Perry v. Beltrami Cnty.

520 F.Supp.3d 1115

Del Shea PERRY, TRUSTEE FOR the Heirs and Next of Kin of Hardel Harrison SHERRELL and Personal Representative for the Estate of Hardel Harrison Sherrell, Plaintiff,

v.BELTRAMI COUNTY ; MEnD Correctional Care, PLLC; Sanford Health; Sanford; Sanford Medical Center Fargo; Calandra Allen (Jail Administrator), Andrew Richards (Assistant Jail Administrator), Edward Busta (Program Director), Corrections Sergeant Tyler Carraway, Corrections Sergeant Anthony Derby, Corrections Sergeant Mario Scandinato, Corrections Officer Melissa Bohlmann, Corrections Officer Jared Davis, Corrections Officer Dana Demaris, Corrections Officer Brandon Feldt, Corrections Officer James Foss, Corrections Officer Daniel Fredrickson, Corrections Officer Chase Gallinger, Corrections Officer Holly Hopple, Corrections Officer Nicholas Lorsbach, Corrections Officer Erin Meyer, Corrections Officer Mitchell Sella, Corrections Officer Christopher Settle, Corrections Officer Marlon Smith, Corrections Officer Jacob Swiggum, and Corrections Officer Joseph Williams, Beltrami County employees, all in their individual and official capacities and as agents/employees of Beltrami County; Todd Leonard, MD, Crystal Pedersen, RN, Michelle Skroch, RN, and Madison Brewster, Health Technician, MEnD Correctional Care employees, all in their individual and official capacities and as agents/employees of MEnD Correctional Care, PLLC; and Dustin G. Leigh, MD, individually and as employee/agent of Sanford Health and/or Sanford and/or Sanford Medical Center Fargo, Defendants.

File No. 19-cv-2580 (ECT/LIB)

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

Signed February 16, 2021

Zorislav R. Leyderman, The Law Office of Zorislav R. Leyderman, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiff.

Peter W. Zuger and Kasey D. McNary, Serkland Law Firm, Fargo, ND, for Defendants Sanford Health, Sanford, Sanford Medical Center Fargo, and Dustin Leigh, MD.

Stephanie A. Angolkar, Aaron Mark Bostrom, and Jason M. Hiveley, Iverson Reuvers, Bloomington, MN, for Defendants Beltrami County, Calandra Allen, Andrew Richards, Edward Busta, Corrections Sergeant Tyler Carraway, Corrections Sergeant Anthony Derby, Corrections Sergeant Mario Scandinato, Corrections Officer Melissa Bohlmann, Corrections Officer Jared Davis, Corrections Officer Dana Demaris, Corrections Officer Brandon Feldt, Corrections Officer James Foss, Corrections Officer Daniel Fredrickson, Corrections Officer Chase Gallinger, Corrections Officer Holly Hopple, Corrections Officer Nicholas Lorsbach, Corrections Officer Erin Meyer, Corrections Officer Mitchell Sella, Corrections Officer Christopher Settle, Corrections Officer Marlon Smith, Corrections Officer Jacob Swiggum, and Corrections Officer Joseph Williams.

Carolin J. Nearing, Anthony J. Novak, and Bradley R. Prowant, Larson King, LLP, St. Paul, MN, for Defendants MEnD Correctional Care, PLLC, Todd Leonard, MD, Crystal Pedersen, RN, Michelle Skroch, RN, and Madison Brewster, Health Technician.

OPINION AND ORDER

Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge Hardel Harrison Sherrell died of an untreated illness while he was an inmate in the Beltrami County Jail. Sherrell's mother, Del Shea Perry, brought this action in her capacity as trustee for Sherrell's next of kin and as personal representative of his estate. Relevant here, Perry asserts two claims against Defendants Sanford Health, Sanford, Sanford Medical Center Fargo, and an individual doctor that examined Sherrell (referred to collectively as "Sanford"). The first is a wrongful-death claim under Minnesota law, which Perry asserts on behalf of Sherrell's next of kin. The second is a survival claim under North Dakota law, which Perry asserts on behalf of Sherrell's estate. Sanford has moved for partial judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c), arguing that North Dakota law should apply to Perry's claims against Sanford and that the Minnesota wrongful-death claim should accordingly be dismissed.

Sanford's motion will be granted in part and denied in part. The motion will be granted to the extent it seeks to apply North Dakota's $500,000 cap on non-economic damages to Perry's wrongful-death claim. Minnesota law has no such cap, and Minnesota's choice-of-law rules favor applying North Dakota law to resolve the conflict. The motion will be denied to the extent it seeks dismissal of the wrongful-death claim. The Parties’ agree that Minnesota law and North Dakota law conflict only with respect to the damages available on that claim, which means that Minnesota law should govern the claim in all other respects. The wrongful-death claim will therefore be allowed to proceed under Minnesota law, subject to North Dakota's damages cap.

I¹

In late August 2018, Sherrell was transferred from the Dakota County Jail to the Beltrami County Jail. Am. Compl. ¶ 16 [ECF No. 30]. A couple of days after the transfer, he began complaining of a headache and pain in his chest, low back, thigh, and feet, and he sought medical treatment at the jail. Id. ¶¶ 17–19. An exam revealed that his blood pressure and pulse were both elevated, and "[a]n electrocardiogram showed heart muscle abnormalities with probable damage to his lower heart muscle, a possible sign of a heart attack [.]" Id. ¶ 19. Jail doctors prescribed pain medication, a sedative, a muscle relaxer, and a medication to lower blood pressure, but did not initially recommend additional treatment. Id. ¶¶ 19–21.

Sherrell's condition worsened considerably over the next 72 hours. He began experiencing "a lack of sensation and difficulty moving his legs" and a "generalized loss of control of his arms." Id. ¶¶ 22–23. When he could no longer support his own weight, he was placed in a wheelchair and moved to an "administrative segregation cell" pending a further evaluation. Id. ¶ 24. While there, he fell out of his wheelchair and bunk bed, was unable to hold himself up in a sitting position, and reported having difficulty swallowing food. Id. ¶¶ 25–32. His blood pressure continued to rise despite the antihypertensive medication he was taking, and he eventually reported that he "could not feel anything from the waist down." Id. ¶ 33. This development prompted a jail doctor to order that Sherrell be taken to an emergency room, but the jail administrator initially overrode that order. Id. ¶¶ 33–35. When Sherrell's blood pressure continued to be "uncontrolled" and his other symptoms continued to worsen, a nurse practitioner at the jail again ordered that he be taken to the emergency room. Id. ¶ 36.

Sherrell was initially taken to the emergency room at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center in Bemidji, Minnesota, on August 31, 2018. Id. ¶ 37. To rule out certain disorders, the examining physician ordered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, but because "the hospital's MRI machine was unavailable," the doctor ordered Sherrell to be taken by ambulance to Sanford Medical Center Fargo in Fargo, North Dakota. Id. In Fargo, Dr. Dustin Leigh examined Sherrell and noted the same weakness and loss of sensation that Sherrell had reported at the jail. Id. ¶ 38. When the MRI was inconclusive, however, Dr. Leigh declined to order additional testing. Id. Instead, relying on reports from a corrections officer, Dr. Leigh concluded that Sherrell was malingering and discharged him with instructions to return if he exhibited certain symptoms. Id. ¶ 38–39.

When Sherrell returned to the Beltrami County jail early on September 1, officials once again placed him in a medical segregation cell overnight. Id. ¶ 40–41. Over the next 36 hours, his condition "drastically deteriorated." Id. ¶ 43. He again fell out of his bed, experienced multiple seizures, "was unable to sit up or support his own weight in any way," and began displaying several of the symptoms listed in his discharge instructions. Id. ¶¶ 41–45. Nonetheless, prison doctors "took no action to have [him] properly diagnosed or transported to the emergency department," and he was left unattended for long periods of time. Id. ¶¶ 46–47. By the late afternoon of September 2, Sherrell became unresponsive and was declared dead after attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Id. ¶¶ 53–54. An autopsy revealed that Sherrell died from "untreated Guillian-Barre Syndrome"—a "form of progressive paralysis caused by an immune system attack on the nervous system after a viral infection[.]" Id. ¶ 55.

Del Shea Perry, Sherrell's mother, brought this action in her capacity as trustee for Sherrell's next of kin and as personal representative of his estate.² In Counts 1 through 4 of the operative Amended Complaint, Perry claims that Beltrami County and MEnD Correctional Care (a private contractor providing medical services in the jail), as well as a number of their individual employees, are liable under Minn. Stat. § 573.02 for wrongful death and under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violating Sherrell's constitutional rights. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 60–81. In Counts 5 and 6, Perry asserts a wrongful-death claim under Minn. Stat. § 573.02 and a survival claim under North Dakota Century Code § 28-01-26, both against Sanford. Id. ¶¶ 82–91. In the present motion, Sanford argues that Count 5 must be dismissed because North Dakota law applies to the wrongful-death claim.

II

A motion for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c) is assessed under the same standard as a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). Ashley Cnty. v. Pfizer, Inc. , 552 F.3d 659, 665 (8th Cir. 2009). In reviewing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), a court must accept as true all of the factual allegations in the complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Gorog v. Best Buy Co. , 760 F.3d 787, 792 (8th Cir. 2014) (citation omitted). Although the factual allegations need not be detailed, they must be sufficient to "raise a right to relief above the speculative level ...." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (citation...