Christian v. Wagner, 09-2417.

• Decision Date: 20 October 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09-2417.,09-2417.
• Citation: 623 F.3d 608
• Parties: Peter CHRISTIAN, Appellant, v. David WAGNER, Captain; William Deatsch; Sue Koshatka, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

623 F.3d 608

Peter CHRISTIAN, Appellant,

v.David WAGNER, Captain; William Deatsch; Sue Koshatka, Appellees.

No. 09-2417.

United States Court of Appeals,Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: Jan. 12, 2010.

Filed: Oct. 20, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Amber Kathleen Rutledge, argued, Des Moines, IA, for appellant.

Andrew Chappell, argued, Iowa City, IA, for appellee.

Before SMITH and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges, and KORNMANN, ¹ District Judge.

COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.

Peter Christian, a former pretrial detainee at the Johnson County (Iowa) Jail, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against several jail employees in their individual capacities. Christian alleged that he suffered an adverse reaction to HDQ Neutral, a cleaning product used at the jail. The district court ² instructed the jury to decide whether the defendants were deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need. The jury found in favor of the defendants, and the district court denied Christian's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial. We affirm.

I.

Christian entered the Johnson County Jail as a pretrial detainee on May 11, 2001. At the time, Captain David Wagner was the jail administrator, and Sergeant William Deatsch and Deputy Sue Koshatka worked at the jail. Upon Christian's arrival, jail employees assigned him to cellblock A. Christian reported on a medical intake form that he was not taking medication for asthma, and that he had no major health problems.

Christian claims that shortly after his arrival at the jail, he began to cough up blood, to experience difficulty breathing, and to feel pain in his lungs. He testified that he sought help informally from jail employees, including Koshatka, until he was told of the inmate grievance process. Under this grievance process, as described by Captain Wagner, an inmate filed a grievance on a form provided by a jail employee. The grievance was then submitted to Wagner, who either handled the matter himself or assigned the matter to another employee for later review by Wagner. Once the grievance was resolved by Wagner, the inmate could appeal an unsatisfactory decision on a form provided by a jail employee. Major Duane Lewis, Wagner's superior, decided the appeals.

On June 10, Christian filed a grievance objecting to, among other concerns, the “use of toxic cleaning chemicals” and “denial of medical attention.” Wagner assigned the grievance to Deatsch for investigation. Deatsch advised Christian that medical request forms were available and would be reviewed by the jail's medical staff and handled appropriately.

Two days after filing the grievance, Christian submitted a medical request form. He complained of a “toxic chemical pink spray” that caused him to cough up blood, dirty ventilation systems, “fiberglass filters” and a “generally unsanitary environment” that caused chest pain, a spinal disorder aggravated by “hard metal bunks,” and a gastric disorder aggravated by certain foods. In response to this medical request, Marjorie Goodyear, a physician's assistant (“PA”), examined Christian on June 14. In the record of Christian's examination, Goodyear noted that she advised Christian to talk to deputies to see if he could be moved from his cell when other inmates used the cleaning products.

Christian was transferred to cellblock G on June 19 after he had an altercation with another inmate about cell cleaning. The jail's log book indicated that jail employees moved Christian due to “problems with his turn cleaning in the block” that arose when Christian claimed the cleaning product caused him to “have an allergic reaction.” Christian filed a grievance about his removal from cellblock A, and claimed that he refused to clean for religious reasons. Wagner answered the grievance and determined that the transfer separated Christian from the other inmate and diffused the problem.

On June 28, Christian's attorney wrote Wagner, asking for copies of Christian's medical request form, the documentation from his examination with Goodyear, and information about the “pink cleaning fluid,” which was HDQ Neutral. In response, Wagner provided Christian with the material safety data sheet for HDQ Neutral, and sent the requested medical information to Christian's counsel.

On July 2, Christian filed an appeal regarding a previous grievance. In the appeal, Christian protested the use of “chemicals which have known or unknown toxi[co]logical/harmful effects,” including “bug killer,” HDQ Neutral, and bleach. Lewis, in response, stated that there was no evidence of a health risk caused by the chemicals, and he provided Christian with the jail's air quality report, which was prepared by an industrial hygienist.

Christian submitted a medical request form the following day, listing concerns regarding an unsanitary environment, exposure to mold spores, insect infestation, lack of fresh air and sunshine, the ventilation system, and chemicals, including bleach, HDQ Neutral, and insecticide, all of which he claimed sickened him and made it hard for him to breathe. On July 5, Koshatka escorted Christian to a medical examination. PA David Walz examined Christian and told him to take Aphedrid, an over-the-counter antihistamine for respiratory symptoms. According to the record of the examination, he also instructed Christian to minimize his exposure to cleaning products. Christian stopped taking Aphedrid shortly after the examination, complaining of side effects and ineffectiveness.

On July 11, Christian filed an appeal in which he reasserted a laundry list of concerns raised in earlier grievances. Christian again claimed that the jail's cleaning supplies caused him illness, and he objected that the jailers did not remove him from the cellblock when the chemicals were used. Lewis responded that Christian's grievances and appeals were “rambling and hard to interpret constructively.” Lewis warned Christian that repetitive grievances could result in disciplinary action.

Christian requested medical services on July 16, alleging that a moldy carrot in his lunch made him sick. In the request, Christian asserted that the moldy carrot aggravated his “symptoms,” including a headache and pain in the roof of his mouth. He also complained of a “general sickness” that began on May 11 and intensified on July 16. Goodyear examined Christian the next day and advised him to increase his fluid intake and to avoid moldy foods.

In a July 18 grievance, Christian protested that he had not received an answer about why he had not been moved from his cellblock when bleach, HDQ Neutral, and insecticide were in use. Wagner responded that the same chemicals were used throughout the jail, and that movement in the jail was “non-grievable.” Wagner nevertheless met with Christian and offered to move him to a holding cell where the chemicals were not used. Christian declined. He filed another grievance two days later ambiguously complaining of the “proximity” of a cleaning spray. Deatsch responded that Christian's “concern about the location of the spray is outweighed by the need to keep the facility clean.”

Christian was released from the jail on August 9. He went to an emergency room the following day, complaining that he suffered from sinus and throat pain and that he had coughed up blood. Christian requested a test for tuberculosis, which proved negative, and he received no other treatment. He testified that emergency room staff may have prescribed medication, but that he would have refused it, fearing “another reaction.”

Christian sued Wagner, Deatsch, and Koshatka, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of his constitutional rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. ³ Before jury selection, the district court ruled that the jury would be instructed to decide only whether the defendants had been deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need, which is one type of “conditions of confinement” claim. Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 303, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991). Christian objected, arguing that the jury should also be instructed to decide a second claim regarding his conditions of confinement. At the conclusion of evidence, Christian filed a motion to amend the pleadings, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(b), asserting that the evidence supported a separate jury instruction about whether the defendants had been deliberately indifferent to Christian's conditions of confinement. The district court denied the motion and instructed the jury to decide Christian's claim of deliberate indifference to a serious medical need. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Wagner, Deatsch, and Koshatka, based on a finding that Christian did not have a “serious medical need.” The district court denied Christian's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law and, alternatively, for a new trial.

II.

A.

Christian contends that the district court erred by denying his renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law on the claim that Wagner, Deatsch, and Koshatka were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical need. The district court concluded that the evidence supported the jury's finding. We review the district court's ruling de novo, and will affirm unless no reasonable juror could have found in favor of Wagner, Deatsch, and Koshatka. Mason v. Corr. Med. Servs., Inc., 559 F.3d 880, 885 (8th Cir.2009).

It is settled that the Eighth Amendment imposes duties on prison officials to ensure that prisoners convicted of crimes receive adequate medical care. Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 832, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104-05, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). The Eighth Amendment does not apply to pretrial detainees, but the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment imposes analogous duties on jailers to care for detainees. City of Revere v. Mass. Gen. Hosp., 463 U.S. 239, 244, 103 S.Ct. 2979, 77 L.Ed.2d 605 (1983). A...