Williams v. Williamson

KENNETH WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. SUNITA WILLIAMSON, MD; ELIZABETH FELDMAN, MD; DIANE WASHINGTON, LPN;SUSAN SHEBEL, RN; MARIO T. MANNEY, Correctional Officer, Commander;STEPHAN VIVADO, Correctional Officer, Lieutenant; BLIVEL, Correctional Officer, Sergeant;WALSH, Correctional Officer; and, CONNIE MENNELLA, MD, Defendants.

No. 17 C 1590

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

March 31, 2019

Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Kenneth Williams is an inmate at the Cook County Jail. On August 11, 2015, Williams fell and injured his wrist while playing basketball in Division 10 of the Jail. Williams immediately requested medical care, and the next day, an employee of Cermak Health Services took x-rays of his wrist. Over the next two weeks, Williams experienced pain and repeatedly requested medical care, eventually undergoing surgery on August 25, 2015 for a wrist fracture.

A year and a half later, Williams filed a pro se complaint against Officer Mario Manney, Nurse Diane Washington, Nurse Susan Shebel, the Superintendent of Division 10 of the Cook County Jail, Cermak Health Services, and unidentified jail medical staff for their responses to and treatment of his injury. Now represented by counsel, Williams has amended his complaint to include the original named Defendants, as well as Dr. Sunita Williamson, Dr. Elizabeth Feldman, Dr. Connie Mennella, Correctional Officer ("Officer") Stephan Vivado, Lieutenant Blivel, and Superintendent Walsh.¹

Williams brings his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that all Defendants, except for Dr. Mennella, were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Williams additionally sues Dr. Mennella in her official capacity as medical director of Cermak Health Services for maintaining policies and practices that led to the violation of his Eighth Amendment rights. All Defendants but Lieutenant Blivel move to dismiss the Fourth Amended Complaint pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6).

BACKGROUND

When ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the court assumes that "all well-pleaded allegations are true and draw[s] all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Manistee Apartments, LLC v. City of Chicago, 844 F.3d 630, 633 (7th Cir. 2016). The court may consider "the complaint itself," as well as "documents attached to the complaint" and "additional facts set forth in . . . [the Plaintiff's] briefs, so long as those facts are 'consistent with the pleadings.'" Phillips v. Prudential Ins. Co. Am., 714 F.3d 1017, 1020 (7th Cir. 2013) (quoting Geinosky v. City of Chicago, 675 F.3d 743, 745 n.1 (7th Cir. 2012)).

I. Factual Background

Plaintiff Williams was incarcerated in the Cook County Jail ("the Jail") on February 12, 2013. At approximately 4:00 p.m. on August 11, 2015, he fell and injured his wrist while playing basketball in Division 10 of the Jail. (Fourth Am. Compl. [67] at ¶¶ 1, 16.) He asked Defendant Officer Mario Manney and Defendant LPN² Diane Washington to "get him immediate medical care for his fractured wrist," but they "refused to render treatment or seek medical care" for him. (Id. at ¶ 17.) Nearly three hours later, Williams requested the help of the Officer who relieved Officer Manney, and Plaintiff went to the infirmary at 6:51 p.m. (Id. at ¶ 18.) At 7:52 p.m., Williams was taken to Cermak Health Services, "which provides healthcare to all of the detainees at the Cook County Jail." (Id. at ¶¶ 8, 19.) Defendant Dr. Connie Mennella is the medical director at Cermak.

At 4:30 a.m. the next day, Defendant Dr. Sunita Williamson evaluated Williams. (Id. at ¶ 20.) She ordered x-rays of his wrist and prescribed ibuprofen. (Id.) The x-rays were taken at 10:42 a.m. that same morning, and were reviewed by Defendant Dr. Elizabeth Feldman at around 8:12 p.m. that evening. (Id. at ¶¶ 21-22.) The Fourth Amended Complaint does not specify who diagnosed Williams, but it does assert that the x-rays "revealed a transscaphoid perilunate dislocation with an ulnar styloid fracture."³ (Id. at ¶ 21.) Dr. Feldman "ordered a splint" and noted that she would "send [Williams] to ortho hand." (Id. at ¶ 22.) It seems that Williams was subsequently returned to the Jail with a prescription for ibuprofen and a splint. (See id. at ¶ 1 (stating that Plaintiff "only received ibuprofen and a splint").) But see id. at ¶ 27 ("From August 11, 2015 to August 19, 2015 the plaintiff did not receive any pain medication and did not receive appropriate treatment for his fractured wrist."). Plaintiff did not see an orthopedist at that time.

Upon his return to the Jail, Williams remained in pain. On August 13, he "completed a health service request form stating that . . . he needed something stronger [than ibuprofen] to relieve his pain." (Id. at ¶ 25.) He received no new care or treatment, however. He again submitted a health service request on August 18, and on August 19, he "was seen at Cermak Health Services by a physician assistant." (Id. at ¶¶ 26, 28.) The physician assistant "reviewed the x-rays taken on August 12, 2015, ordered a CT scan to be performed, and referred the [P]laintiff to be seen by an orthopedic hand specialist." (Id. at ¶ 28.) Another doctor prescribed him pain medication and read the CT scan results, which confirmed the fracture. (Id. at ¶ 29.) Williams saw an orthopedic hand specialist that same day who told him that "he [had] suffered a significant injury to his wrist that required surgery as soon as possible." (Id. at ¶ 30.)

On August 25, Williams "underwent an open reduction internal fixation and right carpal tunnel release," after waiting "15 hours for surgery at Stroger hospital without any medication and food." (Id. at ¶¶ 30, 31.) After surgery, Williams asserts that he "did not receive pain medication or appropriate follow up care." (Id. at ¶ 1.) The pins from Williams' wrist surgery were removed on October 28, 2015, in a subsequent surgical procedure. (Id. at ¶ 43.) Williams asserts that, overall, he continued to be denied medical care until February 16, 2016.⁴ (Id. at ¶ 44.) During that time, he claims that he was denied physical therapy and pain medication, and he alleges that he suffered permanent injury from the pattern of care. (Id. at ¶¶ 44, 65.)

Williams filed several grievances regarding his medical care, both prior to and following his surgery.⁵ (Id. at ¶¶ 32, 33.) Defendant Nurse Susan Shebel "held the position of clinical performance improvement analyst," and was in charge of investigating these grievances. (Id. at ¶ 34.) Williams alleges that Shebel ignored "and/or failed to properly investigate" those grievances, while also "allow[ing] the medical staff to ignore" his care requests. (Id. at ¶¶ 35, 36.) Williams also filed grievances and appeals against Defendant Officer Manney for his "refusal to process [Williams'] medical requests and/or take the [P]laintiff to the infirmary." (Id. at ¶ 37.) Williams filed a follow-up grievance against Officer Manney after Manney allegedly confronted Williams about the prior grievance. (Id. at ¶ 38.)

Plaintiff finally claims that "Defendants Commander Stephan Vivado, Sergeant Walsh, and Lieutenant Blivel failed to respond to" his grievances against Officer Manney and ignored his requests for medical care. (Id. at ¶¶ 40, 41.) Plaintiff states that these same three individuals had him transferred to a jail in Kankakee County in October 2015, where he was further denied medical care. (Id. at ¶¶ 41, 42.) Between August 2015 and the present, Williams has been "repeatedly transferred between various Cook County Jail facilities, Kankakee County Jail, and Livingston County Jail." (Id. at ¶ 52.)

II. Procedural Background

Williams filed his initial Complaint [5] pro se on March 9, 2017. That Complaint named as Defendants Officer Manney, Nurse Washington, Cermak Health Services, Nurse Shebel, "Unknown Jail Medical Staff," and the "Supt. of Div. 10."⁶ On May 30, 2017, the court received Williams' Amended Complaint [16], also filed pro se. However, the Amended Complaint was rejected by the court pursuant to the 28 U.S.C. § 1915A screening provision: the Amended Complaint added several new Defendants in its caption, but mentioned only one of those new Defendants in the body of the Amended Complaint, and did not state a claim against that new Defendant. [20]. Plaintiff submitted that same complaint again months later, and, again, the court declined to file it. Then on October 6, 2017, an attorney appeared on Plaintiff's behalf. A few weeks later, on November 28, 2017, counsel filed a Third Amended Complaint [52] naming Dr. Williamson, Dr. Feldman, Dr. Mennella, Nurse Washington, Nurse Shebel, Officer Manney, Commander Vivado, Lieutenant Blivel, and Superintendent Walsh as Defendants. Months later, counsel filed yet another complaint, the Fourth Amended Complaint [67], on May 3, 2018, naming the same Defendants. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Mr. Williams claims that the Jail staff and medical team were deliberately indifferent to his medical condition in violation of his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and that Cermak, through Dr. Mennella, had policies and practices that caused the violation of those same rights.

All Defendants, with the exception of Lieutenant Blivel,⁷ move to dismiss the claims against them. (Defs.' MTD [69].) First, the five Defendants who were not named in Williams' original Complaint [5] argue that the claims against them are time-barred. Second, four Defendants argue that the Fourth Amended Complaint [67] fails to state a claim against them in their individual capacity. Finally, Dr. Mennella argues that Plaintiff Williams fails to state a claim against her under Monell v. Dep't of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978). Defendants' motion is granted in part and denied in part.

DISCUSSION

I. Timeliness

Dr. Williamson, Dr. Feldman, Dr. Mennella, Officer Vivado, and Superintendent Walsh move to...