Jones v. Tyson Foods, Inc.

971 F.Supp.2d 671

Marvin JONES, Plaintiff

v.TYSON FOODS, INC.; Lee McTeer, in His Official Capacity as Community Correctional Director for Region I and in His Individual Capacity; and Jonathan Bradley, in His Official Capacity as Correctional Supervisor of Leflore County Restitution Center and in His Individual Capacity, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 4:10–CV–00011–GHD–JMV.

United States District Court,

N.D. Mississippi,

Greenville Division.

Oct. 28, 2013.

Joseph Robert Murray, II, Murray Law Firm, PLLC, Ripley, MS, for Plaintiff.

R. David Kaufman, Christopher R. Fontan, William Easom Jones, III, Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, Tommy D. Goodwin, Office of the Attorney General, Jackson, MS, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT BASED ON ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY FILED BY DEFENDANTS LEE McTEER AND JONATHAN BRADLEY AND DISMISSING DEFENDANT LEE McTEER AS A PARTY

GLEN H. DAVIDSON, Senior District Judge.

Presently before the Court is a motion for summary judgment based on Eleventh Amendment immunity [68] filed by Defendants Lee McTeer and Jonathan Bradley in their official capacities. Upon due consideration,the Court finds that the motion [68] is well taken and should be granted.

A. Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff Marvin Jones (“Plaintiff”), a former resident of Leflore County Restitution Center, brings this suit for monetary and declaratory relief, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated when he was subjected to dangerous conditions and contracted mycobacterium tuberculosis (“TB”) while fulfilling the terms of his restitution at a chicken-processing plant, Tyson Foods, Inc., in Carthage, Mississippi. The alleged facts are set out in some detail in two of the Court's previous memorandum opinions in this case, see Mem. Ops. [57 and 59]; therefore, the Court incorporates the alleged facts set out in those opinions into this opinion, and for background purposes merely summarizes Plaintiff's claims as follows:

Plaintiff's amended complaint asserts under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that Defendants violated Plaintiff's Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, Thirteenth Amendment right to be free from slavery and/or involuntary servitude, and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights. Plaintiff also alleges that Defendants failed to adequately train and supervise their administration, staff, and/or faculty not to violate a resident's Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, which was the proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries. Plaintiff's amended complaint asserts under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 that “Defendants conspired to deprive, by force, intimidation, or threat, [Plaintiff] from receiving his freedom after he satisfied the terms of his sentencing.” Pl.'s Am. Compl. [12] ¶ 2. The amended complaint further asserts under state law that Defendants were negligent and/or grossly negligent in providing an unsanitary work environment for Plaintiff, thus causing him foreseeable harm; committed the tort of battery against Plaintiff; and subjected Plaintiff to intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants' actions were conducted “under the color and pretenses of the ordinances, policies, practices, customs, regulations, usages[,] and/or statutes of the Counties of Leflore and/or Leake, as well as the State of Mississippi.” Id. ¶ 44. Plaintiff further alleges that it is the policy, practice, or custom of Defendants to suppress the constitutional and statutory rights of those residents entrusted to their care, id. ¶¶ 46–49, and that “[t]he unlawful actions of Defendants ... were taken or ratified by final policy makers for [Leflore County Restitution Center] and thus constitute policies, practices[,] and usage sufficient to impose liability,” id. ¶ 50. Plaintiff seeks declaratory relief that Defendants' alleged actions violated his Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights; nominal and actual damages for Defendants' alleged violations of his state and federal constitutional rights; compensatory and punitive damages against Defendants for the alleged state torts of negligence and gross negligence; and the costs of litigation, including attorney's fees and expenses pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

Defendants Haley Barbour (“Barbour”), Christopher Epps (“Epps”), Lee McTeer (“McTeer”), and Jonathan Bradley (“Bradley”) filed motions to dismiss on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds [16, 35, & 37].¹ On September 11, 2013, the Court entered a memorandum opinion [57], 2013 WL 4876313 and Order [56] sustaining all official-capacity claims against McTeer and Bradley, finding that McTeer and Bradley had not demonstrated they were arms of the State subject to the Eleventh Amendment shield and that Plaintiff's amended complaint established jurisdiction over McTeer and Bradley. See Paterson v. Weinberger, 644 F.2d 521, 523 (5th Cir.1981) (“Since here we have only a ‘facial attack’ and not a ‘factual attack,’ our review is limited to whether the complaint is sufficient to allege the jurisdiction.”). The Court did note, however, that it would entertain a subsequent motion for summary judgment filed by McTeer and Bradley supporting their contention that they are arms of the State entitled to Eleventh Amendment protection on the official-capacity claims.

Accordingly, McTeer and Bradley filed the present motion for summary judgment [68] wherein they contend that they are arms of the State and entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity on the official-capacity claims because the claims do not fall within the narrow Ex parte Young exception. Plaintiff has filed a response, and McTeer and Bradley have filed a reply. The matter is now ripe for review.

B. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment “should be rendered if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). SeeFed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); Weaver v. CCA Indus., Inc., 529 F.3d 335, 339 (5th Cir.2008). The rule “mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a sufficient showing to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

The party moving for summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of the record it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine dispute of material fact. Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Under Rule 56(a), the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to “go beyond the pleadings and by ... affidavits, or by the ‘depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,’ designate ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548;Littlefield v. Forney Indep. Sch. Dist., 268 F.3d 275, 282 (5th Cir.2001); Willis v. Roche Biomedical Labs., Inc., 61 F.3d 313, 315 (5th Cir.1995).

Where the parties dispute the facts, the Court must view the facts and draw reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007) (internal citations omitted). “However, a nonmovant may not overcome the summary judgment standard with conclusional allegations, unsupported assertions, or presentation of only a scintilla of evidence.” McClure v. Boles, 490 Fed.Appx. 666, 667 (5th Cir.2012) (per curiam) (citing Hathaway v. Bazany, 507 F.3d 312, 319 (5th Cir.2007)).

C. Analysis and Discussion

As stated, McTeer and Bradley contend in the present motion [68] and accompanying brief [69] that they are arms of the State subject to Eleventh Amendment protection and that the Eleventh Amendment bars the official-capacity claims against them because Congress has not abrogated the federal claims, the State has not waived or otherwise consented to this suit, and the claims do not fall within the Ex parte Young exception to Eleventh Amendment immunity. Plaintiff argues in response that this issue should not be decided before the parties have had an opportunity to engage in merits-discovery, or alternatively, that McTeer and Bradley are not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity because Plaintiff's claims fall within the Ex parte Young exception. The Court finds as follows.

(1) Discovery Issue

The Court has freely allowed immunity-related discovery throughout this litigation; the only stay imposed on discovery was for discovery on the merits. See Order [22] at 1 (“all proceedings unrelated to the issue of immunity shall be stayed pending the court's ruling” on immunity motions). The parties have had an opportunity to engage in immunity-related discovery up to this point. Engaging in discovery on the merits is not necessary, nor is it proper, prior to a ruling on Eleventh Amendment immunity. See Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Auth. v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U.S. 139, 146, 113 S.Ct. 684, 121 L.Ed.2d 605 (1993) (quoting In re Ayers, 123 U.S. 443, 505, 8 S.Ct. 164, 31 L.Ed. 216 (1887) (“The very object and purpose of the 11th Amendment were to prevent the indignity of subjecting a State to the coercive process of judicial tribunals at the instance of private parties.”)). Accordingly, the Court proceeds with its analysis of the present motion for summary judgment on Eleventh Amendment grounds.

(2) Arms of the State

As the Court stated in its memorandum opinion [57] ruling on the Eleventh Amendment motions to dismiss, “a suit against a state official in his or her official capacity is not a suit against the official but rather is a suit against the official's office.” See Will v. Mich. Dep't of State Police, 491 U.S....