Buetenmiller v. Cogswell

• Decision Date: 08 July 2022
• Docket Number: 20-11031
• Parties: REBEKAH BUETENMILLER, SAMANTHA BILLS, and STACEY GLASS, Plaintiffs, v. STEVEN COGSWELL, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

REBEKAH BUETENMILLER, SAMANTHA BILLS, and STACEY GLASS, Plaintiffs,
v.
STEVEN COGSWELL, Defendant.

No. 20-11031

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division

July 8, 2022

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT

DAVID M. LAWSON, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs Rebekah Buetenmiller, Samantha Bills, and Stacey Glass filed the present action against several entities and individuals alleging that while they were inmates at the Macomb County Jail in August and September 2018, they were sexually assaulted by defendant Steven Cogswell, the jail's new medical director. The Court granted summary judgment in favor of all the defendants except Cogswell, who did not answer or otherwise respond to the complaint. The plaintiffs thereafter moved for a default judgement against him, and the Court held a hearing to determine damages. Defendant Cogswell appeared and participated in the hearing. His liability is established by the allegations in the complaint, which are taken as true as a result of his default. The Court will award damages in the various amounts set forth below based on the evidence presented.

I.

The facts of this case were discussed at length in the Court's prior summary judgment opinion. See Buetenmiller v. Macomb Cnty., No. 20-11031, 2022 WL 203000 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 20, 2022). For the purpose of the present motion, the focus will be turned on the allegations against defendant Cogswell.

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Plaintiffs Rebekah Buetenmiller, Samantha Bills, and Stacey Glass were inmates at the Macomb County Jail in August and September 2018. Each visited the jail's medical unit during that time to be seen by defendant Steven Cogswell, the jail's new medical director. Cogswell was hired and employed by Wellpath, the jail's health care services provider, and began working at the jail in August 2018. Cogswell was suspended by Wellpath on September 17, 2018, the day after the assaults were first reported to Wellpath and Macomb County, and eventually fired and prosecuted.

All three plaintiffs alleged in their amended complaint that they reported to the medical unit at the Macomb County Jail asking for medical attention. While there, Cogswell, who was employed by Wellpath, LLC, the jail's health care services provider (known at the time as “Correct Care Solutions”), sexually assaulted each of them, in ways described in more detail below. The plaintiffs sued Macomb County, Cogswell, a correctional officer who worked in the medical unit, and Wellpath. They filed a twelve-count complaint alleging federal claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and various state law theories. The complaint later was amended.

The amended complaint requests compensatory and consequential damages for emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, and other pain and suffering; economic damages; and punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial. Cogswell never answered the complaint or otherwise appeared in the case to defend against the claims.

Wellpath, the corrections officer, and Macomb County moved for summary judgment. The Court granted their motions and dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice as to all defendants except Cogswell. Buetenmiller v. Macomb Cnty., No. 20-11031, 2022 WL 203000, *15 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 20, 2022). The Court then ordered the plaintiffs either to ask the Clerk of Court to enter the default of Cogswell and thereafter take appropriate action to seek judgement, or

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move voluntarily to dismiss the complaint against him. Accordingly, the plaintiffs requested a Clerk's Entry of Default, and a default as to Cogswell was filed on January 21, 2022. After a procedural misstep, the plaintiffs filed the pending motion for default judgment and asked for a hearing to determine damages. The hearing was held on June 28, 2022.

Each of the plaintiffs made separate allegations against Cogswell and testified at the hearing about the effect of his assault on their wellbeing. They also offered the testimony of witnesses in support of their damages claims.

Rebekah Buetenmiller

Rebekah Buetenmiller alleged that she began serving a sentence in the Macomb County Jail for “financial fraud,” third-degree home invasion, and larceny in a building. On September 14, 2018, she asked to see a doctor for stomach pain. Cogswell examined Buetenmiller, seating her first by his desk, then moving her to the examination table. Buetenmiller laid down on her back while Cogswell pushed on her stomach. After moving down her torso, Buetenmiller put his hands under her pants and groped her genitals. He also kissed her twice on the mouth. Cogswell wrote an order for Motrin 800 and a double sleeping mat and scheduled her for future appointments.

At some point during the encounter, Cogswell pulled the privacy screen across the door of the examination room. No one else entered the examination room and Buetenmiller did not scream out. The appointment lasted sixteen minutes in total.

At the evidentiary hearing, Buetenmiller testified that she was an outgoing, bubbly person before she was assaulted by Cogswell. She said that in social settings, she “lit up the room.” She was athletic, having played softball in college, and played classical piano. After the assault, Buetenmiller felt violated and outraged. She remained incarcerated for another month or two, a

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period that was much more traumatic for her. She refused lock downs because she feared being trapped, and she had an episode that resulted in her being sent to the mental health unit. She then was placed in a different unit but remained isolated.

When she was released from jail, Buetenmiller first turned to drugs, which she used for one day. However, she quickly pivoted to recovery. She got into a recovery house, where she stayed for 18 months, completed counseling, sought addiction treatment, and worked to repair her relationship with her family and girlfriend. Nevertheless, Buetenmiller says that she continues to feel the physical and emotional effects of her trauma. She has trouble sleeping and is on blood pressure medication that treats her PTSD; she cannot sleep without it. She also is pregnant, with a planned pregnancy that now is high-risk; however, she is afraid to go to the obstetrician and is avoiding her prenatal appointments. She went to only one visit, where she “melted down” in a panic attack.

Buetenmiller says that she is afraid to go out, especially to public places where she sees people who look like Cogswell. She also is afraid to return to the Macomb County Jail, where she is serving weekends for a sentence for an old criminal charge. She refuses to go to the medical unit while in jail.

Buetenmiller presently is employed at a factory. On cross-examination by Cogswell (representing himself), Buetenmiller acknowledged that she testified during the criminal trial that, while meeting with Cogswell, she used a code word for receiving sexual favors.

Jaclynn Szymanski, Rebekah Buetenmiller's partner, testified that she has known Buetenmiller her whole life. She described Buetenmiller as being outgoing and having good energy, and a personality Szymanski fell in love with. However, after the assault, Szymanski said

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Buetenmiller's personality changed; she is closed off, has no self-confidence, does not want to go out, and has no motivation. They no longer are intimate.

Szymanski also testified that Buetenmiller has trouble sleeping and wakes up screaming. Buetenmiller's eating habits have changed, so that she eats nothing for days, then binges. She confirmed that Buetenmiller refuses to go to her prenatal appointments. Szymanski is not aware that Buetenmiller ever attempted suicide before the assault.

Linda Hobert is the mother of Buetenmiller's partner, Jaclynn Szymanski. She has known Buetenmiller for many years because she was a lunch mom at Buetenmiller's elementary school. She testified that she and Buetenmiller now are very close.

Hobert testified that before the assault, Buetenmiller was happy-go-lucky; she got along with everyone. But her personality changed afterward. Hobert testified that Buetenmiller seems very depressed and...