Tate v. Troutman, Case No. 06-C-670.

• Citation: 683 F. Supp.2d 897
• Decision Date: 27 January 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 06-C-670.
• Parties: Charlie TATE, Jr., Plaintiff, v. Dr. TROUTMAN, John P. Riegert, RN, and, Sergeant Hale, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

683 F.Supp.2d 897

Charlie TATE, Jr., Plaintiff, v. Dr. TROUTMAN, John P. Riegert, RN, and, Sergeant Hale, Defendants.

Case No. 06-C-670.

United States District Court, E.D. Wisconsin.

January 27, 2010.

Charlie Tate, Jr., Milwaukee, WI, pro se.

Roy L. Williams, Milwaukee, WI, for Defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

RUDOLPH T. RANDA, District Judge.

Background

This Decision and Order addresses the damages sought by the default judgment motion of pro se Plaintiff, Charlie Tate, Jr. ("Tate"). On August 27, 2009, the Court conducted a damages hearing on Tate's default judgment motion against the Defendants, Dr. Troutman ("Troutman"), John P. Riegert, RN ("Riegert"), and Sergeant Hale ("Hale") (collectively the "Defendants"). Tate presented evidence to establish the damages that he sustained as a result of the Eighth Amendment violations of Troutman, Riegert, and Hale in their individual capacities, with respect to Tate's requests for medical attention following incidents that occurred on January 26, 2006, and February 17, 2006, and the failure to provide constitutionally sufficient medical care. The Defendants were given an opportunity to defend against the amount of claimed damages.

Following that hearing, the Court set a briefing schedule on the damages issue. Tate submitted a timely brief. On September 24, 2009, the Defendants filed a letter stating that they would not file a brief, and that Tate "failed to show any connection between his alleged injuries and any action allegedly committed by Milwaukee County."¹ (Emphasis added.)

Thereafter, by a December 4, 2009, order, the Court gave Tate notice that the lack of any evidence of personal involvement by Troutman, Riegert, or Hale in the inadequate medical treatment provided to Tate after his January 26, 2006, fall was an issue in this case, and would provide an alternative basis for the denial of compensatory damages on that portion of Tate's Eighth Amendment claim. See Black v. Lane, 22 F.3d 1395, 1398 (7th Cir.1994). The Court also allowed Tate to file a supplemental written submission addressing the personal involvement of Troutman, Riegert, and/or Hale in his claim of inadequate medical treatment after his January 26, 2006, fall. The Defendants were also given time to respond to that filing. In a timely manner, Tate filed a letter asserting that on January 26, 2006, he informed Troutman, Riegert, and Hale that he lost consciousness, and suffered a concussion and started having migraine headaches, amnesia, and blurred vision due to a blow to his head near his brain. Tate also states that he started suffering pain and nerve damage due to the slip and fall, and his low back condition was exacerbated in the same occurrence. He also states that after the accident Troutman and Riegert were present in the infirmary and assured Tate that "a serious hallucination had happened to him." (Letter filed on Dec. 23, 2009, at 2.)

Tate states that Hale came into the infirmary and asked Tate what happened, and Troutman and Hale interrupted and stated that "Tate suffered a serious hallucination that requires narcotic medications to align his thoughts because his thought processes were altered ... and that Tate would likely need pain medication for his hand and back." (Id.)

The damages hearing was preceded by the Court's Decision and Order granting Tate's motion for default judgment on the issue of liability against the Defendants on Tate's civil rights action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on the violation of his Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical treatment while he was confined at the Milwaukee Country Jail ("Jail").² (See Court's January 20, 2009, Decision and Order 2-3, 2009 WL 151493.)

Tate's medical treatment claims relate to two discrete periods of time while he was an inmate. The first period relates to inadequate medical care provided for Tate's complaints of constant pain and blood in his bowel movements following his January 26, 2006, fall in his flooded Jail cell; and, the second period relates to inadequate medical treatment provided in conjunction with Tate's requests for medical attention to injuries due to his involvement in a February 17, 2006, automobile accident, a beating by law enforcement officers, and excruciating pain including a broken right shoulder. (See Court's September 30, 2008, Decision and Order 4, 2008 WL 4501513.)

In Tate's September 8, 2009, filing, he requests $9,030,000 in damages. Tate's claimed damages include $6,530,000 in compensatory damages consisting of 1) lost past and future earnings of $2,030,000; 2) past, present, and future pain and suffering in the amount of $2,000,000; and, 3) past, present, and future medical bills in the amount of $2,500,000. Tate's lost earnings figure is based on $280,000 in lost earnings from 2006 through 2009 ($70,000 per year), and $1,750,000 of lost future earnings based on Tate's age (41) and 25 years of additional future lost wages ($70,000 of lost earnings per year). The remaining balance of Tate's damage claim is based on his request for punitive damages in the amount of $2,500,000.

In establish his damages claim, Tate presented his own testimony and that of Charles Klein, M.D. ("Klein"), a board-certified orthopedic surgeon; Nicholas J. Lundbohm, D.C. ("Lundbohm"), a chiropractor; Virendra K. Misra ("Misra"), M.D., a neurologist; Dr. David I. Stein ("Stein"), an anesthesiologist; and, Edward M. Rubin ("Rubin"), Psy.D. The Court makes the following factual findings with respect to the damages testimony and evidence.

Factual Findings

Tate characterized himself as a very successful, meticulous, young man who never had any mental health problems. Tate played guitar professionally with "The Mighty Clouds of Joy." Prior to January 2006, Tate toured with the group, and recorded two live compact discs and one live video with them. He also operated a successful automobile detailing business, Quality Detailing, that had two locations in Milwaukee. With the income from that business, Tate purchased a house for his family, paid monthly house payments of $1,300, and fed his family.

On January 26, 2006, Tate was in Jail after being stopped for operating an automobile without the owner's consent. He was housed on the upper bunk in the cell. He slipped on urine and excrement after his jail cell was flooded. Tate testified that he hit his head on the concrete table in the cell and a foreign object became imbedded in his hand. Tate woke up in the infirmary.

On February 17, 2006, Tate intended to go to his office in the 411 Building, in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, he was hit by a car when he was crossing the Silver Spring Avenue. As a result of the impact, Tate was thrown onto the windshield of the vehicle and he sustained a shoulder injury. Tate was taken into custody by law enforcement officers. Tate testified that his shoulder was broken when he was hit.

Tate was again placed in Jail, and while there he was committed to the mental ward. Tate filed grievances regarding his medical treatment but "they" did not listen to him. Tate was humiliated by his placement in the mental ward and being forced to ingest mind-altering drugs or be placed in the "hole."³ Ultimately, Tate avoided being placed in the "hole" for failing to take the drugs in the mental ward, because he recognized the name "Sanfilippo" on the badge of the deputy escorting him there, and asked whether the deputy knew Tony Sanfilippo ("Sanfilippo") of Concours Motors, one of Tate's Quality Detail customers.

Tate attributes the subsequent onset of migraine headaches, amnesia, stuttering, and his need for corrective lenses to the incidents at the Jail. He also testified that he has forgotten how to play the guitar. Tate has knots in his stomach, regurgitates because of the smell of smoke, and constantly eats ice because of his nerves.

While operating Quality Detail, Tate paid monthly rent of $1,000, paid workers for their piecework, and had overhead for supplies and liability insurance. There is no other evidence about Tate's other business expenses or overhead. Tate also admitted that he had not filed income tax returns for 2002, 2003, 2004, or 2005.

Bank records show that from February 2002 and February 2006, Tate made deposits in the following amounts: $53,501.16 to the North Shore Bank from February 28, 2002, through June 26, 2003 (Ex. 11)⁴; $161,324.78 to the Waukesha Bank from July 25, 2003, through October 22, 2004 (Ex. 12)⁵; $26,666.11 to Bank One/Chase Bank from April 1, 2005, through July 29, 2005 (Ex. 13); and, $68,870.04 to the U.S. Bank National Association between June 5, 2005, and February 1, 2006. (Ex. 14.)

In 2008, Tate received non-employee compensation in the amount of $3,750 from World Outreach and Bible Training and $5,000 from Abundant Life Christian Center Ministries. (Ex. 10.)

Stein, a pain specialist, first saw Tate on March 21, 2005, for complaints of low back pain, neck pain on both sides, headaches, and pain in his groin area following a September 29, 2004, automobile accident. Tate reported that he had pain 80% of the time, and rated the pain he was experiencing as a ten on a scale of one to ten with ten as the highest. Tate indicated that he could not function at home or work. Stein's March 21, 2005, prescription for laboratory tests and an abdominal CT (computerized tomographic) scan noted that Tate had rectal bleeding. On April 18, 2005, Stein administered an epidural steroid injection on the right side of L5-S1. Tate's pain level following the injection was eight on a scale of one to ten.

Klein initially examined Tate on May 18, 2006, for a right shoulder injury that Tate sustained in February 2006, due to a motor vehicle/pedestrian accident. Klein's diagnosis was that Tate "probably" had a shoulder dislocation at the time of the accident. Standard medical treatment for a dislocated shoulder is to immobilize the shoulder for three to four weeks in a sling. However,...