEADE; SERGEANT MABRA; JOHN DOES ORDER OF DISMISSAL 12-20; CAPTAIN HERMANS; DR. JANE DOE; JOHN DOE ORTHOPEDIC; LISA NURSE PRACTITIONER; C.O. FICAROTTA, Defendants. LOUIS L. STANTON, United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who is incarcerated in Attica Correctional Facility in the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS), is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis. Plaintiff filed this complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Defendants failed to provide constitutionally adequate medical care, from the time he fell on January 24, 2018, at Westchester County Jail, until he was transferred into the custody of DOCCS, on or about April 9, 2018. The Court directed Plaintiff to amend his complaint to address deficiencies in his original pleading. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on January 20, 2021, and the Court has reviewed it. The action is dismissed for the reasons set forth below. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires that federal courts screen complaints brought by prisoners who seek relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a prisoner’s in forma pauperis complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that 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. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B), 1915A(b); see Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639 (2d Cir. 2007). The Court must also dismiss a complaint if the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). While the law mandates dismissal on any of these grounds, the Court is obliged to

construe pro se pleadings liberally, Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009), and interpret them to raise the “strongest [claims] that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis in original). But the “special solicitude” in pro se cases, id. at 475 (citation omitted), has its limits – to state a claim, pro se pleadings still must comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a complaint to make a short and plain statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. The Supreme Court has held that under Rule 8, a complaint must include enough facts to state a claim for relief “that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is facially plausible if the plaintiff pleads enough factual detail to allow the

Court to draw the inference that the defendant is liable for the alleged misconduct. In reviewing the complaint, the Court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009). But it does not have to accept as true “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,” which are essentially just legal conclusions. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. After separating legal conclusions from well-pleaded factual allegations, the Court must determine whether those facts make it plausible – not merely possible – that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id. BACKGROUND The following allegations are from Plaintiff Daniel Jones’s amended complaint. On January 24, 2018, the stairs at WCJ were slippery because someone left a wet mop at the top of the stairs, and he fell. (ECF 13 at 7.) Medical Director Ulloa sent Plaintiff to the WCJ clinic rather than sending him to an outside hospital. The x-rays from the WCJ clinic showed that Plaintiff had not broken any bones, but on January 25, 2018, Nurse Practitioner Veronica provided Plaintiff with crutches and arranged for him to go to an outside hospital, so that they

could “rule our possible rupture or tear.” (Id.) At the hospital, Plaintiff received Percocet for pain, and more x-rays for his ankle and foot. (Id.) Dr. Jane Doe at Westchester County Medical Center “stated [that Plaintiff] had a sprained ankle.” (Id. at 8.) Plaintiff told Dr. Jane Doe that he already knew that he didn’t have any broken bones but that he had come to the hospital “to rule out any possible Achilles tendon injuries, which can’t be determined by x-ray.” (Id.) Dr. Jane Doe asked whether Plaintiff would “like her to wrap [his] foot or not,” and stated that she had other patients to see. He “also heard say that she hates inmates.” (Id. at 9.) Plaintiff was “returned to the jail with the outside hospital neglecting his medical needs.” (Id.) Plaintiff contends that Nurse Practitioner Lisa or Dr. Ulloa at WCJ should have “sent him

back” to the hospital a second time after Dr. Jane Doe “declared ‘sprained ankle’ without the proper tests.” (Id.) Plaintiff asked Nurse Practitioner Lisa for stronger pain medication but she told him that Dr. Jane Doe had prescribed only Tylenol for pain; Naproxen was recommended, even though Plaintiff stated that “it did nothing for [him] in the past.” (Id.) A few weeks later, on February 12, 2018, Correction Officer Ficarrotta attempted to put leg irons on Plaintiff. Even though Plaintiff was using a cane and had taken previous medical trips without leg irons, Officer Ficarrotta and Sergeant Mabra told Plaintiff that he could not travel without leg irons on both legs. Plaintiff filed a grievance. On February 23, 2018, Plaintiff’s grievance was denied; the grievance denial included a statement from Sergeant Mabra stating that he had asked to see the injury but Plaintiff “adamantly refused,” which Plaintiff states is false. (Id. at 10.) In denying Plaintiff’s grievance, Assistant Warden Vollmer further noted that “there are absolutely no medical restrictions . . . which preclud[e] the application of leg restraints on your person.” (Id. at 11.)

On an unspecified date, Plaintiff states that he saw an orthopedist at WCJ who stated that Plaintiff “had sustained a tear” and that Plaintiff “should not have any limitations on [his] injury.” (Id.) Plaintiff told the orthopedist that he had been unable to attend a medical appointment on February 12, 2018, because “he could not bear the leg irons.” (Id.) The orthopedist said that “he would personally put in [Plaintiff’s] medical records ‘not to put leg restraints on [Plaintiff’s] injury” but that this was never done. (Id.) Plaintiff obtained his medical records on March 27, 2018, and found two false statements. First, there is a notation that Plaintiff had “inflicted self-harm . . . drawing blood and had to be restrained,” and second, there is a statement that on January 24, 2018, Plaintiff “reported a basketball related injury” at WCJ. (Id. at 11-12.) Plaintiff contends that he “realized that a cover-

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Bluebook (online)
Jones v. Westchester County, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-westchester-county-nysd-2021.