Bryant v. Steele

• Decision Date: 22 May 2020
• Docket Number: 2:13-cv-5234 (ADS)(ARL)
• Citation: 462 F.Supp.3d 249
• Parties: Patrick BRYANT, Plaintiff, v. Kristen STEELE, personally, Thomas Vertrees, M.D., personally, David Margulies, M.D., personally, Brenda Garro, M.D., personally, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Theddeus Iheanacho, M.D., personally, Abid Iqbal Khan, M.D., personally, Lloyd Sooku, M.D., personally, and Brunswick Hospital Center, Inc., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

462 F.Supp.3d 249

Patrick BRYANT, Plaintiff,

v.Kristen STEELE, personally, Thomas Vertrees, M.D., personally, David Margulies, M.D., personally, Brenda Garro, M.D., personally, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Theddeus Iheanacho, M.D., personally, Abid Iqbal Khan, M.D., personally, Lloyd Sooku, M.D., personally, and Brunswick Hospital Center, Inc., Defendants.

2:13-cv-5234 (ADS)(ARL)

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Signed May 22, 2020

Law Office of Ray Malone, PLLC, Attorneys for the Plaintiff, 207 Radio Avenue, Miller Place, NY 11764, By: Raymond James Malone, Esq., of Counsel.

Touro College Jacob D. Fuschberg Law Center, Civil Rights Clinic, Attorneys for the Plaintiff, 225 Eastview Drive, Central Islip, NY 11722, By: William M. Brooks, Esq., Michelle K. Caldera, Esq., of Counsel.

New York State Attorney General's Office, Attorneys for the Defendants Kristen Steele, personally; Thomas Vertrees, M.D., personally; David Margulies, M.D., personally; Brenda Garro, M.D, personally; and Stony Brook University Medical Center, 200 Old Country Road Suite 240, Mineola, NY 11501, By: Ralph Pernick, Assistant Attorney General, Toni E. Logue, Assistant Attorney General, Dorothy O. Nese, Assistant Attorney General.

Bartlett, LLP, Attorneys for Theddeus Iheanacho, M.D., personally; Brunswick Hospital Center, Inc.; Abid Iqbal Khan, M.D., 170 Old Country Road, Suite 400, Mineola, NY 11501, By: Brian E. Lee, Esq., John Francis Yoon, Esq, of Counsel.

Lewis, Jobs, Avallone, Aviles, Attorneys for Defendant Brunswick Hospital Center Inc., 425 Broad Hollow Road, Melville, NY 11747, By: Greg M. Mondelli, Esq., of Counsel.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION & ORDER

SPATT, District Judge:

Familiarity with the prior factual and procedural history of the case is presumed. However, by way of background, Plaintiff Patrick Bryant (the "Plaintiff") brought a civil rights and medical malpractice action in March 2011, arising out of his involuntary hospitalization by the Defendants Stony Brook Medical Center ("Stony Brook") and the Brunswick Hospital Center ("Brunswick").

The Plaintiff's third amended complaint, filed in December 2014, raises the following nine claims: (1) a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments against Kristen Steele ("Steele"), Thomas Vertrees ("Vertrees"), and David Margulies ("Margulies") for authorizing or otherwise facilitating his transfer to Stony Brook; (2) a § 1983 clam under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments against Brenda Garro ("Garro") for evaluating the Plaintiff and then authorizing his transfer to Brunswick; (3) a § 1983 claim under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments against Theddeus Iheanacho ("Iheanacho"), and Abid Iqbal Khan ("Khan") for authorizing the Plaintiff's confinement at Brunswick; (4) a § 1983 due process claim against Iheanacho and Khan for violating the Plaintiff's liberty rights when he posed no danger to himself or others; (5) a § 1983 due process claim against Iheanacho and Khan for failing to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of the Plaintiff; (6) a medical malpractice claim against Garro for conducting only a three-minute examination of the Plaintiff; (7) a medical malpractice claim against Iheanacho, Khan, and Brunswick for concluding the Plaintiff was dangerous, in the absence of conducting an evaluation, pursuant to New York Michael Hygiene Law § 9,37; (8) a medical malpractice claim against Brunswick for subjecting the Plaintiff to psychiatric treatment supervised by a non-psychiatrist; and (9) a medical bills claim against Lloyd Sooku and Brunswick for rendering treatment to the Plaintiff without his consent. The Court dismissed the action as to Sooku in May 2015.

Presently before the Court are two Federal Rule of Civil Procedure ("FED. R CIV. P.") 56 motions for summary judgment, the first filed by Steele, Garro, Margulies, and Vertrees (the "State Defendants"), and the other by Iheanacho and Khan (the "Brunswick Defendants"). The background section of this opinion summarizes the facts relevant to both motions. The discussion section analyzes the two motions separately. For the reasons that follow, the Court denies the State Defendants’ motion in its entirety, and grants the Brunswick Defendants’ motion in its entirety.

I. BACKGROUND

Both summary judgment motions contain Local Rule 56.1 statements. These statements refer to deposition testimony, affidavits, and other items in the record. The Plaintiff in turn submits two Rule 56.1 counterstatements. Throughout his counterstatements, the Plaintiff affirms that the items cited to in the record contain the proffered information, but he denies the accuracy of that information. Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed and drawn from the parties’ Local Rule 56.1 statements.

A. Factual History

1. The Events Preceding the Plaintiff's Involuntary Hospitalization

The following information comes from the State Defendants’ Rule 56.1 statement, ECF 180-1, and the Plaintiff's corresponding Rule 56.1 counterstatement, ECF 186.

In December 2010, the Plaintiff claimed that he started receiving harassing calls from people with Haitian or Jamaican accents, who would leave messages threatening to kill him. Over the next few months, the Plaintiff received numerous calls per week in which he would hear "long pauses, no one answer[ing], and heavy breathing." The State Defendants allege that, in a deposition, the Plaintiff testified that he believed the phone calls related to a dispute he had with a man named Michael Malloy some four years prior. ECF 180-1 at 3. The Plaintiff contends that he has no knowledge of whether the phone calls were connected to Malloy. ECF 186 at 3.

On February 7, 2011, the Plaintiff contacted the Suffolk County Police Department ("SCPD"), claiming that Malloy "was going to try and have Haitians try to kill him." ECF 180-1 at 3. The SCPD generated a field report with this information. Id. The Plaintiff admits that the field report contains this information, but denies its accuracy. ECF 186 at 3. Two SCPD officers visited the Plaintiff at his home on March 19, 2011, to inform the Plaintiff that they had investigated the phone calls.

On March 21, 2011, an SCPD officer informed a member of the Suffolk County Mobile Crisis Team ("MCT") about the Plaintiff. Steele, a social worker for the MCT, said in an MCT data form that the SCPD referred the matter because the Plaintiff had complained about the phone calls; that he later wrote to the SCPD, claiming to live in fear; and that he also wrote that one of the SCPD officers was involved in a conspiracy against him. ECF 180-1 at 3. The Plaintiff admits that the information alleged is contained in the data form, but denies believing that any police officers were involved in the conspiracy. ECF 186 at 5. Steele also said that the SCPD informed her of a criminal complaint filed against the Plaintiff by his father, and that the Plaintiff testified to this during a deposition, ECF 180-1 at 4, though the Plaintiff denies that his father ever made such a complaint, ECF 186 at 6.

Also on March 21, 2011, the MCT—including Steele and two SCPD officers—arrived at the Plaintiff's home to talk to him. Steele said that the Plaintiff refused the MCT entry into his home, and agreed only to speak with them in front of his garage door. ECF 180-1 at 4. Steele filled out an MCT data form describing the Plaintiff as "minimally cooperative, guarded, agitated[,] paranoid" and "suspicious." She also noted that the Plaintiff reported that people were taking pictures of his home, and that the Plaintiff admitted to owning firearms, saying that he would have used them to defend himself. ECF 180-1 at 4. This caused Steele to feel threatened. Id. In a pre-screening admission form for a psychiatric center, Steele reported that the Plaintiff had said "you're lucky I didn't take out one of my guns and shoot you." Id. The Plaintiff agrees that this information is in the report, without conceding the report's accuracy, though he denies having said anything about defending himself with firearms. ECF 186 at 7–8. Steele also observed two bleach bottles in a car located inside the Plaintiff's garage labeled "holy water." ECF 180-1 at 5. The Plaintiff denies that the bottles contained bleach. ECF 186 at 8.

Steele telephoned Vertrees, the Chief resident at Stony Brook's Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program ("CPEP"). She told Vertrees that the Plaintiff possessed firearms; had made multiple 911 calls and told the police that he was feeling endangered by unspecified Haitians; and said that was being stalked outside his house. She also told Vertrees that the Plaintiff presented as "very paranoid," ECF 180-1 at 5, though the Plaintiff claims that Steele had said he was "somewhat paranoid," ECF 186 at 9. Steele then sent her MCT Data Form to Vertrees and his attending physician, Margulies.

2. The Plaintiff's Hospitalization at Stony Brook

Vertrees and Margulies discussed the information reported by Steele. Margulies believed that the Plaintiff posed a threat to himself and others, and directed Vertrees to authorize transport for the Plaintiff to Stony Brook's CPEP for further evaluation. After they made the decision to transport the Plaintiff, neither Vertrees nor Margulies had any involvement with the Plaintiff or his treatment.

The SCPD transported the Plaintiff to Stony Brook and filled out an incident report that reiterated Steele's synopsis of the encounter. ECF 180-1 at 6. The Plaintiff again admits that the report contains the same information alleged by Steele, but he once again denies that he kept firearms in his home for the purpose of defending himself. ECF 186 at 11. The SCPD escorted the Plaintiff into his home so he could change before his transportation, and while he changed, the police found four rifles and confiscated them.

The Plaintiff arrived at Stony Brook on March 21, 2011 at 9:59 pm. His medical records showed that he was a 49-year-old male with a past medical history...