Hailey v. Beard, CIVIL ACTION NO. 19-2171

ALVIN MAURICE HAILEY v. C.O. FRED BEARD, et al.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 19-2171

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

October 29, 2019

MEMORANDUM

KEARNEY, J.

While we expect male prison correctional officers may search male citizens in custody including pat downs of genitalia and strip searches as warranted, they may not sexually assault those in custody under the guise of their authority to protect the other inmates and officers. We today evaluate pro se specific allegations of a correctional officer's repeated sexual assaults upon a man awaiting trial at a correctional facility under the Fourteenth Amendment. The pretrial detainee claims he told other officers to help him but they did nothing to protect him and instead impeded his grievance process. He also wrote to the prison's warden who allegedly failed to respond to his concerns. He finally wrote to the County District Attorney and Pennsylvania Attorney General resulting in an investigation but then allegedly more threats to be quiet to get a better deal on his pending charges. The warden and correctional officers now move to dismiss the substantive claims and for summary judgment arguing the pretrial detainee did not exhaust the prison's grievance procedures. At this preliminary stage based solely on our liberal reading of the pro se amended complaint, we deny summary judgment and the motion to dismiss as to the Fourteenth Amendment claims against the alleged assaulting officer and warden who failed to intervene upon notice. We dismiss the claims without prejudice against the other officers as the pretrial detainee did not plead their knowledge of ongoing conduct.

I. Pro se alleged facts¹

In August 2017, the Commonwealth detained Alvin Maurice Hailey in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility awaiting his trial.² On an unplead date, Correctional Officer Beard escorted Mr. Hailey to his housing unit on "Medium Max."³ Correctional Officer Beard directed Mr. Hailey face the wall to conduct a random pat down when they reached Mr. Hailey's cell, and Mr. Hailey complied.⁴ Correctional Officer Beard ran his fingers from Mr. Hailey's ankles up to his thighs, where he began "massaging [Mr. Hailey's] groin and penis."⁵ Mr. Hailey felt uncomfortable and asked Correctional Officer Beard: "Can you please stop, Im [sic] feeling uncomfortable and this search is unwarranted."⁶ Instead of stopping, Correctional Officer Beard replied: "Shut up bitch this is my house you do what I say when I say it. Your [sic] my bitch."⁷ Mr. Hailey immediately notified Captain Moyer of what happened following this incident, who responded: "Grow a pair and man up."⁸

The Facility rehoused Mr. Hailey due to a bail reduction hearing within months of this incident, but Mr. Hailey continued to encounter Correctional Officer Beard "in visiting room and in normal passing through the facility as a whole on a daily basis.⁹ When Mr. Hailey saw Correctional Officer Beard, Correctional Officer Beard blew kisses at him, stuck his tongue through his index and middle finger in a sexual manner toward him, and made vulgar comments to him.¹⁰

One unidentified day following Mr. Hailey's visit with "his father and/or mother," the Montgomery County Correctional Facility assigned Correctional Officer Beard as Mr. Hailey's strip search officer, which made Mr. Hailey "uneasy" due to his past encounters with Correctional Officer Beard.¹¹ Correctional Officer Beard asked Mr. Hailey "to get fully naked," and Mr. Hailey complied.¹² Correctional Officer Beard then ordered Mr. Hailey "to squat and cough," and Mr.Hailey complied "over and over" until he finally refused.¹³ When Mr. Hailey refused, Correctional Officer Beard "gave a direct order to comply or [Mr. Hailey] would be sent to the hole and lose his visits in the future indefinitely."¹⁴ Following the threat, Mr. Hailey complied with Correctional Officer Beard's orders and Correctional Officer Beard "physically grabbed [Mr. Hailey's] buttcheeks [sic] and spread them apart, . . . then got on his knees and asked [Mr. Hailey] to let him 'taste him.'"¹⁵

Mr. Hailey told Captain Smith, Major Carbo, Major Brown, and Lieutenant Zerr about the "unbearable encounters" involving Correctional Officer Beard, who each threatened him to "stop reporting it or be put in segragation [sic]."¹⁶ He asked Captain Smith, Major Carbo, Major Brown, and Lieutenant Zerr for grievance forms, but they denied his requests and "swept [them] under the rug."¹⁷

"On or around 2018," Mr. Hailey encountered Correctional Officer Beard on Housing Unit G-1 where Correctional Officer Beard continued verbally harassing Mr. Hailey, telling "inmates [Mr. Hailey] is a 'snitch.'"¹⁸ Correctional Officer Beard told Mr. Hailey no one would believe him regarding Correctional Officer Beard's sexual harassment and abuse because he is a "low life scum" who "ha[s] no rights."¹⁹ Mr. Hailey's cellmate, Taren-Ebo Wilson, witnessed Correctional Officer Beard's inappropriate behavior and the sexual abuse on multiple occasions.²⁰

Mr. Hailey wrote to Warden Julio Algarin "repeatedly on more than one occasion" using request slips to try to escape Correctional Officer Beard's abuse, but Warden Algarin never responded.²¹ Specifically, Mr. Hailey wrote a letter to Warden Algarin on August 30, 2017 regarding Correctional Officer Beard sexually abusing him. Warden Algarin did not answer.²² Warden Algarin "turned a 'blind eye'" to the request slips and alleged abuse, as CorrectionalOfficer Beard continued to sexually harass and abuse Mr. Hailey—the harassment and abuse worsening with each incident.²³

The District Attorney's Investigator, John Doe, visited Mr. Hailey following Mr. Hailey sending the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office "repeated correspondences," Mr. Hailey again trying to obtain help to escape Correctional Officer Beard's sexual harassment and abuse.²⁴ District Attorney Investigator John Doe threatened Mr. Hailey "to stop making reports or their [sic] would be no deal on [his] case."²⁵ Security Captain Berger witnessed Investigator John Doe's threats and laughed.²⁶

Captain Moyer handled Mr. Hailey's filed Prison Rape Elimination Act complaints, and "[e]verytime [sic] [Mr. Hailey] filed a report with [PREA] Captain Moyer would dismiss it and not investigate the issue."²⁷ The Facility also chose Mr. Hailey's cell for random searches and destroyed his property during those searches on multiple occasions.²⁸ When Mr. Hailey asked Majors Carbo and Brown "why this [was] happening," Major Carbo replied: "[Y]ou don't know when to keep your mouth shut."²⁹

Mr. Hailey notified Major Carbo and Captain Smith of Correctional Officer Beard sexually abusing him, but they allegedly failed to protect him or move him to protective custody per his requests on multiple occasions.³⁰ He notified Major Brown and Lieutenant Zerr of Correctional Officer Beard sexually abusing him, who also failed to protect him from Correctional Officer Beard's sexual abuse.³¹

Mr. Hailey used the Facility's grievance procedure "to try and solve the problem," but the grievance he turned into Correctional Officer Errington "somehow disappeared."³² Mr. Hailey placed his initial grievance in Correctional Officer Errington's care and custody, but the "grievance was misplaced or lost by one of the formentioned [sic] bad actor's [sic] in Montgomery CountyCorrectional Facility."³³ Because he never received a response to the initial grievance, he asked to submit grievances multiple times, which Captain Moyer consistently denied.³⁴ Mr. Hailey also tried writing to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office—specifically Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele—"to try and solve the problem" on April 25, 2018 and April 13, 2019, but never received a response to either letter.³⁵

He wrote to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, forwarding a copy of the April 13, 2019 letter he sent to District Attorney Steele, and received a response from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office dated May 8, 2019.³⁶ Stephen St. Vincent, the Director of Policy and Planning for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, informed Mr. Hailey he received his letter regarding being a victim of sexual harassment and assault and he forwarded a copy of his April 13, 2019 letter back to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, as well as to the Montgomery County Commissioners Office as they are "the agencies that are best equipped to handle this issue . . . ."³⁷

Mr. Hailey pro se sues: (1) Correctional Officer Beard; (2) Warden Julio Algarin; (3) Security Captain Berger; (4) District Attorney Investigator John Doe; (5) Captain Moyer; (6) Major Carbo; (7) Major Brown; (8) Captain Smith; (9) Lieutenant Zerr; and, (10) Correctional Officer Warren Errington in both their individual and official capacities as Montgomery County Correctional Facility employees for his sexual abuse occurring in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.³⁸

Mr. Hailey sues Correctional Officer Beard for violating the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution by sexually abusing Mr. Hailey.³⁹ He alleges Correctional Officer Beard's actions caused him to suffer "grave emotional distress at the time of the incident" and "continues to haunt [him] to this day," requiring Mr. Hailey to receive professional guidance fromthe SCI-Somerset Department of Psychiatry and Psychology.⁴⁰ Mr. Hailey alleges Warden Algarin "is responsible for the conduct of [his] staff and to insure [sic] once a sexual abuse claim is reported to remove [the] victim or [his] staff to insure [sic] the abuse does not continue," and Warden Algarin "failed his duties" by not following this procedure.⁴¹ He alleges collusion by Investigator John Doe, Captain Moyer, Major Carbo, Major Brown, Captain Smith, Lieutenant Zerr, and Correctional Officer Errington "to cover up [Correctional Officer Beard's] sexual abuse and misconduct."⁴²

II. Analysis

Correctional Officer Beard, Captain...