(PC) Gann v. Valley State Prison

District Court, E.D. California·Decided July 12, 2022·No. 1:19-cv-01797·Unknown

Opinion

1 2

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 NATHANIEL MARCUS GANN, 1:19-cv-01797-DAD-GSA-PC

12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, RECOMMENDING THAT DEFENDANTS’ 13 vs. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR FAILURE TO EXHAUST REMEDIES BE 14 VALLEY STATE PRISON, et al., GRANTED (ECF No. 49.) 15 Defendants. OBJECTIONS, IF ANY, DUE WITHIN 16 FOURTEEN DAYS

18 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 Plaintiff Nathaniel Marcus Gann is a state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma 21 pauperis with this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.1 This case now proceeds with 22 Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint filed on February 7, 2020, against Defendants Warden 23 Raythel Fisher, Jr., Dining Hall Officer Paez, and Culinary Staff Members Anguiano, Chapas, 24 Lucero, Marquez, Cruz, and Moosebaur for violation of RLUIPA, violation of the First 25 Amendment Free Exercise Clause, and adverse conditions of confinement in violation of the 26 Eighth Amendment; against Defendants Warden Raythel Fisher, Jr., and Moosebaur for failure 27 28 1 Plaintiff has advised defense counsel that she is transitioning. (See ECF No. 48 at 2 fn.1.) Accordingly, defense counsel is using feminine pronouns for Plaintiff, and the Court follows suit. 1 to protect Plaintiff in violation of the Eighth Amendment; and against Defendant Moosebaur for 2 retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. (ECF No. 20.)2 3 On January 28, 2022, Defendants filed a motion for summary judgment based on 4 Plaintiff’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.3 (ECF No. 49.) On March 7, 2022, 5 Plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion. (ECF No. 57.) On March 14, 2022, Defendants filed 6 a reply to the opposition. (ECF No. 58.) 7 Defendants’ motion for summary judgment was submitted upon the record on March 14, 8 2022 without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 230(l), and for the reasons that follow the 9 court finds that Defendants’ motion for summary judgment should be granted. 10 II. PLAINTIFF’S ALLEGATIONS 11 Plaintiff is presently incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino, 12 California. At the time of the events at issue, Plaintiff was housed at Valley State Prison (VSP) 13 in Chowchilla, California, in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and 14 Rehabilitation (CDCR). Plaintiff’s allegations follow: 15 1. Rotten, spoiled, and otherwise unfit for human consumption food is being served 16 in the Kosher diets. From December 26, 2016, to date, the meals are regularly served half- 17 cooked/prepared – in particular, meat. When brought to the attention of the Culinary Supervisor 18 Cook (CSC) and CSC II staff, the meals are not replaced. 19 Weekly, the Shabbat dinner is served with spoiled meat. The meat is supposed to be 20 vacuum sealed but is served to Plaintiff open and with mold growing on it. When eaten, the meat 21 causes illness and Plaintiff has suffered sickness from being served these meats by Defendants. 22 Similar sickness is caused by other meats when served uncooked or opened. 23 /// 24 25 2 On June 7, 2021, the court issued an order dismissing all other claims and defendants from this case based on Plaintiff’s failure to state a claim. (ECF No. 30.) 26

3 Concurrently with their motion for summary judgment, Defendants served Plaintiff with 27 the requisite notice of the requirements for opposing the motion. Woods v. Carey, 684 F.3d 934, 939-41 28 (9th Cir. 2012); Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 952, 960-61 (9th Cir. 1998). (ECF No. 49-4.) 1 The turkey served in lunches is unfit for human consumption. It has been denatured by 2 having bone ground into it. The sharp and relatively large bone shards cause damage to Plaintiff’s 3 teeth and lacerations to Plaintiff’s mouth and throat. 4 The Kosher meal stock is delivered in a manner that causes the frozen food to spoil. It is 5 taken from the refrigerated delivery truck and left unrefrigerated in the open sun and out in the 6 elements at the docking area for entire shifts. Staff at the warehouse/central kitchen and culinary 7 staff do not want to inventory the meals upon arrival. After approximately ten hours the items 8 are finally inventoried and re-frozen. Upon need of the meals, they are again left out in the 9 elements and sun as they are transferred where they spoil further and are refrigerated again for 10 serving on the following day. 11 The internal components of the meals are open, spoiled, and otherwise contaminated. 12 Items that are sealed, such as applesauce, cream cheese, chips, bagels, and fruit cups, are either 13 opened by bacterial growth or by mechanical means such as crushing and then allowed to fester. 14 When revealed to CSC staff by Plaintiff, no correction follows. 15 Items in the Kosher meals are stolen by inmate culinary workers. When this problem is 16 taken directly to CSC staff by Plaintiff, Plaintiff is told, “Too bad,” and left without the stolen 17 parts of the meal. In addition, when stolen items are reported to custody staff, threats of rules 18 violations reports being issued against Plaintiff is used as a tool of reprisal and threat to prevent 19 further speech on the issue. Threats of violence by inmate workers against Plaintiff is also used, 20 and correctional and custodial staff refuse to protect Plaintiff from the threats of violence. 21 Culinary workers intentionally wear their serving gloves to the restroom and touch their “dirty 22 dick” with their hands prior to serving the meals. CSC and custodial staff refuse to address the 23 issue. 24 2. Food is transported, opened, and cooked in shared ovens and carts that are used 25 for non-Kosher foods. Kosher foods must be double-sealed or they are contaminated. However, 26 daily the seals on the food are breached, either by failures during a transportation process, such 27 as crushing and popping open of the meals, or by intentional actions of persons stealing the 28 contents of meals. These meals are served to Plaintiff and rendered non-Kosher. These meals are 1 cooked in ovens used to cook non-Kosher food, even at the same time, rendering the food non- 2 Kosher. 3 The sole Jewish worker, when objecting to this practice, is told by his supervisor, 4 defendant Moosebaur, to “get into the oven” while it is still hot. Defendant Moosebaur openly 5 states that his grandfather was a German SS wishing that all the Jews had been killed in the 6 Holocaust. 7 Then the food is transported in shared carts and stored in the same shared carts with the 8 meals open, served at the same time and placed with the non-Kosher food. The Kosher-only oven 9 was redirected for use for regular meals, so all meals are cooked together and the Kosher oven 10 has not been replaced. 11 3. The culinary workers are not trained in the procedures mandated by the California 12 Retail Food Code, nor by a Rabbi (necessary to serve Kosher food). The issue of training has 13 been raised repeatedly and ignored by VSP administration as well as by the CSC staff 14 (Defendants). The procedures for Kosher foods change every few days, perhaps not “officially,” 15 but in effect. Actual procedures are ignored and cause Plaintiff to be served non-Kosher and 16 contaminated food. 17 4. Kosher meals are served in communal areas wherein the tables are unclean both 18 ritually and literally. The same dirty rags are used to clean the non-Kosher food and then used to 19 clean the Kosher Diet Program (KDP) tables (when they exist), leaving chunks of non-Kosher 20 meals smeared across the tables daily.

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