WELLS v. WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedSeptember 20, 2022
Docket1:20-cv-03086
StatusUnknown

This text of WELLS v. WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC (WELLS v. WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
WELLS v. WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC, (S.D. Ind. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION

ANDRE C.T. WELLS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 1:20-cv-03086-TWP-MG ) WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO RECONSIDER SUMMARY JUDGMENT, GRANTING WEXFORD'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT, AND DIRECTING ENTRY OF FINAL JUDGMENT

This matter is before the Court on a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant Wexford of Indiana, LLC ("Wexford") (Dkt. 51), and Plaintiff Andre C.T. Wells' ("Mr. Wells") Motion to Reconsider Summary Judgment as to former defendant Dushan Zatecky ("Warden Zatecky") (Dkt. 75). Mr. Wells, an inmate at Pendleton Correctional Facility ("Pendleton"), filed this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that (1) Warden Zatecky was deliberately indifferent to his health and retaliated against him for filing grievances, and (2) Wexford was deliberately indifferent to his exposure to COVID-19 and violence from other inmates by failing to implement adequate policies in light of the novel coronavirus. Warden Zatecky moved for summary judgment against Mr. Wells arguing that he failed to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing claims against him. (Dkt. 25). Summary judgment was granted on behalf of Warden Zatecky November 30, 2021. (Dkt. 45.) On May 23, 2022, Mr. Wells filed a motion for reconsideration of that ruling which is before the Court. (Dkt. 75.) Wexford has moved for summary judgment on the claims pending against it, arguing that Mr. Wells cannot show that his rights were violated due to a Wexford policy or practice. (Dkt. 51.) For the reasons explained below, Mr. Wells' Motion to Reconsider entry of summary judgment in Warden Zatecky's favor, is denied, and Wexford's Motion for Summary Judgment, is granted. I. LEGAL STANDARDS

A. Motion to Reconsider

"Motions for reconsideration serve a limited function: to correct manifest errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence." Caisse Nationale De Credit Agricole v. CBI Indus., 90 F.3d 1264, 1269 (7th Cir. 1996) (internal quotations and citations omitted). A motion to reconsider is not an occasion to make new arguments, In re Prince, 85 F.3d 314, 324 (7th Cir. 1996), nor is it "an appropriate forum for rehashing previously rejected arguments or arguing matters that could have been heard during the pendency of the previous motion," Caisse, 90 F.3d at 1269-70; see also Dominguez v. Lynch, 612 F. App'x 388, 390 (7th Cir. 2015) ("Motions to reconsider 'are not replays of the main event.'") (quoting Khan v. Holder, 766 F.3d 689, 696 (7th Cir. 2014)). B. Summary Judgment Standard

Parties in a civil dispute may move for summary judgment, which is a way of resolving a case short of a trial. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine dispute as to any of the material facts, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id.; Pack v. Middlebury Comm. Schs., 990 F.3d 1013, 1017 (7th Cir. 2021). A "genuine dispute" exists when a reasonable factfinder could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986). "Material facts" are those that might affect the outcome of the suit. Id. When reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the court views the record and draws all reasonable inferences from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Khungar v. Access Cmty. Health Network, 985 F.3d 565, 572-73 (7th Cir. 2021). It cannot weigh evidence or make credibility determinations on summary judgment because those tasks are left to the factfinder. Miller v. Gonzalez, 761 F.3d 822, 827 (7th Cir. 2014). II. DISCUSSION

The Court will first discuss Mr. Wells Motion to Reconsider Order Granting Summary Judgment for failure to exhaust, before turning o Wexford's Motion to for Summary Judgment. A. Motion to Reconsider Mr. Wells submits his Motion to Reconsider under Rule 59(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, see Dkt. 75 at 1, but a Rule 59(e) motion "can only follow a 'judgment.'" Galvan v. Norberg, 678 F.3d 581, 587 n.3 (7th Cir. 2012). No judgment has issued yet in this action. Nonetheless, the district court has the authority to reconsider its orders at any time prior to final judgment. See id. ("Rule 54(b) governs non-final orders and permits revision at any time prior to the entry of judgment, thereby bestowing sweeping authority upon the district court to reconsider….").

The Court previously concluded that Mr. Wells failed to exhaust available administrative remedies as to his Eighth Amendment claims because he failed to properly follow the procedure for obtaining permission to submit a grievance appeal late.1 (Dkt. 45 at 6−7.) In his Motion to Reconsider, he argues that the COVID-19 pandemic, related lockdowns, and limited law library access inhibited his ability to craft a response in opposition to Mr. Zatecky's summary judgment motion to show that administrative remedies were unavailable. (Dkt. 75 at 9.) He then argues that Mr. Zatecky's control over Mr. Wells' movement throughout the prison and the grievance

1 Mr. Wells does not challenge the Court's ruling as it relates to his retaliation claims. (Dkt. 75 at 13.) counselor's efforts to thwart his ability to file a grievance prevented him from completing the grievance process in a timely manner. Id. at 10−12. Mr. Wells cannot raise new arguments in a motion to reconsider, In re Prince, 85 F.3d at 324, and his arguments "could and should have been made" before the Court ruled on the motion

for summary judgment, Cehovic-Dixneauf v. Wong, 895 F.3d 927, 932 (7th Cir. 2018). Although the Court understands that incarcerated litigants have limited access to the law library—especially during an ongoing pandemic—Mr. Wells sought (and received) only one extension of time to prepare his response. (Dkts. 29, 31.) He has not shown that he could not file additional motions for time while the summary judgment motion was pending. Because Mr. Wells has not shown a manifest error of law or fact, his Motion to Reconsider, (Dkt. 75), is denied. B. Wexford's Motion For Summary Judgment 1. Motion to Strike Plaintiff's Dispositive Motion Designations as Untimely As a preliminary matter, the Court addresses Wexford's motion to strike some of Mr. Wells' designated exhibits in his response to the Motion for Summary Judgment as untimely. (Dkt. 76.)

The discovery deadline in this case was December 23, 2021. (Dkt. 23.) Wexford served its first set of requests for production and first set of interrogatories on November 11, 2021. (Dkt. 43.) In that request, Wexford asked Mr.

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

Related

Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Stevo v. Frasor
662 F.3d 880 (Seventh Circuit, 2011)
Galvan v. Norberg
678 F.3d 581 (Seventh Circuit, 2012)
Farmer v. Brennan
511 U.S. 825 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Julian J. Miller v. Albert Gonzalez
761 F.3d 822 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Sami Khan v. Eric Holder, Jr.
766 F.3d 689 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Candis Flint v. City of Belvidere
791 F.3d 764 (Seventh Circuit, 2015)
Jose A. Dominguez v. Loretta E. Lynch
612 F. App'x 388 (Seventh Circuit, 2015)
Jeremy Lockett v. Tanya Bonson
937 F.3d 1016 (Seventh Circuit, 2019)
Craig Wilson v. Mark Williams
961 F.3d 829 (Sixth Circuit, 2020)
Aaron Hope v. Warden Pike County Corr
972 F.3d 310 (Third Circuit, 2020)
Pooja Khungar v. Access Community Health Networ
985 F.3d 565 (Seventh Circuit, 2021)
Larry Howell v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc.
987 F.3d 647 (Seventh Circuit, 2021)
Kevin Pack v. Middlebury Community Schools
990 F.3d 1013 (Seventh Circuit, 2021)
Victor Gonzalez v. McHenry County, Illinois
40 F.4th 824 (Seventh Circuit, 2022)
Cehovic-Dixneuf v. Wong
895 F.3d 927 (Seventh Circuit, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
WELLS v. WEXFORD OF INDIANA LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wells-v-wexford-of-indiana-llc-insd-2022.