Torry v. Albrecht

District Court, E.D. Wisconsin·Decided June 2, 2023·No. 2:21-cv-01429·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

BOBBIE TORRY,

Plaintiff, v. Case No. 21-CV-1429-JPS

LISA ALBRECHT, CANDACE WHITMAN, MICHAEL MEISNER, ORDER and LYLE WEINTRAUB,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Bobbie Torry, an inmate confined at Fox Lake Correctional Institution, filed a pro se complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that the defendants violated his Eighth Amendment constitutional rights. ECF No. 1. On June 22, 2022, the Court screened Plaintiff’s complaint and allowed various claims to proceed. ECF No. 12. On September 14, 2022, the Court issued an order denying Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint, among other things. ECF No. 22. On October 17, 2022, Plaintiff filed a second motion for leave to file an amended complaint, ECF No. 31, along with a proposed amended complaint, ECF No. 31-1. On February 21, 2023, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel. ECF No. 33. On March14, 2023, Defendants filed a response to the motion to compel. ECF No. 34. Plaintiff filed a reply brief to the motion to compel on April 3, 2023. ECF No. 35. On April 25, 2023, the parties filed a joint notice and request for clarification. ECF No. 37. On April 26, 2023, Plaintiff filed a motion to appoint counsel. 1. CLARIFICATION/AMENDMENT The Court first addresses Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint, ECF No. 31, and the parties’ join request for clarification, ECF No. 38. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 allows amendment once as a matter of course in certain circumstances; Rule 15 also provides that a Court should freely grant leave to amend when justice so requires. Civil Local Rule 15 requires that a motion to amend a complaint notify the court of the proposed changes and the proposed amended complaint be filed as an attachment to the motion. Civil Local Rule 15 further requires that a motion must reproduce the entire pleading as amended and may not incorporate any prior pleading by reference. The Court previously allowed Plaintiff to proceed on an Eighth Amendment conditions of confinement claim for contaminated drinking water against Defendants Albrecht, Whitman, and Meisner. ECF No. 12 at 12. Plaintiff seeks to amend his complaint in order to add an additional defendant, Dr. Lyle Weintraub, (“Weintraub”) and additional factual allegations that Weintraub failed to treat his kidney condition. ECF No. 31. The parties’ joint request seeks to clarify Plaintiff’s claims; the Court appreciates the parties’ joint efforts in working together to streamline the issues in this case. See ECF No. 37. The parties clarify that Plaintiff does not intend to bring claims against Defendants Albrecht, Meisner, and Whitman related to their involvement in the remediation of the water quality at Fox Lake. Id. at 1. Instead, Plaintiff is pursuing claims against Defendants Albrecht, Meisner, and Whitman, regarding their involvement with his specific medical treatment for his kidneys, as it relates to any medical condition that may have been caused by the water at Fox Lake. Id. at 1–2. Specifically, Plaintiff is pursuing a claim against Defendant Albrecht regarding her response to his inmate complaint filed on May 17, 2021. Id. at 2. Plaintiff is also pursuing a claim against Whitman and Meisner regarding requests that Plaintiff sent on October 14, 2021, asking to receive a blood test to determine whether lead from the water was causing his kidney problems. Id. Defendants agree to Plaintiff’s statement of the scope of the lawsuit. Id. The Court will grant Plaintiff’s motion to amend as amendment should be freely granted when justice so requires; Defendants will not be prejudiced by this amendment. The Court will instruct the Clerk of Court to file the proposed amended complaint, ECF No. 31-1, as the amended complaint and that will be the operative complaint going forward. The Court now screens Plaintiff’s amended complaint as it supersedes the previous complaint. See Duda v. Bd. of Educ. of Franklin Park Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 84, 133 F.3d 1054, 1056 (7th Cir. 1998). 1.1 Federal Screening Standard Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the Court must screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief from a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint if the prisoner raises claims that are legally “frivolous or malicious,” that fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or that seek monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). In determining whether the complaint states a claim, the Court applies the same standard that applies to dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Cesal v. Moats, 851 F.3d 714, 720 (7th Cir. 2017) (citing Booker-El v. Superintendent, Ind. State Prison, 668 F.3d 896, 899 (7th Cir. 2012)). A complaint must include “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The complaint must contain enough facts, accepted as true, to “state a claim for 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 has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows a court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556). To state a claim for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a plaintiff must allege that someone deprived him of a right secured by the Constitution or the laws of the United States and that whoever deprived him of this right was acting under the color of state law. D.S. v. E. Porter Cnty. Sch. Corp., 799 F.3d 793, 798 (7th Cir. 2015) (citing Buchanan–Moore v. County of Milwaukee, 570 F.3d 824, 827 (7th Cir. 2009)). The Court construes pro se complaints liberally and holds them to a less stringent standard than pleadings drafted by lawyers. Cesal, 851 F.3d at 720 (citing Perez v. Fenoglio, 792 F.3d 768, 776 (7th Cir. 2015)). 1.2 Plaintiff’s Allegations On May 11, 2017, Plaintiff arrived at Fox Lake Correctional Institution. ECF No. 31-1 at 4. Prior to that time, he was incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution for the previous fifteen years. Id. On May 6, 2021, H.S.U. staff sent Plaintiff for fasting blood test lab work. Id. On May 7, 2021, Weintraub sent Plaintiff laboratory results stating that he had a slight decrease in kidney function for his “Glomerular Filtration Rate” at 73 instead of 90. Id. at 5.

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