(PC) Richard v. Aldridge

District Court, E.D. California·Decided August 4, 2022·No. 2:19-cv-02006·Unknown

Opinion

CRAIG RICHARD, No. 2:19-cv-2006 TLN DB P Plaintiff, v. FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS L. ALDRIDGE, Warden, Defendant.

Plaintiff Craig Richard, a state prisoner, proceeds pro se with a civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Defendant is Warden L. Eldridge, sued as L. Aldridge. The parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (ECF Nos. 72, 73.). For the reasons that follow, the undersigned recommends that defendant’s motion for summary judgment be granted and plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment be denied. Although plaintiff exhausted administrative remedies on the Eighth Amendment claim, there is no triable issue of fact as to whether defendant was deliberately indifferent. Plaintiff filed the second amended complaint on October 5, 2020. (ECF No. 22.) Therein, he alleged he had a serious rash near his groin and became unable to wash the affected area in order to apply a medicated cream during a temporary suspension of showers at CHCF in April 2019. (See generally, id.) As a result, plaintiff alleges he suffered pain and worsening of his rash. (Id. at 3.) After screening, this case proceeded solely on a claim under the Eighth Amendment that Warden Eldridge was aware of plaintiff’s medical need for water and failed to provide it with deliberate indifference to a serious threat to plaintiff’s health. (See ECF No. 25-2 at 4.) On February 25, 2022, defendant Eldridge moved for summary judgment. The motion is fully briefed with plaintiff’s opposition and defendant’s reply. (ECF Nos. 75, 76.) On February 28, 2022, plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is also fully briefed with defendant’s opposition and plaintiff’s reply. (ECF Nos. 74, 77.) Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party shows 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). In order to obtain summary judgment, “[t]he moving party initially bears the burden of proving the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” In re Oracle Corp. Sec. Litig., 627 F.3d 376, 387 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986)). The moving party may accomplish this by “citing to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for purposes of the motion only), admission, interrogatory answers, or other materials” or by showing that such materials “do not establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse party cannot produce admissible evidence to support the fact.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A), (B). “Where the non-moving party bears the burden of proof at trial, the moving party need only prove that there is an absence of evidence to support the non-moving party’s case.” Oracle Corp., 627 F.3d at 387 (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(B). Summary judgment should be entered “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.” //// Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322. “[A] complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party’s case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial.” Id. at 323. If the moving party meets its initial responsibility, the burden then shifts to the opposing party to establish that a genuine issue as to any material fact does exist. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87 (1986). In attempting to establish the existence of this factual dispute, the opposing party may not rely upon the allegations or denials of its pleadings but is required to tender evidence of specific facts in the form of affidavits, and/or admissible discovery material, in support of its contention that the dispute exists. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1); Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 n.11. The opposing party must demonstrate that the fact in contention is material, i.e., a fact “that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law,” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986); T.W. Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Pacific Elec. Contractors Ass’n, 809 F.2d 626, 630 (9th Cir. 1987), and that the dispute is genuine, i.e., “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party,” Anderson, 447 U.S. at 248. In the endeavor to establish the existence of a factual dispute, the opposing party need not establish a material issue of fact conclusively in its favor. It is sufficient that “‘the claimed factual dispute be shown to require a jury or judge to resolve the parties’ differing versions of the truth at trial.’” T.W. Elec. Serv., 809 F.2d at 630 (quoting First Nat’l Bank v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-89 (1968)). Thus, the “purpose of summary judgment is to pierce the pleadings and to assess the proof in order to see whether there is a genuine need for trial.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 587 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). “In evaluating the evidence to determine whether there is a genuine issue of fact, [the court] draw[s] all inferences supported by the evidence in favor of the non-moving party.” Walls v. Central Contra Costa Transit Auth., 653 F.3d 963, 966 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation omitted). It is the opposing party’s obligation to produce a factual predicate from which the inference may be drawn. Richards v. Nielsen Freight Lines, 810 F.2d 898, 902 (9th Cir. 1987). The opposing party “must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586 (citations omitted). “Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no ‘genuine issue for trial.’” Id. at 587 (quoting First Nat’l Bank, 391 U.S. at 289). Defendant Eldridge was the Acting Warden at CHCF from February 2019 to June 2020. (ECF No. 72-2 at 3-6 (Defendant’s Undisputed Facts (hereinafter “UF”)); UF 17.) In April of 2019, plaintiff had a groin rash for which he was prescribed medicated cream. (UF 25.) Plaintiff was directed to wash the affected area before applying the cream, twice daily. (ECF No. 75 at 43- 44 (plaintiff’s declaration).) On or about April 15, 2019, defendant oversaw issuance of a memorandum informing CHCF inmates that Legionella had been discovered in the institution water. (UF 18.) The memo stated although no new “cases of Legionella”1 had been diagnosed, bottled water would be distributed for drinking, face washing, and oral hygiene. (Id.) Inmates were advised not to consume sink water, not

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