(PC) Duncan v. California Healthcare Receivership Corp.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJune 30, 2025
Docket1:20-cv-01288
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
(PC) Duncan v. California Healthcare Receivership Corp., (E.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DIONTAE JOHAN DUNCAN, Case No.: 1:20-cv-01288-KES-SKO 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO DISMISS CERTAIN DEFENDANT AFTER 13 v. SCREENING OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 14 CALIFORNIA HEALTHCARE RECEIVERSHIP CORP., et al., (Doc. 124) 15 Defendants. 14-DAY OBJECTION PERIOD 16

17 18 Plaintiff Diontae Johan Duncan is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil 19 rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983. 20 I. BACKGROUND 21 On June 1, 2023, then assigned District Judge Ana de Alba issued an Order Adopting 22 Findings and Recommendations to Dismiss Certain Claims and Defendants from Plaintiff’s 23 Second Amended Complaint. (Doc. 80.) The action was ordered to “proceed only on the Eighth 24 Amendment deliberate indifference to serious medical needs claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 25 against Defendants Marciel, Graywall, Taylor, Gerderal, and Jane Does #1 and #2 (Claim I) in 26 Plaintiff’s second amended complaint,” the remaining claims were dismissed, and Defendants 27 California Healthcare Receivership Corp., Warden C. Phifer, and Psychologist Rubish were dismissed. (Id. at 3.) 1 Following service of process, on November 15, 2023, Defendant Taylor filed a motion to 2 dismiss the claim against him in Plaintiff’s second amended complaint. (Doc. 101.) On 3 November 28, 2023, the Court issued its Order Granting Stay of Responsive Pleading Deadline as 4 to Defendants Marciel, Gallienne III1 and Grewal.2 (Doc. 106.) The Court stated it would “reset 5 the responsive pleading deadline following resolution of Defendant Taylor’s motion to dismiss.” 6 (Id. at 4.) 7 On August 9, 2024, the undersigned issued Findings and Recommendations to Grant 8 Defendant Taylor’s Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. 118.) On October 15, 2024, District Judge Kirk E. 9 Sherriff issued an Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration regarding Plaintiff’s 10 argument that his second amended complaint identified two defendants bearing the surname 11 Taylor—finding Plaintiff’s second amended complaint “referenced a single ‘Taylor’ defendant.”3 12 (Doc. 122.) That same date, Judge Sherriff issued an Order Adopting in Part the Findings and 13 Recommendations that (1) granted Taylor’s motion and “dismissed Plaintiff’s claims against 14 defendant Taylor contained within the second amended complaint” with leave to amend; (2) 15 deemed the amended complaint lodged September 27, 2024, to be the third amended complaint; 16 and (3) lifted the stay of the responsive pleading deadline, holding that “defendants Marciel, 17 Gallienne III, and Grewal shall not be required to file a responsive pleading under after the 18 magistrate judge has screened plaintiff’s third amended complaint.” ((Doc. 123 at 2-3.) The Clerk 19 of the Court docketed and filed the previously lodged amended complaint as Plaintiff’s Third 20 Amended Complaint. (Doc. 124.) 21 II. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 22 The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 23 governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). 24 The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the complaint is frivolous or malicious, 25

26 1 This individual was identified as W. Gerderal III in Plaintiff’s second amended complaint.

27 2 This individual was identified as G. Graywall in Plaintiff’s the second amended complaint.

3 The case proceeds only on Plaintiff’s claims against a single Taylor defendant. 1 fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant 2 who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). The Court should dismiss a complaint if 3 it lacks a cognizable legal theory or fails to allege sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal 4 theory. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 5 III. PLEADING REQUIREMENTS 6 A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) 7 “Rule 8(a)’s simplified pleading standard applies to all civil actions, with limited 8 exceptions.” Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 513 (2002). A complaint must contain 9 “a short and plain statement of the claims showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. 10 Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “Such a statement must simply give the defendant fair notice of what the 11 plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Swierkiewicz, 534 U.S. at 512 (internal 12 quotation marks & citation omitted). 13 Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a 14 cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 15 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Plaintiff must 16 set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim that is plausible on its face.’” 17 Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). Factual allegations are accepted as true, but legal 18 conclusions are not. Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). 19 The Court construes pleadings of pro se prisoners liberally and affords them the benefit of 20 any doubt. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). However, “the 21 liberal pleading standard . . . applies only to a plaintiff’s factual allegations,” not his legal 22 theories. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 330 n.9 (1989). Furthermore, “a liberal interpretation 23 of a civil rights complaint may not supply essential elements of the claim that were not initially 24 pled,” Bruns v. Nat’l Credit Union Admin., 122 F.3d 1251, 1257 (9th Cir. 1997) (internal 25 quotation marks & citation omitted), and courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted 26 inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation 27 marks & citation omitted). The “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully” is not 1 liability” fall short. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (internal quotation marks & citation omitted). 2 B. Linkage and Causation 3 Section 1983 provides a cause of action for the violation of constitutional or other federal 4 rights by persons acting under color of state law. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under 5 section 1983, a plaintiff must show a causal connection or link between the actions of the 6 defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by the plaintiff. See Rizzo v. Goode, 7 423 U.S. 362, 373-75 (1976).

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(PC) Duncan v. California Healthcare Receivership Corp., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-duncan-v-california-healthcare-receivership-corp-caed-2025.