O'Connor v. RMC
| Decision Date | 09 January 2023 |
| Docket Number | 20-13694 |
| Parties | NYKA TASSIANT O'CONNOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. RMC, et al. Defendants, DR. SHAH, JULIE JONES, in her individual capacity, SECRETARY, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
DO NOT PUBLISH
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 3:15-cv-01387-TJC-JBT
Before LUCK, LAGOA, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
Nyka O'Connor, a Florida prisoner, filed a civil rights complaint against the Reception and Medical Center then-Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections Julie Jones, and two physicians at the Reception and Medical Center: Dr. Osvaldo Contarini, and Dr. Guarang Shah. O'Connor alleged that the Reception and Medical Center Secretary Jones, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs violated his rights under the First Amendment, the Florida Constitution, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act; and breached their contractual duties to provide him with adequate care. The district court dismissed without prejudice O'Connor's claims against the Reception and Medical Center for failure to state a claim dismissed with prejudice O'Connor's claims against Secretary Jones for failure to state a claim and on sovereign immunity grounds, granted summary judgment for Dr. Contarini and Dr. Shah, and denied O'Connor's motions for summary judgment against Dr. Contarini and Dr. Shah. We affirm.
In his complaint, O'Connor alleged that he attempted suicide in January 2010 by swallowing, among other "foreign bodies," a paperclip. In April, O'Connor saw Dr Shah at the Reception and Medical Center, and Dr. Shah "ordered O'Connor to be sent to Jacksonville Memorial Hosp[ital] immediately" because "Dr. Shah feared that the swallowed paperclip . . . [was] piercing and cutting O'Connor's inside [and] would kill O'Connor." Dr. Shah performed an endoscopy and colonoscopy and told O'Connor that the paperclip was "stuck inside O'Connor" and that "Dr. Contarini would have to do a more invasive surgery."
In June, Dr. Contarini performed an "invasive" "gastro-surgery" and removed the paperclip. Since the surgery, O'Connor "has been experiencing severe gastro pains and cramps," acid reflux, and constipation. O'Connor requested "adequate med[ications]" for his "pain, cramps, acid reflux, [and] heartburns" but the Florida Department of Corrections, the Reception and Medical Center, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah denied O'Connor's requests for medications. O'Connor also requested an "adequate diet" that did not include "beans" or "fatty foods that contribute[] to upset stomach and gallstones." But the Florida Department of Corrections, the Reception and Medical Center, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah denied O'Connor's dietary requests.
O'Connor also alleged that he holds "sincere Jewish [and] Siddha beliefs" and that his "religion allows fruits[,] vegetables, milk, cereal, peanut butter, bread, etc." O'Connor's religion prohibits "certain foods," including "fish, eggs, meat [and] cheese." But Dr. Contarini and Dr. Shah did "not recommend[] and/or pre-scribe[] O'Connor a non-standard therapeutic diet for [his] . . . religion" and the Florida Department of Corrections and the Reception Medical Center denied his request for a diet that conformed to his religious beliefs.
In March 2015, a different physician-"Dr. Quinones"-diagnosed O'Connor with "gallstones from fatty foods." Because of O'Connor's "gastro issues," Dr. Quinones "prescribed . . . a [l]ow [r]esidue [d]iet . . ., which serves meat, eggs, fatty foods, inadequate calories [and] no supplements." Dr. Quinones referred O'Connor to Dr. Contarini to remove the gallstones.
O'Connor saw Dr. Contarini at the Reception and Medical Center in May, June, July, and August 2015. During the May visit, Dr. Contarini diagnosed O'Connor with appendicitis, recommended another ultrasound "to verify gallstones," and referred O'Connor to Dr. Shah for another "endoscopy [and]/or colonoscopy." During the June visit, O'Connor told Dr. Contarini that he hadn't yet had an ultrasound, endoscopy, or colonoscopy, so Dr. Contarini wrote another prescription for the procedures. Also during the June visit, Dr. Contarini denied O'Connor's request for "a non-standard [t]herapeutic [d]iet for his health [and] religion" and instead "simply advised O'Connor to stay away from fatty foods" and to "just eat what he could." A week after his June visit with Dr. Contarini, prison medical staff performed an ultrasound.
During the July visit, O'Connor "complained to Dr. Contarini . . . about his worsening gastro pain, cramps, acid reflux, bloody stool, inadequate diet, etc.," but Dr. Contarini "disregarded O'Connor's complaints [and] didn't remedy [them]." And during the August visit, Dr. Contarini "advised O'Connor it would be a while before [O'Connor would] see[] Dr. Shah to do [the] endoscopy [and] colonoscopy" and that O'Connor's "gastro" problems would worsen in the meantime. O'Connor "advised Dr. Contarini to do [a] less intrusive gallstone removal," but Dr. Contarini refused.
In September, O'Connor saw Dr. Shah at the Reception and Medical Center. By then, O'Connor had "bloody stool, sharp pains [and] cramps from [his] stomach to [his] anus." Dr. Shah told O'Connor that "he was suffering from the surgical scar from 2010" and "was constipated," prescribed lactulose, and ordered a "hydas-can" and a colonoscopy.[1] O'Connor requested a "non-standard diet for his [h]ealth and [r]eligion," but Dr. Shah refused O'Connor's request.
Despite Dr. Contarini and Dr. Shah's orders, no HIDA scan or colonoscopy was performed. In October, O'Connor saw Dr. Shah at the Reception and Medical Center; told Dr. Shah that he still hadn't had a HIDA scan or colonoscopy; and "continued to complain about his stomach pains, cramps[,] bloody stool, acid reflux, inadequate diet, [and] delaying inquiries." Dr. Shah again prescribed lactulose, which caused O'Connor to have "stomach/gas-tro pains, cramps, pass gas, [and a] bubbling upset stomach."
Along with his gastrointestinal problems, O'Connor alleged that he has a "shoulder injury." O'Connor's shoulder injury causes "pain, numbing[,] and tingly sensation[s]" while he sleeps and while he is "handcuffed in the rear." The shoulder injury also prevents him from "lift[ing] heavy objects." O'Connor requested a "heavy lifting pass," a "frontcuff pass," and "side restraints" to accommodate his shoulder injury, but the Florida Department of Corrections and the Reception and Medical Center refused his requests.
O'Connor sued in November 2015. He alleged that the Reception and Medical Center, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah were deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs, including his gallstones, appendicitis, and "ongoing gastro issues," in violation of the Eighth Amendment and the Florida Constitution, and that Secretary Jones "ha[d] a practice, custom, policy to subject inmates to unnecessary delay to provide adequate care for serious needs." He alleged that the Reception and Medical Center and Secretary Jones violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act by failing to accommodate his "gastro disabilities" and "inter-relate[d] . . . mental disabilities [and] shoulder disabilities." He alleged that the Reception and Medical Center, Secretary Jones, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah violated the First Amendment, the Florida Constitution, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by not providing a "non-standard [d]iet for [h]ealth [and] [r]eligion." And he alleged that the Reception and Medical Center, Secretary Jones, Dr. Contarini, and Dr. Shah breached their contractual duties "to provide O'Connor adequate care."
The district court screened the complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and found that it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted against the Reception and Medical Center. O'Connor failed to state a claim against the Reception and Medical Center, the district court explained, because "[p]enal facilities are not persons subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. [section] 1983."[2] The district court therefore dismissed without prejudice all of O'Connor's claims against the Reception and Medical Center.
O'Connor moved to reinstate the Reception and Medical Center as a defendant or to substitute the warden of the Reception and Medical Center in its place. O'Connor maintained that he could properly assert his Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilitation Act claims against the Reception and Medical Center. And O'Connor argued that he could assert his breach of contract claim against the warden of the Reception and Medical Center in the warden's official capacity.
The district court construed O'Connor's motion "as a motion for reconsideration" and denied it. The district court explained that "[i]f [O'Connor] s[ought] to add a new defendant, he should file an appropriate request to amend" his complaint.
But rather than move to amend his complaint to add a new defendant, O'Connor filed a second motion to "re-instate [the Reception and Medical Center] as [a] defendant." He again argued that the Reception and Medical Center "should be a defendant for the purposes of [his Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act] claims" and for his "[b]reach of [c]ontract claims."
The district court denied...
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