Mayweather-Brown - RESTRICTED - ACCEPT NO FILINGS v. Biggler

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 30, 2019
Docket3:14-cv-02089
StatusUnknown

This text of Mayweather-Brown - RESTRICTED - ACCEPT NO FILINGS v. Biggler (Mayweather-Brown - RESTRICTED - ACCEPT NO FILINGS v. Biggler) 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
Mayweather-Brown - RESTRICTED - ACCEPT NO FILINGS v. Biggler, (N.D. Ind. 2019).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA SOUTH BEND DIVISION

QUINTIN J. MAYWEATHER-BROWN,

Plaintiff,

v. CAUSE NO.: 3:14-CV-2089-JD-MGG

STEFFANY BIGLER, et al.,

Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER Quintin J. Mayweather-Brown, a prisoner without a lawyer, is proceeding against Lieutenant Steffany Bigler, Captain John Perry, and Gary Yoder for failing to provide him with appropriate conditions of confinement, including adequate clothing, bedding, and heat while housed at the Elkhart County Jail (“Elkhart Jail”) in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. (ECF 32; 143.) He is also proceeding against Lieutenant Bigler, Captain Perry, Dr. Josh Mathew, Robbin Yohn, and Mr. Yoder for failing to provide him with constitutionally adequate medical care while housed at the Elkhart Jail in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Id.) On October 15, 2018, Mayweather- Brown filed a motion for summary judgment asserting he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on his claims. (ECF 200.) On December 4, 2018, the Defendants responded by filing cross-motions for summary judgment (ECF 210; 213) asserting there are no genuine issues of material fact to support Mayweather-Brown’s claims. The cross- motions for summary judgment were accompanied by notices informing Mayweather- Brown of the motions as required by N.D. Ind. L.R. 56-1(f). (ECF 215; 216.) On February 19, 2019, Mayweather-Brown filed a reply (ECF 231, 232-1) and, on April 15, 2019, he filed a sur-reply. (ECF 258.) On August 2, 2019, Dr. Mathew, Yohn, and Yoder filed a

response to Mayweather-Brown’s sur-reply. (ECF 286.) FACTS1 Mayweather-Brown was a pretrial detainee at the Elkhart Jail from March 20, 2014 to June 6, 2014, when he was transferred to the Indiana Department of Correction (“IDOC”). (ECF 212-2 at ¶ 5, 212-2 at 6-8, 42-55, 212-4 at 27:15-20.) He returned to the Elkhart Jail on May 22, 2015 and remained there until January 21, 2016, when he was

again transferred to the IDOC. (Id.) Mayweather-Brown has sued Lieutenant Bigler, Captain Perry, Dr. Mathew, Mr. Yoder and Ms. Yohn. Bigler was employed by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department (“Sheriff’s Department”) as a Sergeant and Lieutenant in the Corrections Division from August 2003 through October 2015. (ECF 212-1 at ¶¶ 2, 3.) Perry was employed by the

Sheriff’s Department as the Captain of the Corrections Division throughout the time period relevant to this case. (ECF 212-2 at ¶¶ 2, 3.) Dr. Mathew is a psychiatrist who works for Correct Care Solutions (“CCS”), a private company that contracted with the Sheriff’s Department to provide healthcare to inmates at the Elkhart Jail. (ECF 212-5 at ¶ 3.) He is responsible for providing mental

health services by diagnosing inmates who have behavioral and psychiatric disorders, prescribing and managing psychiatric medication for inmates, and seeing inmates as

1 The facts are largely uncontested, and the court has borrowed heavily from the Defendants’ Statement of Material Facts. (ECF 212.) needed for acute psychiatric issues. (Id. at ¶ 4.) Dr. Mathew creates treatment plans for inmates and advises mental health staff on how best to treat inmates; however, he does

not take an active role in monitoring the day-to-day mental healthcare of inmates. (Id.) Yoder is a licensed clinical social worker and was employed by CCS at the Elkhart Jail during the relevant period. (ECF 212-7 at ¶¶ 2, 3.) He provided mental health counseling services by assisting inmates who had acute mental health issues and worked with doctors who developed treatment plans for inmates. (Id. at ¶ 4.) Yoder did not diagnose inmates, prescribe medication, or dictate treatment plans for inmates. (Id.)

He also did not direct the actions of correctional officers and only carried out the treatment plans established by jail physicians. (Id.) Yohn, a registered nurse, was employed as a Health Services Administrator by CCS at the Elkhart Jail during the relevant period. (ECF 212-6 at ¶ 3.) Her position was primarily administrative in nature because she served as the liaison between the Elkhart

Jail Administration and the medical department. (Id. at ¶ 4.) Yohn’s duties entailed ordering medical supplies, hiring medical staff, maintaining nursing staff schedules, responding to inmate grievances regarding medical issues, and handling human resource issues for the medical staff. Id. She did not have the authority to prescribe medications, recommend treatments, or refer patients to specialists. (Id.)

March 20, 2014 to June 6, 2014 On the morning of March 20, 2014, Mayweather-Brown was booked into the Elkhart Jail. (ECF 212-3 at 55.) Immediately upon his intake, he was referred to mental health staff because he had made suicide threats to the police officers who had transported him to jail. (Id. at 53-54.) However, once Mayweather-Brown arrived at the Elkhart Jail, he told the jail’s staff that he was not going to harm himself. (Id. at 55.) Dr.

John Foster, a jail doctor, prescribed Remeron (antidepressant medication), Zyprexa (antipsychotic medication), Haldol (antipsychotic medication), and Ativan (anxiety medication) for his symptoms. (Id. at 56.) At that time, Mayweather-Brown did not have a comprehensive intake screening because he was combative. (Id. at 57, 59.) Despite telling medical staff that he did not intend to harm himself, he told one staff member that, “If I go in a padded cell I will cause problems for everyone.” (Id. at 61.)

At 2:00 p.m. on March 20, 2014, Mayweather-Brown became upset about his legal charges and was taken to a classroom to walk around and calm down. (ECF 212-3 at 73.) Twenty minutes later at 2:21 p.m., Dr. Foster was alerted that Mayweather-Brown had attempted to hang himself with a blanket and was complaining of not being able to feel his body from his neck down. (Id. at 76-77.) Jail officers, however, were able to see there

was slack in the blanket around his neck and he was moving his head on his own. (Id.) Mayweather-Brown was then transported to the medical unit on a backboard where Dr. Foster observed that he was able to move his arms. (Id.) Dr. Foster examined him and noted that all of his reflexes were intact, and he could move all of his appendages. Id. He complained that he had neck pain, but while he was waiting for a neck x-ray,

admitted that there was nothing wrong with his neck.2 (Id. at 70-71, 76-77.)

2 At some point after Mayweather-Brown attempted to commit suicide, he was asked to remove his clothes but was reluctant to do so. (ECF 238 at 47.) Several jail officers forced Mayweather-Brown to the floor where they removed his clothing. (Id.) As a result of the incident, one jail officer was demoted from his supervisory position. (ECF 280-1 at 1-8.) However, that jail officer is not a defendant in this case. At 3:30 p.m. on March 20, 2014, Mayweather-Brown refused his medication, stating “Don’t give me a f****** shot. That s*** better be court ordered. I ain’t taking

s***.” (ECF 212-3 at 68.) He was extremely agitated and aggressive, and stated that he would “get every worker here.” (Id.) About two hours later at t 5:45 p.m., another jail doctor, Dr. Robbins ordered an Ativan injection. (Id. at 64-65.) However, at 8:10 p.m., he refused his medications and would not sign a refusal of treatment form. (Id. at 64.) At around 9:30 p.m., he tied a wire around his neck and threatened suicide. (Id.) However, he agreed to turn over the wire to medical staff upon receiving several cups of water.

(Id.) The next day, on March 21, 2014, Mayweather-Brown refused his medication and would not sign the refusal of treatment form. (ECF 212-3 at 81-82.) At 9:40 a.m. that day, he was evaluated by mental health staff. (Id. at 96.) They noted that he had attempted to kill himself three times in the past twenty-four hours, verbalized intentions to drown

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