ROSE v. ZATECKY

District Court, S.D. Indiana·Decided July 25, 2022·No. 2:22-cv-00005·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA TERRE HAUTE DIVISION ANTONIO ROSE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 2:22-cv-00005-JPH-DLP ) DUSHAN ZATECKY, ) ALSIP, ) STAMPER, ) J.C. JACKSON, ) GRIFFIN, ) LUNSFORD, ) HAMMOND, ) LAMAR, ) LEVINE, ) JANE DOE, ) WEXFORD OF INDIANA, LLC., ) ) Defendants. ) Order Screening Complaint, Dismissing Insufficient Claims, Identifying Misjoined Claims, and Directing Further Proceedings Plaintiff Antonio Rose is a prisoner currently incarcerated at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. He filed this civil action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging violations of his constitutional rights based on events that occurred while he was incarcerated at Pendleton Correctional Facility ("PCF"). Dkt. 1. He also brings state-law indemnification claims. I.Screening Standard Because the plaintiff is a "prisoner" as defined by 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(c), this Court has an obligation under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a) to screen his complaint before service on the defendants. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b), the Court must dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint, if it is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim for relief, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief. In determining whether the complaint states a claim, the Court applies the same standard as when addressing a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Cesal v. Moats, 851 F.3d 714, 720 (7th Cir. 2017). To survive dismissal, [the] complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face. A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Under this standard, conclusory allegations are not entitled to an assumption of truth. Id. at 681. Pro se complaints such as that filed by the plaintiff are construed liberally and held to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. Cesal, 851 F.3d at 720 (citing Perez v. Fenoglio, 792 F.3d 768, 776 (7th Cir. 2015)). The documents attached as exhibits to the complaint are deemed part of the complaint for all purposes and were considered by the court at screening. See Williamson v. Curran, 714 F.3d 432, 436 (7th Cir. 2013) (the court may consider "documents that are attached to the complaint, documents that are central to the complaint and referred to in it."). II.The Complaint Mr. Rose names 11 defendants in his complaint: (1) Dushan Zatecky, the superintendent of PCF; (2) defendant Alsip, the assistant superintendent of PCF; (3) defendant Stamper, unit team

manager at PCF; (4) J.C. Jackson, lieutenant custody official at PCF; (6) defendant Lunsford, a sergeant custody official at PCF; (6) defendant Griffin, a sergeant custody official at PCF; (7)defendant Hammond, a custody officer at PCF; (8) Dr. Lamar, a psychologist employed by Wexford of Indiana, LLC ("Wexford"), at PCF; (9) Dr. Levine, a psychologist employed by Wexford at PCF; (10) Jane Doe, a nurse at PCF; and (11) Wexford, the contractor that provided medical care at PCF. Each individual defendant is named in his or her individual capacity.1 Mr. Rose's allegations are lengthy and detailed. They fall into four main categories, each of which is discussed below. For purposes of the below discussion, the Court assumes that Mr.

Rose's allegations are true. A. Exposure to COVID-19 Between February and March 2020, several inmates at PCF became seriously ill and died, so the facility was placed on lockdown. In March 2020, Superintendent Zatecky and members of PCF's administration suspected that inmates housed in the American Legion dorm at PCF had been exposed to COVID-19. After the suspected exposure, Superintendent Zatecky and PCF's administration relocated an ill offender from the American Legion dorm to the dorm where Mr. Rose was housed. At the time, Mr. Rose resided in an "open dorm" that houses 81 inmates close together. Several inmates, including Mr. Rose, became sick, and the dorm was placed on quarantine/lockdown. A week after the first inmate tested positive for COVID-19, Mr. Rose and

about 20 other inmates were moved to a different location within the Pendleton Correctional Complex known as IRT and placed in one-man cells because they had COVID-19 symptoms. Any move of this magnitude must be approved by Superintendent Zatecky or Assistant Superintendent Alsip.

1 The introductory section of Mr. Rose's complaint states that he is also attempting to sue Superintendent Zatecky in his official capacity, dkt. 4, but he nowhere states any claims based on an official-capacity theory. Regardless, any such claims would be subject to dismissal. Mr. Rose seeks only monetary relief in this case, and § 1983 claims for money damages against state officials in their official capacities are barred by Eleventh Amendment immunity. Wynn v. Southward, 251 F.3d 588, 592 (7th Cir. 2001). Then, the administration directed Sergeant Griffin to threaten to place a COVID-19- positive inmate with Mr. Rose. This was a ruse to convince Mr. Rose and others to remove themselves from the one-man cells in IRT. Because Mr. Rose feared for his life, he complied. Mr. Rose and other inmates were then moved back into the main part of PCF. Again, any such move

of this magnitude must be approved by Superintendent Zatecky and Assistant Superintendent Alsip. After the move, Mr. Rose and others were mixed with four separate quarantined groups of inmates. Mr. Rose was one of 46 inmates crowded together in a gym in unsanitary and improper living conditions. While the inmates were quarantined in the gym, inmates were coming and going regularly due to various medical issues. B. Denial of Medical Treatment While Mr. Rose was housed in the gym, he asked several times to speak with mental health because he was suffering from major depression and extreme anxiety based on the lack of medical treatment. He believed that the prison staff was trying to kill him by exposing him and others to COVID-19. Mental health staff denied Mr. Rose any treatment for his mental illness symptoms.

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