Snead v. Steif

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 29, 2022
Docket1:19-cv-00841
StatusUnknown

This text of Snead v. Steif (Snead v. Steif) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snead v. Steif, (M.D. Pa. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA RASHIAD SNEAD, : Civil No. 1:19-CV-00841 : Plaintiff, : : v. : : M. STEIF, et al., : : Defendants. : Judge Jennifer P. Wilson MEMORANDUM Rashiad Snead (“Plaintiff”) is a self-represented individual incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institute Schuylkill – Medium (“FCI-Schuylkill”) in Minersville, Pennsylvania. Plaintiff initiated this Bivens action in May of 2019 asserting that Defendant M. Steif (“Steif”) allegedly called him “a rat” and “a snitch” in front of other inmates and staff and tried to provoke a physical altercation with him. Plaintiff also claims seven additional individuals (“Government Defendants”) failed to intervene, report, or investigate his complaint against Defendant Steif or protect him from continued retaliatory harassment. (Doc. 36.) The court has dismissed the claims against the Government Defendants, Doc. 75, and now addresses the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Steif, Doc. 57. For the following reasons, the court will grant Defendant Steif’s motion to dismiss. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Plaintiff initiated this matter by filing a complaint on May 9, 2019. (Doc. 1.)

After paying the filing fee, Plaintiff sought allowance to file an amended complaint on July 3, 2019, and the court granted that request on July 29, 2019. (Docs. 18, 26.) Plaintiff’s amended complaint, the operative pleading in this matter, was filed on October 17, 2019. (Doc. 36.)

After receiving an enlargement of time to respond to the amended complaint, Defendant Steif and the Government Defendants filed separate motions to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment. (Docs. 55, 57.) Plaintiff

filed his opposition briefs in April 2020. (Docs. 68, 69.) The court granted the Government Defendants’ motion to dismiss, Doc. 75, and stayed Defendant Steif’s motion to dismiss pending the outcome of the appeal of Dongarra v. Smith, No. 3:18-CV-01939, 2020 WL 4934660, (M.D. Pa. Aug. 24, 2020) (Wilson, J.), appeal

filed, No. 20-2872 (3d. Cir., Sept. 15, 2020). (Doc. 76.) The Third Circuit entered an order affirming this court’s determination in Dongarra on March 1, 2022. 27 F.4th 174 (3d Cir. 2022). As a result, the stay was lifted, Doc. 77, and the parties

filed supplemental briefing to address the impact of the Third Circuit’s decision in Dongarra. (Docs. 78, 81.) Since the claims against the Government Defendants have been dismissed, the only remaining claims are those against Defendant Steif. Plaintiff is suing Defendant Steif in his individual and official capacities. (Doc. 36, p. 2.) The amended complaint alleges that Defendant Steif called Plaintiff a “rat” and a

“snitch” in front of other inmates and staff “causing a potential life threatening situation in which other inmates could have and most certainly did construe that Snead was telling on other inmates in a prison setting, causing a safety jeopardy to

Snead.” (Doc. 36, p. 5.) He alleges that on July 29, 2017, at 2:25 p.m., Plaintiff was performing his assigned institutional foodservice detail when another inmate asked him to get two cups of soda, and Plaintiff declined. (Id., p. 13.) What followed was a confrontation between Plaintiff and Defendant Steif during which

Defendant Steif referred to him as a “rat” and accused him of snitching on inmates. (Id., pp. 13–14.) Plaintiff also alleges that following this verbal exchange, he bent down to tie his shoes and Defendant Steif stood “directly in his personal space,

wherein defendant[’]s crotch was in plaintiff’s face as he stood up.” (Id. p. 14.) Plaintiff alleges that when he stood up, Defendant Steif “was standing directly in his face and said ‘What,’” indicating that he “wanted to entice a physical altercation.” (Id.) Another officer instructed Plaintiff to leave, stating that

relocating was for Plaintiff’s safety. (Id.) The complaint lists Plaintiff’s injuries as “[n]othing physical, only mental and psychological.” (Id., p. 5.) Plaintiff alleged that Defendant Steif then retaliated against him filing for filing a grievance and he was removed from his job in the food service department.

(Doc. 56, p. 17.) Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Steif violated Plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment rights by calling him a “rat” and a “snitch” and by attempting to provoke a physical

altercation. (Doc. 56, p. 20.) The complaint, liberally construed, also raises a First Amendment claim of retaliation. (Id., p. 17.) JURISDICTION The court has jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §

1331, which allows a district court to exercise subject matter jurisdiction in civil cases arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. Venue is proper in this district because the alleged acts and omissions giving rise to the claims occurred at FCI-Schuylkill, located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania,

which is in this district. See 28 U.S.C. § 118(b). MOTION TO DISMISS STANDARD OF REVIEW In order “[t]o survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain

sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is plausible on its face “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). “Conclusory allegations of liability are insufficient” to

survive a motion to dismiss. Garrett v. Wexford Health, 938 F.3d 69, 92 (3d Cir. 2019) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678–79). To determine whether a complaint survives a motion to dismiss, a court identifies “the elements a plaintiff must plead

to state a claim for relief,” disregards the allegations “that are no more than conclusions and thus not entitled to the assumption of truth,” and determines whether the remaining factual allegations “plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Bistrian v. Levi, 696 F.3d 352, 365 (3d Cir. 2012) abrogated on other

grounds by Mack v. Yost, 968 F.3d 311 (3d. Cir. 2020). When ruling on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the court must “accept all factual allegations as true, construe the complaint in the light most

favorable to the plaintiff, and determine whether, under any reasonable reading of the complaint, the plaintiff may be entitled to relief.” Phillips v. County of Allegheny, 515 F.3d 224, 233 (3d Cir. 2008) (quoting Pinker v. Roche Holdings, Ltd., 292 F.3d 361, 374 n.7 (3d Cir. 2002)). In addition to reviewing the facts

contained in the complaint, the court may also consider “exhibits attached to the complaint, matters of public record, as well as undisputedly authentic documents” attached to a defendant’s motion to dismiss if the plaintiff’s claims are based upon

these documents. Mayer v. Belichick, 605 F.3d 223, 230 (3d Cir. 2010) (citing Pension Benefit Guar. Corp. v. White Consol. Indus., Inc., 998 F.2d 1192, 1196 (3d Cir. 1993)).

The pleadings of self-represented plaintiffs are to be liberally construed and held to a less stringent standard than formal pleadings drafted by attorneys. See Erickson v.

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Snead v. Steif, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snead-v-steif-pamd-2022.