Rawson v. Recovery Innovations, Inc

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided September 20, 2022·No. 3:17-cv-05342·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT TACOMA KENNETH RAWSON, CASE NO. C17-5342 BHS Plaintiff, ORDER v. RECOVERY INNOVATIONS, INC., et al., Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants Jennifer Clingenpeel, Sami French, Vasant Halarnakar, and Recovery Innovations, Inc.’s (collectively “RII”) Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Dkt. 215. Plaintiff Kenneth Rawson sued RII in May 2017 after RII involuntarily committed him for more than fifty days and administered to him psychotropic medication against his will. Dkt. 1. The Court has considered the briefing filed in support of and in opposition to the motion and the remainder of the file and grants the motion for the reasons stated below. The parties and the Court are familiar with the facts of this matter. Thus, the Court

will state only the facts relevant to the instant motion. The Court does, however, recite the procedural history in full because this is the first substantive motion and order since the Ninth Circuit’s remand. RII is an Arizona corporation that operates multiple mental health facilities in Washington. Dkt. 201, ¶ 2.2. In the facility it rents from the state on the campus of Western State Hospital, RII holds and treats individuals who are involuntarily committed

on an emergency basis. Id. ¶ 4.2. The individually named defendants—Mental Health Counselor Sami French, Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Clingenpeel, and Dr. Vasant Halarnakar—were employed by RII during the time period relevant to this case. Id. ¶¶ 2.4–2.5. On March 6, 2015, Clark County Designated Mental Health Professional Al

Padilla entered an emergency order to involuntarily commit Rawson after Rawson made threatening statements at a bank and took loaded firearms to that bank. Id. ¶ 4.7; Dkt. 63 at 4–7. Padilla committed Rawson to RII’s care for up to 72 hours of evaluation and treatment. Dkt. 201, ¶ 4.9. After the initial 72-hour hold, RII petitioned Pierce County Superior Court to commit Rawson for an additional fourteen days. Id. ¶ 4.17. Ten days

later, RII again petitioned the Court to detain Rawson for another ninety days. Id. ¶ 4.33. On April 29, 2015, RII withdrew its petition to commit Rawson for ninety days, agreeing to release him to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Id. ¶ 4.59; Dkt. 63 at 11. Rawson’s main assertion is that RII mistreated him by keeping him detained for longer than necessary and involuntarily medicating him, despite medical providers

observing that he was not acting violently and did not present a risk to the community. See, e.g., Dkt. 201, ¶ 4.51. He argues that RII staff lied about his condition and held him illegally, against his will. RII generally argues that Rawson’s commitment was legitimate and necessary to protect the community. Rawson filed this lawsuit on May 8, 2017. Dkt. 1. Rawson amended his complaint

as a matter of course a month later, adding three new claims to the six originally asserted:1 (1) RII violated Rawson’s Fourth Amendment rights; (2) RII violated Rawson’s Substantive Due Process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; (3) RII violated Rawson’s Procedural Due Process Rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; (4) RII violated Rawson’s rights under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

(“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12132; (5) RII’s conduct amounted to common law outrage; (6) RII falsely imprisoned Rawson; (7) RII committed medical malpractice under RCW Ch. 7.70; (8) RII violated Rawson’s rights under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”); and (9) RII violated Rawson’s rights under the Washington Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”), RCW Ch. 19.86. Dkt. 5, ¶¶ 5.2–5.10. Rawson seeks general and

1 Rawson also asserts as a “claim” that RII is a state actor for purposes of § 1983. See Dkt. 1, ¶ 5.1. § 1983 provides litigants a cause of action to assert constitutional claims; it is not a standalone claim. See Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U.S. 273, 285 (2002). specific damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and post-judgment interest. Id. ¶¶ 6.1–6.8.

RII moved to dismiss all of Rawson’s claims in July 2017, arguing that it is not a state actor for purposes of § 1983, that it is not subject to ADA liability because it is not a public entity, and that it is immune from Rawson’s state law claims under the Involuntary Treatment Act (“ITA”). Dkt. 9. The Court denied RII’s motion to dismiss, concluding that Rawson had plausibly stated each of his claims. Dkt. 17. In April 2018, the parties stipulated to allow Rawson to amend his complaint for a

second time to add a claim for “Damage for Excessive Detention” under the ITA, RCW 71.05.510. Dkt. 35, ¶ 5.11. On May 8, 2018, Defendants answered and asserted eleven affirmative defenses. Dkt. 36. Defendants in part asserted that Rawson failed to join one or more indispensable parties and that Rawson’s damages were caused “by the acts or omissions of third parties over whom Defendants had no control.” Id. at 8.

RII moved for summary judgment in September 2018 arguing that RII is not a state actor for purposes of § 1983 as a matter of law, that RII is immune from suit under the ITA, that RII is not a “public entity” for purposes of the ADA as a matter of law, that Rawson’s healthcare claims are limited to remedies pursuant to RCW Ch. 7.70, that no reasonable person could conclude that RII’s conduct rose to the level of outrage, that RII

could not have unlawfully imprisoned him because they held him subject to a lawful court order, and that Rawson cannot establish a CPA claim because there was no financial incentive for RII or damage to Rawson’s business or property. Dkt. 63. Rawson also moved for partial summary judgment, arguing that RII acted under color of state law and violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights as a matter of law, that the ITA does not provide RII immunity because it detained him for longer than permitted, that RII

falsely imprisoned him by detaining him for longer than permitted, that Rawson named all indispensable parties, and that the named defendants had caused all of his injuries. Dkt. 58. The Court denied without prejudice both parties’ motions on the state action issue, concluding that it was impossible at that time to evaluate whether the hospitals’ actions could be treated as those of the State. Dkt. 128 at 21. The Court granted RII’s motion for

summary judgment on Rawson’s ADA claim, concluding that Rawson failed to meet his burden to identify evidence precluding summary judgment.2 Id. at 21–23. The Court also rejected RII’s ITA immunity argument, concluding reasonable jurors could differ based on the evidence presented, and rejected Rawson’s motion with respect to his ITA claim, concluding that a question of material fact existed. Id. at 23–25. The Court further denied

RII’s healthcare claim limitations argument, granted RII’s motion on Rawson’s CPA claim, denied Rawson’s motion on his false imprisonment claim, granted Rawson’s motion on RII’s affirmative defenses of failure to add an indispensable party and that

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