(PC)Snyder v. Wofford

District Court, E.D. California·Decided August 24, 2020·No. 1:18-cv-01495·Unknown

Opinion

JOSHUA SNYDER, Case No. 1:18-cv-01495-BAM (PC) Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT JUDGE v. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CARL WOFFORD, et al., REGARDING DISMISSAL OF ACTION Defendants. FOURTEEN-DAY DEADLINE Plaintiff Joshua Snyder (“Plaintiff”) is a former state prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff initiated this action on August 1, 2018, and the matter was transferred to this Court on October 30, 2018. (ECF Nos. 1 and 3.) On May 10, 2019, the Court screened Plaintiff’s first amended complaint and granted him leave to amend. (ECF No. 12.) Plaintiff’s second amended complaint, filed on August 5, 2019, is currently before the Court for screening. (ECF No. 20.) I. Screening Requirement and Standard The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity and/or against an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). Plaintiff’s complaint, or any portion thereof, is subject to dismissal if it is frivolous or malicious, if it fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or if it seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915A(b). A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). While a plaintiff’s allegations are taken as true, courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). To survive screening, Plaintiff’s claims must be facially plausible, which requires sufficient factual detail to allow the Court to reasonably infer that each named defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss v. U.S. Secret Serv., 572 F.3d 962, 969 (9th Cir. 2009). The sheer possibility that a defendant acted unlawfully is not sufficient, and mere consistency with liability falls short of satisfying the plausibility standard. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (quotation marks omitted); Moss, 572 F.3d at 969. II. Summary of Plaintiff’s Allegations Plaintiff is currently housed at Immanuel House in Riverside, California. The events in the second amended complaint are alleged to have occurred while Plaintiff was housed at Wasco State Prison in Wasco, California. Plaintiff names the following defendants: (1) Warden John Katavich; (2) Adam Klang, Chief Physician and Surgeon; (3) A. Youssef, Chief Medical Executive; (4) Dr. M. Soleimani; (5) Dr. Harish Kumar Patel; (6) Doe 1, Building D7 Housing Officer on third watch between July 31, 2014 and August 5, 2014; (7) Doe 2, Building D7 Housing Officer on third watch between July 31, 2014 and August 5, 2014; (8) Doe 3, Sergeant or Lieutenant on third watch on July 31, 2014; (9) Doe 4, Building D7 Housing Officer on second watch; (10) Doe 5, Building D7 Housing Officer on second watch; (11) Doe 6, Sergeant or Lieutenant on second watch between July 31, 2014 and August 5, 2014; (12) Doe 7, Associate Warden of Housing between July 2014 and December 14, 2014; and (13) Doe 8, Associate Warden of Health Care Operation between July 2014 and December 2014. Plaintiff’s second amended complaint is lengthy, involving multiple defendants and multiple claims, spanning more than forty pages of handwritten text. The Court has endeavored to summarize Plaintiff’s claims. Claim 1 Plaintiff alleges that on July 9, 2014, Wasco State Prison was 171.9% of designed capacity, and on August 13, 2014, the number grew to 174.2% of designed capacity. Plaintiff alleges that these numbers demonstrated Defendant Katavich’s reckless disregard for inmate health and safety. Plaintiff also claims that as a direct and foreseeable result, he was attacked by three inmates at one time. On July 3, 2014, Plaintiff was classified for housing in a prison dorm located on Facility D, Building 7. The dorm holds approximately 200 inmates and was supervised by two custody officers. On information and belief, this dorm was designed to house inmates with a classification score equaling “low risk to violence” because it was supervised by only two Wasco State Prison agents. (ECF No. 20 at 13.) Supervision consisted of two person teams separated by three shifts of eight hours each. Wasco State Prison agents also acquired several hours of overtime at different locations before starting this dormitory shift, essentially causing agents to be drowsy, incoherent, and to disregard prisoners’ health and safety. Between July 3, 2014, and July 20, 2014, Plaintiff witnessed seven violent incidents in his dormitory involving a few white gang members influencing two or three separate white non-gang prisoners to violently attack unsuspecting non-gang white victims, causing significant injury to each of the seven victims on seven separate days. Each incident required prison agents and medical agents to respond. Plaintiff claims that notifications of increasing violence in his dormitory were ignored by each supervisory official or the Warden, subjecting Plaintiff to a substantial risk of harm to his health and safety. On July 31, 2014, Plaintiff was informed by Defendant Soleimani that he had an infectious disease that was discovered by recent lab tests. As a result, Defendant Soleimani prescribed Plaintiff antibiotics and issued a Comprehensive Accommodation Chrono to remove Plaintiff from the general population and to place him in a single cell for ten days to control the spread of the infectious disease, called Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (“VRE”). Plaintiff was directed by Defendant Soleimani to present the document to the prison agents in charge of his housing unit. Plaintiff alleges that California Correctional Health Care Service promulgates general medical policies and some specific treatment protocols in a multi-volume Inmate Medical Service Policies and Procedures. Plaintiff believes that these volumes include a procedure to isolate prisoners with a medical infectious disease by placing the prisoner in a single cell, protecting the infected prisoner and general population. Plaintiff returned to D7 and presented Defendant Soleimani’s medical order to the Third Watch team, Defendants Does 1 and 2, designating Plaintiff for placement in a single cell for a 10- day quarantine due to infectious disease. Defendants Does 1 and 2 reviewed the medical chrono and then called their direct supervisor, Defendant Doe 3, to advise of the new medical order/chrono. After the call, Defendants Does 1 and 2 informed Plaintiff that there was no single cell available and he should present the order to the Second Watch team. Defendants Does 1 and 2 directed Plaintiff back to his double bunk occupancy, knowing that Plaintiff’s infectious disease could harm other prisoners. On August 1, 2014, Plaintiff and a mandatory shadow1 presented Defendant Soleimani’s medical order to the Second Watch team, Defendants Does 4 and 5. Defendants Does 4 and 5 called their supervisor, Defendant Doe 6. Plaintiff

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