(PC) Estrada v. California Correctional Institution

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMay 28, 2020
Docket1:18-cv-00599
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Estrada v. California Correctional Institution ((PC) Estrada v. California Correctional Institution) 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) Estrada v. California Correctional Institution, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 NICHOLAS ESTRADA, ) Case No.: 1:18-cv-00599-AWI-SAB (PC) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION 13 v. ) RECOMMENDING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS BE DENIED ) 14 CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, et al., ) [ECF No. 16] 15 ) ) 16 Defendants. ) ) 17 )

18 Plaintiff Nicholas Estrada is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action 19 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Currently before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss, filed September 6, 2019. 21 I. 22 RELEVANT HISTORY 23 This action is proceeding against Defendants Bounville and Sullivan for deliberate indifference 24 to a serious medical need in violation of the Eighth Amendment. 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 As previously stated, on September 6, 2019, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the action. 2 (ECF No. 16.) Plaintiff did not file an opposition and the time to do has expired.1 Local Rule 230(l). 3 Accordingly, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is deemed submitted for review without oral argument. 4 Id. 5 II. 6 LEGAL STANDARD 7 A motion to dismiss, based on res judicata grounds, is properly made under Federal Rule of 8 Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). Gupta v. Thai Airways Intern., Ltd., 487 F.3d 759, 763 (9th Cir. 2007). 9 However, the court applies California law on claim preclusion to cases brought in federal court under 10 42 U.S.C. § 1983. “Congress has specifically required all federal courts to give preclusive effect to 11 state-court judgments whenever the courts of the State from which the judgments emerged would do 12 so.” Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 96 (1980). 13 A motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of a claim, 14 and dismissal is proper if there is a lack of a cognizable legal theory or the absence of sufficient facts 15 alleged under a cognizable legal theory. Conservation Force v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1241-42 (9th 16 Cir. 2011) (quotation marks and citations omitted). In resolving a 12(b)(6) motion, a court’s review is 17 generally limited to the operative pleading. Daniels-Hall v. National Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 998 18 (9th Cir. 2010); Sanders v. Brown, 504 F.3d 903, 910 (9th Cir. 2007); Schneider v. California Dept. of 19 Corr., 151 F.3d 1194, 1197 n.1 (9th Cir. 1998). 20 To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as 21 true, to state a claim that is plausible on its face. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing 22 Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)) (quotation marks omitted); Conservation 23 Force, 646 F.3d at 1242; Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The Court 24 must accept the factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non- 25 26 1 On March 23, 2020, the Court directed Defendants to re-serve a copy of their motion to dismiss on Plaintiff, as his most 27 recent address of record. (ECF No. 20.) On this same date, Defendants filed a notice that their motion to dismiss was re- served on Plaintiff at his new address of record as reflected in the February 2, 2020, notice of change of address. (ECF 28 1 moving party. Daniels-Hall, 629 F.3d at 998; Sanders, 504 F.3d at 910; Morales v. City of Los 2 Angeles, 214 F.3d 1151, 1153 (9th Cir. 2000). Yet, the court “need not accept as true allegations 3 contradicting documents that are referenced in the complaint or that are properly subject to judicial 4 notice.” Lazy Y Ranch Ltd. v. Behrens, 546 F.3d 580, 588 (9th Cir. 2006). 5 III. 6 DISCUSSION 7 A. Allegations of Complaint 8 Plaintiff alleges that on August 28, 2016, he was transferred to CCI in Tehachapi, California, in 9 the mental health program. Plaintiff has severe mental disorders, including audio and visual 10 hallucinations, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and has suffered abuse under the CDCR 11 mental health program. 12 Plaintiff was seen, treated, and diagnosed by an unlicensed psychologist; a social worker named 13 R. Bounville, who referred to herself as a licensed psychologist. She had access to Plaintiff’s mental 14 health file without his permission. Defendant Bounville instructed and advised Plaintiff it would be best 15 for him to stop taking his mental health medication due to their long-term side effects which is beyond 16 her cope of experience and profession. Defendant Bounville does not have the authority to give patient 17 advice or consultation in regard to psychiatric medication nor its side effects. Plaintiff contends that 18 had he known that Defendant Bounville was not a psychologist he would not have disclosed his personal 19 information to her. 20 Several times between August 2016 to June 2017, Plaintiff requested to see the social worker, 21 displaying symptoms of mental disorders. These included hearing voices, audio and visual 22 hallucinations, anxiety, weight gain, depression, anger issues, mood swings, arguing and fighting, over 23 eating, lack of sleep, and crying with thoughts of suicide. Plaintiff alleges that his symptoms were 24 consistent with schizophrenic disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression. Plaintiff explained his 25 symptoms in his requests and his need for medication and a psychiatrist. The social worker told Plaintiff 26 that she would call him into her office every week to see how he was doing, but she never did. After 27 several months of no responses or follow-ups, Plaintiff’s symptoms became too overwhelming to 28 handle. He requested to see the social worker by filing a mental health medical request form, and she 1 referred him to a psychiatrist. 2 Plaintiff had a tele-medicine video conference with the psychiatrist and an assistance nurse was 3 present who took Plaintiff’s vitals and remained present during the session. During the session, Plaintiff 4 tried to express his symptoms to the doctor, but did not feel comfortable because the nurse kept laughing 5 and giggling at Plaintiff’s symptoms. Believing that he was entitled to confidentiality of his symptoms, 6 Plaintiff cut off the conversation and left the room. 7 Soon thereafter, the social work called Plaintiff for a meeting, and he was still under the 8 impression that she was a psychologist. Plaintiff told her about the conference and his concerns, and 9 requested to see a psychiatrist in person. She gave Plaintiff a copy of who is entitled to see his medical 10 file and that all communication was to be done through TelePsychic, including getting medication. She 11 told him that there was no other option as CCI did not have an onsite psychiatrist. 12 Plaintiff went on for months without mental health care, until CCI brought in a licensed 13 psychologist, Dr. Rosen. This was after Plaintiff filed an administrative complaint that went two levels 14 and up to Sacramento. The response to Plaintiff’s complaint made him aware that Defendant Bounville 15 was a social worker, not a licensed psychologist. 16 Plaintiff alleges that it was Warden Sullivan’s overall decision to employ social workers in place 17 of licensed psychologists due to cost efficiency, and he gave access to patent mental health files to the 18 social workers.

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(PC) Estrada v. California Correctional Institution, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-estrada-v-california-correctional-institution-caed-2020.