William Tanielian v. J. Guerrero

District Court, E.D. California·Decided November 26, 2025·No. 1:23-cv-01384·Unknown

Opinion

WILLIAM TANIELIAN, Case No.: 1:23-cv-01384-KES-CDB Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOLLOWING SCREENING OF v. PLAINTIFF’S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 14-DAY OBJECTION PERIOD Defendant. Plaintiff William Tanielian is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983. On December 12, 2023, the formerly assigned magistrate judge issued a screening order. (Doc. 10.) Plaintiff was directed to complete and return a Notice on How to Proceed form within 14 days and was advised that if he chose to file a first amended complaint, he must do so no later than January 11, 2024. (Id. at 10.) On December 26, 2023, Plaintiff filed both the notice (Doc. 11) and a first amended complaint (Doc. 12). On October 6, 2025, this action was reassigned to the undersigned as the referred magistrate judge. (Doc. 14.) // The Court is required to screen complaints brought by prisoners seeking relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a complaint or portion thereof if the complaint is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b). The Court should dismiss a complaint if it lacks a cognizable legal theory or fails to allege sufficient facts to support a cognizable legal theory. See Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) “Rule 8(a)’s simplified pleading standard applies to all civil actions, with limited exceptions.” Swierkiewicz v. Sorema N.A., 534 U.S. 506, 513 (2002). A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claims showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). “Such a statement must simply give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Swierkiewicz, 534 U.S. at 512 (internal quotation marks & citation omitted). Detailed factual allegations are not required, but “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). Plaintiff must set forth “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim that is plausible on its face.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). Factual allegations are accepted as true, but legal conclusions are not. Id. (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). The Court construes pleadings of pro se prisoners liberally and affords them the benefit of any doubt. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted). However, “the liberal pleading standard . . . applies only to a plaintiff’s factual allegations,” not his legal theories. Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 330 n.9 (1989). Furthermore, “a liberal interpretation of a civil rights complaint may not supply essential elements of the claim that were not initially quotation marks & citation omitted), and courts “are not required to indulge unwarranted inferences.” Doe I v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 572 F.3d 677, 681 (9th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks & citation omitted). The “sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully” is not sufficient to state a cognizable claim, and “facts that are merely consistent with a defendant’s liability” fall short. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (internal quotation marks & citation omitted). B. Linkage and Causation Section 1983 provides a cause of action for the violation of constitutional or other federal rights by persons acting under color of state law. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under section 1983, a plaintiff must show a causal connection or link between the actions of the defendants and the deprivation alleged to have been suffered by the plaintiff. See Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U.S. 362, 373-75 (1976). The Ninth Circuit has held that “[a] person ‘subjects’ another to the deprivation of a constitutional right, within the meaning of section 1983, if he does an affirmative act, participates in another’s affirmative acts, or omits to perform an act which he is legal required to do that causes the deprivation of which complaint is made.” Johnson v. Duffy, 588 F.2d 740, 743 (9th Cir. 1978) (citation omitted). A. Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint Plaintiff’s complaint is comprised of a form complaint (Doc. 12 at 1-5), a separate, typed “Civil Rights Complaint” (id. at 6-12) and numerous exhibits (id. at 13-42). Plaintiff names J. Guerrero, a correctional officer at California State Prison, Corcoran (CSP-COR), as the sole defendant in this action. (Id. at 1-2, 7.) He seeks compensatory damages totaling $125,000, punitive damages, a jury trial, costs of litigation and attorney’s fees,1 and any other relief deemed just and proper. (Id. at 11-12.) B. The Factual Allegations Plaintiff alleges he was working as a dishwasher in the 3B yard dining hall at CSP-COR on December 21, 2022. (Doc. 12 at 7.) Plaintiff contends he takes medication in the morning “that 1 Plaintiff, who is proceeding pro se, is not entitled to attorney’s fees. Kay v. Ehrler, 499 U.S. 432, 435 (1991). requires him to leave his assigned job to receive his medication” at the yard’s medical clinic. (Id.) On that date, just after 7 a.m., Plaintiff sought permission from the assigned supervisor, Defendant Guerrero, to retrieve his medication “at the 3B clinic window.” (Id. at 7-8.) Plaintiff alleges Guerrero became agitated, threatening and intimidating Plaintiff by slamming his hand on the desk and yelling loudly “at Plaintiff, ‘shut the hell up!’” (Id. at 8.) On January 23, 2023, Plaintiff filed a grievance against Defendant Guerrero for staff misconduct. (Doc. 12 at 8.) Plaintiff contends the grievance “was classified as Staff Misconduct: Substandard Performance.’” (Id.) It was referred to an outside agency for review and Plaintiff asserts he exhausted his related administrative remedies on January 31, 2023. (Id.) Next, Plaintiff alleges he received a memorandum on April 19, 2023, from the CSP-COR warden indicating the grievance had been sustained. (Id.) Next, Plaintiff asserts that just weeks after filing the grievance, on February 5, 2023, Defendant Guerrero singled him out for being disruptive for advising other inmates about “dumping food in the drain of Plaintiff’s station.” (Doc. 12 at 8.) That same date, Guerrero issued Plaintiff a rules violation report (RVR) for disruptive behavior; Guerrero did not issue an RVR to “the other inmates involved in the dispute.” (

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William Tanielian v. J. Guerrero, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

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