Montgomery v. Logsdon

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedApril 12, 2023
Docket2:20-cv-00756
StatusUnknown

This text of Montgomery v. Logsdon (Montgomery v. Logsdon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Montgomery v. Logsdon, (E.D. La. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

CHRISTOPHER B. MONTGOMERY CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS NO. 20-756

ANNETTE LOGSDON, ET AL. SECTION “R” (1)

ORDER AND REASONS

Before the Court is defendants Gerald Turlich, Denise Narcisse, Lenny Jourdan, and Lisa Ancalade’s motion for summary judgment.1 Plaintiff Christopher B. Montgomery opposes defendants’ motion.2 For the following reasons, the Court grants defendants’ motion.

I. BACKGROUND

This case arises out of defendants’ alleged failure to provide adequate medical care to plaintiff, a paraplegic inmate currently incarcerated at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. Plaintiff alleges that while he was a pre-trial detainee at the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center, defendants failed to provide him with a handicap

1 R. Doc. 157. 2 R. Doc. 158. accessible cell, and that they failed to procure medical equipment he needed, including a working air-loss mattress, a new wheelchair, a wound vacuum-

assisted closure (a “wound VAC”), and protein supplements.3 He also asserts that defendants temporarily transferred him to a facility in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, which did not have a handicap accessible bathroom or shower. He alleges that while he was there, he was unable to access toilets or showers

for five days.4 Finally, he alleges that his complaints about his constipation and his need for better wound care were ignored.5 Plaintiff filed a complaint against Egan Medical Staffing (“Egan”);

CorrectHealth Plaquemines, LLC (“CorrectHealth”); Annette Logsdon, R.N., an employee of CorrectHealth; Gerald Turlich, Sheriff of Plaquemines Parish; Lisa Ancalade, the liaison between Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office and the medical providers6; Denise Narcisse, Warden of Plaquemines

Parish; and Lenny Jourdan.7 In his complaint, plaintiff brings three claims: (1) that defendants acted with deliberate indifference of his medical needs in

3 R. Doc. 92 ¶¶ 21, 36, 41. 4 Id. ¶ 38. 5 Id. ¶¶ 42, 46. 6 R. Doc. 158-1 at 26. 7 The record does not indicate Lenny Jourdan’s position with the jail, but the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office website states that he currently serves as the Director of Federal Inmates & Transportation. See www.ppso.net/command-staff. violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments; (2) that Turlich8 failed to supervise and train jail staff and ratified policies that caused violations of

inmates’ constitutional rights; and (3) that defendants discriminated against him in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act (the “RA”). Turlich, Jourdon, Ancalade, and Narcisse now move for summary

judgment.9 In their motion, they contend that there is no evidence that defendants were deliberately indifferent to plaintiff’s medical needs, and that even if plaintiff had established a constitutional violation, they are entitled

to qualified immunity.10 They further contend that plaintiff has failed to establish that Turlich permitted a policy or practice of unconstitutional conduct.11 Finally, defendants assert that plaintiff has failed to establish a claim for discrimination in violation of the ADA or the RA.12 Plaintiff

opposes defendants’ motion.13

8 His complaint also lists Narcisse for this claim, but in his opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment, plaintiff refers only to Turlich. 9 The claims against Annette Logsdon, CorrectHealth, and Egan have already been dismissed by earlier orders of the Court. R. Docs. 108, 132 & 143. 10 R. Doc. 157-1 at 11-15. 11 Id. at 17-20. 12 Id. at 20-22. 13 R. Doc. 158. The Court considers the parties’ arguments below.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is warranted when “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986); Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1994) (en banc) (per curiam). “When assessing whether a dispute to any material fact exists, [the Court] consider[s] all of the evidence

in the record but refrain[s] from making credibility determinations or weighing the evidence.” Delta & Pine Land Co. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Ins., 530 F.3d 395, 398-99 (5th Cir. 2008). All reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the nonmoving party, but “unsupported allegations or

affidavits setting forth ‘ultimate or conclusory facts and conclusions of law’ are insufficient to either support or defeat a motion for summary judgment.” Galindo v. Precision Am. Corp., 754 F.2d 1212, 1216 (5th Cir. 1985) (quoting 10A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure

§ 2738 (2d ed. 1983)); see also Little, 37 F.3d at 1075. “No genuine dispute of fact exists if the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party.” EEOC v. Simbaki, Ltd., 767 F.3d 475, 481 (5th Cir. 2014).

If the dispositive issue is one on which the moving party will bear the burden of proof at trial, the moving party “must come forward with evidence which would ‘entitle it to a directed verdict if the evidence went uncontroverted at trial.’” Int’l Shortstop, Inc. v. Rally’s, Inc., 939 F.2d 1257,

1264-65 (5th Cir. 1991) (quoting Golden Rule Ins. v. Lease, 755 F. Supp. 948, 951 (D. Colo. 1991)). “[T]he nonmoving party can defeat the motion” by either countering with evidence sufficient to demonstrate the “existence of a

genuine dispute of material fact,” or by “showing that the moving party’s evidence is so sheer that it may not persuade the reasonable fact-finder to return a verdict in favor of the moving party.” Id. at 1265. If, as here, the dispositive issue is one on which the nonmoving party

will bear the burden of proof at trial, the moving party may satisfy its burden by pointing out that the evidence in the record is insufficient with respect to an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party, who must, by

submitting or referring to evidence, set out specific facts showing that a genuine issue exists. See id. at 324. The nonmovant may not rest upon the pleadings, but must identify specific facts that establish a genuine issue for resolution. See, e.g., id.; Little, 37 F.3d at 1075 (“Rule 56 ‘mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion,

against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.’” (quoting Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322)).

III. DISCUSSION

A. Deliberate Indifference Claim Plaintiff brings a Section 1983 claim against defendants for their alleged deliberate indifference to his medical needs during his time in the custody of the Plaquemines Parish Detention Center. Section 1983 provides a cause of action to plaintiffs whose federal rights are violated under color of state law. 42 U.S.C.

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