Vasquez v. Schenectady County Correctional Facility

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedNovember 4, 2020
Docket9:20-cv-00785
StatusUnknown

This text of Vasquez v. Schenectady County Correctional Facility (Vasquez v. Schenectady County Correctional Facility) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vasquez v. Schenectady County Correctional Facility, (N.D.N.Y. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK JOSHUA ALEX VASQUEZ, Plaintiff, 9:20-CV-0785 v. (TJM/CFH)

SCHENECTADY COUNTY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, Defendant. APPEARANCES: JOSHUA ALEX VASQUEZ 25555 Plaintiff, pro se Schenectady County Correctional Facility 320 Veeder Avenue Schenectady, NY 12307 THOMAS J. McAVOY Senior United States District Judge DECISION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Joshua Alex Vasquez commenced this action by filing a pro se civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"), together with an application to proceed in forma pauperis. See Dkt. No. 1 ("Compl."); Dkt. No. 4 ("IFP Application").1 By Decision and Order entered on August 21, 2020, this Court granted plaintiff's IFP Application, 1 Plaintiff's initial application to proceed IFP was denied as incomplete and the action was administratively closed. Dkt. No. 3. Plaintiff then timely filed his IFP Application, together with an inmate authorization form, and this action was re-opened. Dkt. Nos. 4, 5, 6. but following review of the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b), found that it was subject to dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Dkt. No. 7 ("August 2020 Order"). Presently before the Court is plaintiff's amended complaint. Dkt. No. 8 ("Am. Compl."). II. SUFFICIENCY OF THE AMENDED COMPLAINT A. The Complaint and August 2020 Order In his original complaint, plaintiff asserted claims based on events that allegedly

occurred while he was a pretrial detainee at Schenectady County Correctional Facility. See generally Compl. Plaintiff named only Schenectady County Correctional Facility as a defendant. See Compl. at 1-2. The complaint was construed to assert the following claims against the facility: (1) a First Amendment interference with mail claim; (2) a Fourteenth Amendment excessive force claim; and (3) a Fourteenth Amendment medical indifference claim. See August 2020 Order at 5. After reviewing the complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b), the Court dismissed plaintiff's Section 1983 claims without prejudice for failure to

state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See August 2020 Order at 7-8. B. Overview of the Amended Complaint Because plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis and is an inmate suing government employees, his amended complaint must be reviewed in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). The legal standard governing the dismissal of a pleading for failure to state a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) and 28 U.S.C. § 2 1915A(b) was discussed at length in the August 2020 Order and it will not be restated in this Decision and Order. See August 2020 Order at 2-4. Plaintiff's amended complaint names the following individuals as defendants, along with Schenectady County: (1) Sheriff Dominic Dagostino; (2) Corrections Officer Jason Jendzeizyk; (3) Corrections Officer Matthew Hall; (4) Corrections Officer Charlie Chrowle; (5) Corrections Officer Smith; (6) Corrections Officer Malee; (7) Corrections Lieutenant Nealon; and (8) Doctor McPhillips. Am. Compl. at 1-4. The following facts are set forth as alleged by plaintiff in his amended complaint, or detailed in documents attached thereto.2

On January 20, 2020, plaintiff handed outgoing mail to defendant Corrections Officer Jason Jendzeizyk. Dkt. No. 8-3 at 4. The mail was never sent out for delivery. Id. at 12. Defendant Jendzeizyk violated "Penal Law 250.25 [by] tampering with communications[.]" Am. Compl. at 6. On March 31, 2020, at approximately 9:00 a.m., plaintiff "was assaulted by five correctional officers" when he was extracted from his cell. Am. Compl. at 6; Dkt. No. 8-1 at 1. As a result of the assault, plaintiff suffered "bad bruising and swelling" in his "legs and back[.]" Am. Compl. at 6. Plaintiff was issued a misbehavior report for the events that occurred on March 31, 2020. Dkt. No. 8-3 at 13.

2 Plaintiff submitted various documents with his amended complaint. See Dkt. Nos. 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3. Because these documents contain additional details regarding the events described in the amended complaint, the Court has included factual information contained in these documents as part of its summary of the relevant facts. In doing so, however, the Court notes that statements made in documents attached to the amended complaint need not be, and have not been, accepted as true. See Gant v. Wallingford Bd. of Educ., 69 F.3d 669, 674-75 (2d Cir. 1995) (holding that attachment of school superintendent's report as an exhibit to the complaint did not necessarily incorporate report into complaint in such manner as to accept all statements in report as true, including its exculpatory conclusions); In re Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litig., 261 F. Supp. 3d 430, 480-81 (S.D.N.Y. 2017) (adopting plaintiff's argument that "although a court can take notice of the fact of public filings and documents attached to or cited in a complaint, it [generally] may not consider these materials for 'the truth of the matters asserted'" (citation omitted)). 3 On April 10, 2020, plaintiff was seen by defendant Dr. McPhillips, who "claimed [plaintiff] was getting better" even though his injuries were worse. Am. Compl. at 6; Dkt. No. 8-1 at 2. Plaintiff told defendant McPhillips that his legs "have gotten nothing but worst [sic]" and requested photographs of his injuries. Dkt. No. 8-1 at 2. Defendant McPhillips advised plaintiff that "they don't do any of that" at the facility and excused him from "medical." Id. On April 13, 2020, plaintiff was brought back to "medical" for further evaluation. Id. Liberally construed, the amended complaint asserts the following claims against the aforementioned defendants: (1) a First Amendment mail tampering claim against defendant

Jendzeizyk; (2) Fourteenth Amendment excessive force claims against defendants Hall, Chrowle, Smith, Malee, and Nealon;3 and (3) a Fourteenth Amendment medical indifference claim against defendant McPhillips. For a more complete statement of plaintiff's claims, reference is made to the amended complaint. C. Analysis 1. Sheriff Dagostino It is well settled that "personal involvement of defendants in alleged constitutional deprivations is a prerequisite to an award of damages under § 1983." Wright v. Smith, 21

F.3d 496, 501 (2d Cir. 1994) (quoting Moffitt v. Town of Brookfield, 950 F.2d 880, 885 (2d Cir. 1991)); Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 676 (2009). "[A] Section 1983 plaintiff must

3 The amended complaint does not identify which of the eight officials named as defendants were involved in the alleged use-of-force incident. However, defendants Dagostino and McPhillips are not alleged to be correctional officers.

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

Related

Pettus v. Morgenthau
554 F.3d 293 (Second Circuit, 2009)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Turner v. Safley
482 U.S. 78 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Graham v. Connor
490 U.S. 386 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Gill v. Mooney
824 F.2d 192 (Second Circuit, 1987)
Moffitt v. Town Of Brookfield
950 F.2d 880 (Second Circuit, 1991)
Lore v. City of Syracuse
670 F.3d 127 (Second Circuit, 2012)
Colon v. Coughlin
58 F.3d 865 (Second Circuit, 1995)
Hathaway v. Coughlin
99 F.3d 550 (Second Circuit, 1996)
Hemmings v. Gorczyk
134 F.3d 104 (Second Circuit, 1998)
United States v. John Walsh
194 F.3d 37 (Second Circuit, 1999)
Davis v. Goord
320 F.3d 346 (Second Circuit, 2003)
Johnson v. Wright
412 F.3d 398 (Second Circuit, 2005)
Grullon v. City of New Haven
720 F.3d 133 (Second Circuit, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Vasquez v. Schenectady County Correctional Facility, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vasquez-v-schenectady-county-correctional-facility-nynd-2020.