Cameron v. Newcomb

JARED J. CAMERON #276559, Plaintiff, v. SHERRI NEWCOMB, Defendant.

Case No. 2:19-cv-00071

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN NORTHERN DIVISION

November 16, 2020

Hon. Gordon J. Quist U.S. District Judge

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

I. Introduction

This is a civil rights action brought by state prisoner Jared J. Cameron pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The sole remaining Defendant is Corrections Officer (CO) Newcomb. Cameron alleges that Newcomb retaliated against him and conspired to do so, in violation of the First Amendment, by firing him from his kitchen job on July 4, 2016, because he filed grievances against other corrections Officers in January of that same year. In addition, Cameron alleges that Newcomb violated his right to freely exercise his religion, also in violation of the First Amendment, by prohibiting him from praying during work hours. Finally, Cameron alleges that Newcomb intentionally inflicted emotional distress on him, in violation of Michigan law.

Newcomb has filed a motion for summary judgment. (ECF Nos. 28, 30.) Cameron has responded. (ECF No. 30.) Newcomb then replied. (ECF No. 33.) The undersigned has reviewed the pleadings and associated documents and respectfully recommends that the Court grant Defendant Newcomb's motion for summary judgment and dismiss this case.

III. Summary of Plaintiff's Allegations

Plaintiff's allegations are summarized in the table below.

Number

Claim

Defendant

Date or Date

Range of

Incident(s)

1

Newcomb retaliated against

Plaintiff by providing negative

work evaluation (CSJ-363 form)

with recommendation for

termination after refusing two

direct orders to pass out napkins,

allegedly due to prior grievances

filed by Plaintiff. (ECF No. 24,

PageID.115-17, 118.)

Newcomb

July 4, 2016

2

Newcomb conspired with food

director Gugin to terminate

Plaintiff's job assignment. (Id.,

PageID.115-17, 119.)

Newcomb

July 4, 2016

3

Newcomb refused to allow Plaintiff

to pray during work assignment.

(Id., PageID.117-18, 119.)

Newcomb

December 22, 2018

4

Newcomb intentionally inflicted

emotional distress on Plaintiff. (Id.,

PageID.119.)

Newcomb

Unclear

III. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when the record reveals that there are no genuine issues as to any material fact in dispute and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56; Kocak v. Comty. Health Partners of Ohio, Inc., 400 F.3d 466, 468 (6th Cir. 2005). The standard for determining whether summary judgment is appropriate is "whether the evidence presents a sufficientdisagreement to require submission to a jury¹ or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. McGowan, 421 F.3d 433, 436 (6th Cir. 2005) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52 (1986)). The court must consider all pleadings, depositions, affidavits, and admissions on file, and draw all justifiable inferences in favor of the party opposing the motion. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986).

IV. Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies

A. Legal Standards

A prisoner's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies is an affirmative defense, which Defendants have the burden to plead and prove. Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 212-16 (2007). "[W]here the moving party has the burden -- the plaintiff on a claim for relief or the defendant on an affirmative defense -- his showing must be sufficient for the court to hold that no reasonable trier of fact could find other than for the moving party." Calderone v. United States, 799 F.2d 254, 259 (6th Cir. 1986). The Sixth Circuit has repeatedly emphasized that the party with the burden of proof "must show the record contains evidence satisfying the burden of persuasion and that the evidence is so powerful that no reasonable jury would be free to disbelieve it." Cockrel v. Shelby Cnty. Sch. Dist., 270 F.3d 1036, 1056 (6th Cir. 2001). Accordingly, summary judgment in favor of the party with the burden of persuasion "isinappropriate when the evidence is susceptible of different interpretations or inferences by the trier of fact." Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541, 553 (1999).

Pursuant to the applicable portion of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a), a prisoner bringing an action with respect to prison conditions under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 must exhaust his available administrative remedies. Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 532 (2002); Booth v. Churner, 532 U.S. 731, 733 (2001). A prisoner must first exhaust available administrative remedies, even if the prisoner may not be able to obtain the specific type of relief he seeks in the state administrative process. Porter, 534 U.S. at 520; Booth, 532 U.S. at 741; Knuckles El v. Toombs, 215 F.3d 640, 642 (6th Cir. 2000); Freeman v. Francis, 196 F.3d 641, 643 (6th Cir. 1999). In order to properly exhaust administrative remedies, prisoners must complete the administrative review process in accordance with the deadlines and other applicable procedural rules. Jones, 549 U.S. at 218-19; Woodford v. Ngo, 548 U.S. 81, 90-91 (2006). "Compliance with prison grievance procedures, therefore, is all that is required by the PLRA to 'properly exhaust.'" Jones, 549 U.S. at 218-19. In rare circumstances, the grievance process will be considered unavailable where officers are unable or consistently unwilling to provide relief, where the exhaustion procedures may provide relief, but no ordinary prisoner can navigate it, or "where prison administrators thwart inmates from taking advantage of a grievance process through machination, misrepresentation, or intimidation." Ross v. Blake, 578 U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 1850, 1859-60 (2016).

"Beyond doubt, Congress enacted [Section] 1997e(a) to reduce the quantity and improve the quality of prisoner suits." Porter, 534 U.S. at 524. In the Court's view, this objective was achieved in three ways. First, the exhaustion requirement "afforded corrections officials time and opportunity to address complaints internally before allowing the initiation of a federal case." Id. at 525. Second, "the internal review might 'filter out some frivolous claims.'" Id. (quoting Booth, 532 U.S. at 737). And third, "adjudication could be facilitated by an administrative record that clarifies the contours of the controversy." Id. When institutions are provided adequate notice as required under the PLRA, the opportunity to address the claims internally furthers the additional goals of limiting judicial interference with prison administration. Baker v. Vanderark, 1:07-cv-004, 2007 WL 3244075, *5 (W.D. Mich., Nov. 1, 2007).

Michigan Dept. of Corrections (MDOC) Policy Directive 03.02.130 (effective on July 9, 2007, superseded on March 18, 2019), sets forth the applicable grievance procedures for prisoners in MDOC custody at the time relevant to this complaint. Inmates must first attempt to resolve a problem orally within two business days of becoming aware of the grievable issue, unless prevented by circumstances beyond his or her control. Id. at ¶ P. If oral resolution is unsuccessful, the inmate may proceed to Step I of the grievance process and submit a completed grievance form within five business days of the attempted oral resolution. Id. at ¶¶ P, V. The inmate submits the grievance to a designated grievance coordinator, who assigns it to a respondent. Id. at ¶ V. The Policy Directive also provides the following directions for completinggrievance forms: "The issues should be stated briefly but concisely. Information provided is to be limited to the facts involving the issue being grieved (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, how). Dates, times, places and names of all those involved in the issue being grieved are to be included." Id. at ¶ R (emphasis in original).

If the inmate is dissatisfied with the Step I response, or does not receive a timely response, he may appeal to Step II by obtaining an appeal form within ten business days of the response, or if no response was received, within ten days after the response was due. MDOC Policy Directive 03.02.130 at ¶¶ T, BB. The respondent at Step II is designated by the policy, e.g., the regional health administrator for medical care grievances. Id. at ¶ DD.

If the inmate is still dissatisfied with the Step II response, or does not receive a timely Step II response, he may appeal to Step III using the same appeal form. Id. at ¶¶ T, FF. The Step III form shall be sent within ten business days after receiving the Step II response, or if no Step II response was received, within ten business days after the date the Step II response was due. Id. at ¶¶ T, FF. The Grievance and Appeals Section is the respondent for Step III grievances on behalf of the MDOC director. Id. at ¶ GG.

"The total grievance process from the point of filing a Step I grievance to providing a Step III response shall generally be completed within 120 calendar days unless an extension has been approved." Id. at ¶ S.

In addition, the grievance policy provides that, where the grievance alleges conduct that falls under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs Division pursuant toPolicy Directive 01.01.140, the prisoner may file his Step I grievance directly with the inspector of the institution in which the prisoner is housed, instead of with the grievance coordinator, as set forth in ¶ W of Policy Directive 03.02.130. Id. at ¶ R. In such instances, the grievance must be filed within the time limits prescribed for filing grievances at Step I. Id. Regardless of whether the grievance is filed with the grievance coordinator or the inspector, the grievance will be referred to the Internal Affairs Division for review and will be investigated in accordance with MDOC Policy Directive 01.01.140. The prisoner will be promptly notified that an extension of time is needed to investigate the grievance. Id.

Where the grievance procedures are not available because the issue...