(PC) Fairchild-Littlefield v. Attinello

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedOctober 30, 2020
Docket1:19-cv-01579
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Fairchild-Littlefield v. Attinello ((PC) Fairchild-Littlefield v. Attinello) 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) Fairchild-Littlefield v. Attinello, (E.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 GIGI FAIRCHILD-LITTLEFIELD, 1:19-cv-01579-NONE-GSA-PC

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR FAILURE TO STATE 13 vs. A CLAIM, WITH LEAVE TO AMEND (ECF No. 13.) 14 ATINELLO, et al., THIRTY-DAY DEADLINE TO FILE 15 Defendants. SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT

16 17 I. BACKGROUND 18 Gigi Fairchild-Littlefield (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with this civil 19 rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On November 5, 2019, Plaintiff filed the Complaint 20 commencing this action. (ECF No. 1.) On January 2, 2020, Plaintiff filed the First Amended 21 Complaint as a matter of course, which is now before the court for screening. 28 U.S.C. § 1915. 22 (ECF No. 13.) 23 II. SCREENING REQUIREMENT 24 The court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a 25 governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The 26 court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the prisoner has raised claims that are legally 27 “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek 28 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1),(2). 1 “Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall 2 dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that the action or appeal fails to state a claim 3 upon which relief may be granted.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). 4 III. SUMMARY OF FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 5 Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in 6 Chowchilla, California, in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and 7 Rehabilitation (CDCR), where the events at issue in the First Amended Complaint allegedly 8 occurred. Plaintiff names as defendants Valerie Attinello (Nurse Practitioner), Radiology Report 9 Writer (name unknown), Sergeant Alamo, Correctional Officer (C/O) N. Snider, CCWF Medical 10 Staff, and J. Espinosa (Former Warden) (collectively, “Defendants”). A summary of Plaintiff’s 11 allegations follows: 12 On December 30, 2018, Plaintiff tripped and fell on the asphalt. She put in a co-pay 13 saying it felt like bone, and she was given crutches. She could not use the crutches over a long 14 distance, so she requested a wheelchair. She requested x-rays and was given a knee brace. 15 Plaintiff put in a co-pay stating it felt like more damage was being done by putting weight on her 16 right knee. On January 16, 2019, Plaintiff could not walk and was in pain. The TTA [sic] came 17 and took her to x-ray, after which she was given a wheelchair. Plaintiff was so relieved. The 18 next day, for no reason, defendant Attinello took her wheelchair and assigned her a walker 19 knowing she couldn’t walk. The wheelchair was taken on January 17, 2019 as retaliation for not 20 waiting for a ducat to x-ray, for going down on the yard immediately after being to 701 [sic] to 21 request a wheelchair, and that her x-ray be moved to stat [sic] due to excruciating pain. She was 22 told she would have to wait. Then they had to be the first responders on the yard. They issued a 23 ducat for January 17, 2019, to take the wheelchair. 24 Plaintiff had to ride the walker backwards for over 8 weeks and fell several times. She 25 had to walk on asphalt, and in the chow hall because people pushing her in the walker were 26 threatened with 115’s because it was dangerous. Defendant Attinello told Plaintiff several times 27 that she could have crutches but knowing it was impossible for Plaintiff to use crutches for the 28 distances at the prison, and she could not carry anything. Plaintiff told defendant Attinello that 1 putting weight on it felt like further damage was being done. Her knee got worse and worse. 2 Instead of bone, it felt like stuff inside was ground up. 3 Beginning in January 2019, Plaintiff requested an MRI. The MRI showed that the 4 fracture at the tip of her tibia spines [sic] that was visible in the x-ray image but not in the x-ray 5 report had healed, but now both meniscus had been torn. After the MRI, in June 2019, there was 6 an incident in Plaintiff’s cell. Plaintiff had to report to work to avoid being placed on disciplinary 7 because the problem was not being acknowledged. Her knee went out completely on June 11, 8 2019 and she needed assistance and requested to be taken to her cell. She was cuffed and called 9 in as disruptive. She frog-hopped until C/O Camarillo [not a defendant] saw what was happening 10 and brought a wheelchair. Plaintiff was taken to the cage in C program until an IDAP [sic] 11 worker came with a wheelchair and returned her to her cell. Plaintiff couldn’t walk and had to 12 have people make calls on her behalf from outside. She was finally given a wheelchair on June 13 19, 2019. 14 On June 3, 2019, Plaintiff saw defendant Attinello and signed a refusal for the medication 15 Lipitor because it is contraindicated for a person with liver problems. Defendant Attinello then 16 made the Lipitor a “hot med,” which meant Plaintiff would have to go to Medline every day to 17 refuse, although there was a progress note in Plaintiff’s file previously stating that the medication 18 was not needed. (ACP at 5:21.) Defendant Attinello knew Plaintiff could not walk and go to 19 Medline, and that she had not informed Plaintiff that she had made it a “hot med” so that Plaintiff 20 would receive 115’s for failure to either pick it up or refuse it. (Id. at 5:26.) Plaintiff received 21 115’s that she was told would be dismissed, and then got a 128 which they refused to remove 22 from her C-file. Plaintiff also received a chrono written by defendant C/O Snider stating that 23 there was nothing wrong with Plaintiff’s knee, and that she was “dramatic.” (Id. at 6:4.) Plaintiff 24 602’d to have it removed and was denied. There is an extensive 602 history and reasonable 25 accommodation record that was denied. Plaintiff put in a co-pay asking to document the bruises 26 she sustained being handcuffed and manhandled for refusing a direct order “to walk” but was 27 never called for an appointment. (Id. at 6:9.) Plaintiff had requested a court order for the surgery, 28 and also had to file this because she is awaiting the outcome of her other pending case and will 1 still require surgery. Although the Health Care Headquarters’ response received on December 2 8, 2019 states that “on October 24, 2019, a request for services order for a right knee arthroscopy 3 was approved during prospective review,” it was previously denied on August 30, 2019 and 4 September 26, 2019. (Id. at 6:14-16.) This action was commenced on November 5, 2019 and 5 the date stated by Headquarters’ Level Response of surgery approval of October 24, 2019 is 6 questionable since Plaintiff was seen by RN Jackson [not a defendant] on October 31, 2019 7 requesting if surgery had been approved and at that time it had not been approved. On November 8 15, 2019, the outside person (who made calls for Plaintiff to get the wheelchair in June) was 9 phoned by the institution on November 15, 2019 and told that it had not been approved because 10 they “needed more information,” which is what Dr. Taylor [not a defendant] told Plaintiff on 11 October 21, 2019. (Id.

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(PC) Fairchild-Littlefield v. Attinello, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-fairchild-littlefield-v-attinello-caed-2020.