Sepulveda v. UMass Corr. Health

160 F.Supp.3d 371

Francis Sepulveda, Plaintiff,

v.UMass Correctional Health, Care, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 14-cv-12776-ADB

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

Signed February 5, 2016

Francis Sepulveda, Norfolk, MA, pro se.

Caroline M. Kelly, James A. Bello, Morrison Mahoney LLP, Margaret S. Melville, Department of Correction, Boston, MA, for Defendants.

ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS

BURROUGHS, DISTRICT JUDGE.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Francis Sepulveda (“Mr. Sepulveda”) is a state inmate incarcerated at Massachusetts Correctional Institute, Norfolk (“MCI Norfolk”). His complaint in this case alleges that the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (and numerous officials) have failed to provide him with adequate medical care, in violation of his rights under the United States Constitution, the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Mr. Sepulveda's complaint also alleges state-law tort claims for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Currently before the Court are motions to dismiss filed by three sets of defendants. First, Defendant UMass Correctional Health Care (“UMCH”) has moved to dismiss all claims pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), on the grounds of sovereign immunity. [ECF No. 24]. Second, Defendants Rebecca Lubelczyk, M.D. (“Dr. Lubelczyk”) and Thomas Groblewski, M.D. (“Dr. Groblewski”) have moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), arguing that Mr. Sepulveda fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted. [ECF No. 26]. Finally, Defendants Massachusetts Department of Correction (the “DOC”), former DOC Commissioner Luis Spencer (“Spencer”), former MCI Norfolk Superintendent Gary Roden (“Spencer”), and Deputy Superintendent Cynthia Sumner (“Sumner”) have also moved to dismiss all claims against them, citing a variety of legal grounds. [ECF No. 31].

For the reasons set forth in this Memorandum and Order, UMCH's Motion to Dismiss, and Defendants Lubelczyk and Groblewski's Motion to Dismiss are both ALLOWED . The DOC, Spencer, Sumner, and Roden's Motion to Dismiss is ALLOWED IN PART and DENIED IN PART .

II. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

Initially, Mr. Sepulveda was a named plaintiff in Stote v. UMass Correctional Health Care , No. CIV.A. 13–10267–NMG, a civil rights action filed by fellow prisoner John E. Stote and more than 100 other current and former inmates at MCI Norfolk, all of whom alleged inadequate medical care in the prison. In an Order dated June 25, 2014, Judge Gorton ordered the plaintiffs' claims to be severed, and the Court opened a separate civil action for each individual plaintiff. Judge Gorton also ordered that the original complaint in the Stote case be docketed as the operative complaint for each individual plaintiff, unless and until that plaintiff elected to file an amended complaint. Stote v. UMass Corr. Health Care , No. CIV.A. 13–10267–NMG, 2014 WL 2916760, at *2–3 (D.Mass. June 25, 2014). Judge Gorton's Order also reminded plaintiffs that “the bar is somewhat high for stating a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for an Eighth Amendment violation based on inadequate medical care,” and advised that each plaintiff “should make sure that the pleading sufficiently states his own claim.” Id.

This action was opened on behalf of Mr. Sepulveda on June 27, 2014, with the Stote pleading serving as the Complaint. [ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”) ]. Although Mr. Sepulveda did not file an amended pleading, he indicated a desire to proceed with his case by filing a Motion for Leave to Proceed in forma pauperis. [ECF No. 4]. On January 29, 2015, the Court (Talwani, J.) allowed his Motion to proceed without paying filing fees, but after screening the Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A, the Court also held that with respect to ten of the eighteen named defendants, it could not be “reasonably infer[red] from the alleged facts that these ten defendants were in any way involved in Sepulveda's medical care.” [ECF No. 5]. Accordingly, the Court advised Mr. Sepulveda that if he did not file an amended complaint within 42 days setting forth the basis of his claims against those ten defendants, his claims against those defendants would be dismissed. [Id. ]. Mr. Sepulveda did not file any amended complaint. Thus, this Court dismissed all claims against those ten defendants on May 6, 2015. [ECF No. 12].¹

With respect to the eight remaining defendants, however, the Court (Talwani, J.) ordered summonses to issue. Those remaining defendants are: (1) UMCH; (2) the DOC; (3) Spencer; (4) Dr. Groblewski; (5) Dr. Lubelczyk; (6) Maureen Atkins, Health Services Administrator; (7) Roden, and (8) Sumner. The docket reflects that all defendants, with the exception of Atkins, have been served with process.² On June 9, 2015, UMCH filed a Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 24], as did Drs. Groblewski and Lubelczyk [ECF No. 26]. The DOC, Spencer, Roden, and Sumner filed their Motion to Dismiss on June 25, 2015. [ECF No. 31]. The Court granted Mr. Sepulveda's first request for an extension of time to respond to these motions, [ECF No. 35], allowing him until September 5, 2015 to file an opposition or an amended complaint. On September 11, 2015, Mr. Sepulveda filed yet another Motion for an Extension of Time, noting that he was in the process of drafting an amended complaint. [ECF No. 37]. He also assured the Court that no further extensions would be requested. [Id. ]. The Court granted Mr. Sepulveda an extension of time until December 5, 2015 to respond to the defendants' motions or file an amended complaint. [ECF No. 38]. Mr. Sepulveda, however, has not filed any response or amended pleading with the Court.

Accordingly, the Court will address the merits of the defendants' motions to dismiss, using the original Stote complaint as the operative pleading document.

B. The Stote Complaint

The Stote Complaint is voluminous, comprising more than 190 pages. The first 15 pages contain general allegations describing “alleged systemic problems with the provision of medical services at MCI Norfolk ....” Stote , 2014 WL 2916760, at *1. Those alleged problems include

(1) lack of inmate access to medical professionals and specialists, (2) failure to provide services in a timely fashion, (3) failure to perform medically necessary tests, (4) failure properly to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions, including severe pain and dental conditions, (5) premature termination of treatment and medication, (6) failure to allow consistent access to medications, (7) failure to follow the direction of outside specialists, and (8) refusal to provide medical treatment because an inmate is new to MCI Norfolk, subject to disciplinary proceedings or going to be released.

Id. The plaintiffs also allege “inadequate staffing, an ineffective grievance procedure and inmate difficulties in accessing their own medical records.” Id. As previously noted by Judge Gorton, however, these generalized allegations are of limited use in determining whether any individual inmate's rights were violated, because “[e]ach inmate's right to relief will ... turn on matters of proof involving his own medical conditions, injuries suffered, treatment received or denied.” Id. It is unclear which, if any, of the general allegations in the first 15 pages of the Stote Complaint pertain to Mr. Sepulveda. And because Mr. Sepulveda has failed to file an amended pleading clarifying which of these allegations apply to him, the Court declines to consider these conclusory paragraphs for purposes of the Defendants' motions to dismiss.

Next, pages 16-21 of the Stote Complaint set forth an assertion of “Jurisdiction and Venue,” followed by a list of the 158 named Plaintiffs and similar list of the original defendants. [ECF No. 1]. Thereafter, the Complaint details the specific complaints of each of the named plaintiffs, including Mr. Sepulveda. [Id. ] With regards to the pending motions to dismiss, the Court will consider only those paragraphs in the Stote Complaint that set forth concrete facts pertaining specifically to Mr. Sepulveda. [See Compl. ¶¶ 224–27].

The specific Counts (12 in total) begin on page 168 and assert the following legal claims:

Count I: Inadequate medical care, deliberate indifference and conspiracy

Count II: Torture and conspiracy in violation of international conventions and treaties

Count III: Religious Rights and conspiracy

Count IV: Retaliation and conspiracy

Count V: Equal Protection

Count VI: State constitutional rights

Count VII: Americans with Disability Act

Count VIII: Negligence

Count IX: Intentional infliction of emotional distress

Count X: Negligent infliction of emotional distress

Count XI: Failure to Train

Count XII: Future harm

The Court interprets the Complaint to state claims for: (1) violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, based on inadequate medical care in violation of plaintiffs' Eighth Amendment rights; (2) violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, based on deprivations of plaintiffs' equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; (3) conspiracy to violate plaintiffs' civil rights, in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985 ; (4) violations of the United Nations Convention Against Torture; (5) violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act; (6) violations of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights; (7) negligence; (8) intentional infliction of emotional distress; and (9) negligent infliction of emotional distress. [Compl. ¶¶ 845–94].³

The Complaint purports to name all defendants in both their official and individual capacities.

The Complaint requests relief in the form of (1) an injunction enjoining the defendants from violating the plaintiffs' rights; (2) injunctive relief in the form of an order requiring the DOC Commissioner to provide adequate medical care; (3) compensatory damages in the amount of $125 million; (4) punitive damages in the amount of $1...