Whittle v. Southern Correctional Medicine

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF □□□□□ FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA Aug 16 2024 DUBLIN DIVISION FILED THOMAS ANDREW WHITTLE, ) Plaintiff, v. CV 322-111 SOUTHERN CORRECTIONAL MEDICINE, LLC, d/b/a Genesys Healthcare) Alliance, LLC, and DYNAMIC MOBILE ) DENTISTRY, ) Defendants.

ORDER

After a careful, de novo review of the file, the Court concurs with the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, to which objections have been filed. (Doc. no. 86.) Although the Report and Recommendation addresses several motions, Plaintiff's objections focus on the recommendation to grant the motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant Southern Correctional Medicine, LLC, d/b/a Genesys Healthcare Alliance, LLC, (“Genesys”). Plaintiff emphasizes he believes the delay he experienced in receiving dental treatment amounts to deliberate indifference under the Eighth Amendment. (Id. at 2-4.) However, he fails to address the crux of the relevant analysis set forth in detail in the Report and Recommendation, which explains Genesys cannot be held liable on a theory of vicarious liability. (See doc. no. 84, pp. 16-18.) Nothing in Plaintiff's objections changes the analysis that the record does not show Genesys advanced a policy or custom of deliberate indifference

that led to Plaintiff's alleged injuries, and therefore summary judgment in favor of Genesys is appropriate. See Ireland v. Prummell, 53 F.4th 1274, 1289-90 (11th Cir. 2022). Accordingly, the Court OVERRULES all objections and ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge as its opinion. Therefore, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's motions for summary judgment and entry of default judgment, (doc. nos. 69, 72), and GRANTS the motion for summary judgment filed by Genesys, (doc. no. 55). Because the Court previously granted the motion to dismiss by Dynamic Mobile Dentistry (“DMD”), (doc. no. 53), the Court DIRECTS the Clerk to enter an appropriate final judgment in favor of both Genesys and DMD and CLOSES this civil action. SO ORDERED this August, 2024, at Augusta, Georgia. hb oa