Roy v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC

321 F. Supp. 3d 155
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedMarch 30, 2018
Docket1:16–cv–00383–JDL
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 321 F. Supp. 3d 155 (Roy v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roy v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC, 321 F. Supp. 3d 155 (D. Me. 2018).

Opinion

JON D. LEVY, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

Tara J. Roy has filed suit against her former employer, Correct Care Solutions, *160LLC ("CCS"), and the Maine Department of Corrections ("MDOC"), with whom CCS contracted to provide healthcare services to inmates at the Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine. She also sues Rodney Bouffard, the prison's Warden, and Troy Ross, the Deputy Warden, in their individual capacities (collectively, the "Defendants"). She alleges that she was subject to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, as well as unlawful retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 2000e, et seq. (2018), and the Maine Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), 5 M.R.S.A. § 4551, et seq. (2017). Roy also asserts constitutional claims against Defendants Bouffard and Ross. All of the Defendants have moved for summary judgment on the claims against them (ECF Nos. 57 and 63). For the reasons that follow, I grant the Defendants' motions.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Except where otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed.

On August 13, 2012, Roy began working as a Licensed Practical Nurse employed by CCS at the prison; CCS had a contract with the MDOC, under which it provided healthcare services to inmates. Roy's job description included a requirement that she maintain a security clearance. Roy worked in the prison medical clinic, a part of the medical facility along with the infirmary, and was directly supervised by two CCS employees. Two Corrections Officers employed by the MDOC are assigned to the medical facility to provide safety and security.

On February 5, 2013, Roy reported to her supervisors that MDOC Corrections Officer Snow had made inappropriate comments to her, including disparaging comments about her being blonde and female, and had made inappropriate and unwanted physical contact with her. Roy considered Snow's conduct sexual harassment. The MDOC investigated Roy's complaint and found insufficient evidence to support Roy's allegations, but Snow was reassigned out of the medical clinic and thereafter did not work directly with Roy. Roy does not claim that Snow made any further inappropriate comments or physical contact after he was reassigned out of the clinic.

In April or May 2014, Roy became the sick call nurse in the medical clinic. Around that time, Officer Turner, one of the Corrections Officers often assigned to the medical clinic, made comments about women to Roy such as "why do we have females when ... men do everything," and that a woman's "job is to be at home." ECF No. 40 at 37. Roy told Turner that these comments were offensive, but Turner continued to make them. Turner also, at times, ignored her, including her requests to bring sick inmates to the clinic. On June 20, 2014, Roy filed an incident report that Turner had acted unprofessionally. ECF No. 35-16. Starting in June or July 2014, Roy made frequent oral complaints to her supervisors that Turner was absent from his post. Roy sent additional emails to her supervisor on July 24 and July 31, 2014, complaining that Turner had left the clinic unattended. Roy further complained to her supervisors that Turner, in response to her complaints against him, had retaliated by working slowly and being uncooperative.

Also starting in June or July 2014, Roy complained to her supervisors that Corrections Officers had asked her to share confidential inmate medical information. Roy made similar complaints on August 1 and *161August 4, 2014. On July 16, 2014, Roy emailed her supervisor to report that various officers were no longer speaking to her or would yell at her because she wouldn't disclose inmate medical information. On July 17, 2014, Roy sent another email reporting similar behavior.

On August 4, 2014, Roy emailed her supervisor to report that Corrections Officer Parrow had told her to "stop being a bitch" in response to her informing him of what she believed to be correct workplace protocol. Roy filed an incident report on August 26, 2014, reporting that Parrow called her a "bitch" a second time. Roy and Parrow had been romantically involved but that relationship had ended. On at least one occasion, Parrow, in explicit terms, propositioned Roy to become sexually involved again, but Roy rejected the advance. Roy reported to her supervisor that Parrow was angry with her because she spurned his advance, and that she believed that Parrow had called her a "bitch" for the same reason.

Between July and September 2014, several Corrections Officers filed at least five reports complaining of unprofessional conduct by Roy, including one by Snow on September 18, 2014, that alleged that Roy had yelled at him. Roy alleges-though the Defendants dispute-that these reports were either false or exaggerated, and were filed in retaliation against her earlier complaints about sexual harassment, safety concerns, and officers seeking confidential medical information. Roy does not identify which of the alleged retaliatory reports were sexual harassment, and which were not.

On September 12, 2014, Roy filed an incident report complaining that a Corrections Officer had commented to another officer that they needed "to get [Roy] off her ass and moving," which Roy believed to be sexual harassment. ECF No. 49-28. On September 23, 2014, Roy filed an incident report arising out of a Facebook conversation with a different Corrections Officer. In that conversation, the Corrections Officer stated that another officer was trying to get her fired for filing complaints against Turner and was spreading rumors that she had slept with "everyone in the prison." ECF No. 35-20 at 2. During the Facebook conversation, the officer asked to call Roy and she declined. Several days later, still on Facebook, the officer messaged Roy that she should try to smile, and later wrote: "I UN FRIEND YOU Tired of attitude...." Id. at 4. Roy believed this behavior was sexual harassment and retaliation for her not speaking with him on the phone.

On September 26, 2014, Roy was working in the medical facility along with at least one other nurse. There were two Corrections Officers on duty: Officer King in the clinic and Officer Snodgrass in the infirmary. At approximately 10:00 a.m., King responded to an incident alert and left the clinic. After King left, Roy and another nurse called Snodgrass three times to come to the clinic where there were three inmates present, but Snodgrass appeared to be sleeping and was barely responsive to their calls. Surveillance footage shows that a different officer arrived at the clinic thirty seconds after King left in response to the alert and that Snodgrass eventually came to the clinic approximately six minutes after the alert. At least one of those officers is seen on camera for all but, at most, one minute and 49 seconds of the fifteen minutes following King's departure (though Defendants contend there was a Corrections Officer present for all but the first 30 seconds after King left). Roy reported to the prison Captain that she had been left unsupervised in the clinic without a Corrections Officer present. Roy told the Captain that the Corrections Officer *162on duty in the clinic responded to an incident call, leaving prisoners unattended, and that the officer on duty in the infirmary did not arrive to cover the clinic for fifteen minutes.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Colette Wilcox v. Nathan Lyons
970 F.3d 452 (Fourth Circuit, 2020)
Roy v. Correct Care Solutions, LLC
914 F.3d 52 (First Circuit, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
321 F. Supp. 3d 155, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roy-v-correct-care-solutions-llc-med-2018.