Fairley v. Andrews

• Decision Date: 04 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 03 C 5207.,03 C 5207.
• Citation: 430 F.Supp.2d 786
• Parties: Roger FAIRLEY and Richard Gackowski, Plaintiffs, v. Supt. Dennis ANDREWS, Lt. Edward Byrne, Sgt. Patrick Loizon, Ofc. Evan Fermaint, Ofc. Noberto Bercasio, Ofc. Fred Coffey, Ofc. Ronald Prohaska, Investigator Gregory Ernst, Former Chief Investigator Saul Weinstein, Chief Investigator Tim Kaufmann, Ofc. Gabriel Ochoa, Chief Investigator Juan Diaz, in their individual and official capacities, Sheriff Michael Sheahan, in his official capacity, and Cook County, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

430 F.Supp.2d 786

Roger FAIRLEY and Richard Gackowski, Plaintiffs, v. Supt. Dennis ANDREWS, Lt. Edward Byrne, Sgt. Patrick Loizon, Ofc. Evan Fermaint, Ofc. Noberto Bercasio, Ofc. Fred Coffey, Ofc. Ronald Prohaska, Investigator Gregory Ernst, Former Chief Investigator Saul Weinstein, Chief Investigator Tim Kaufmann, Ofc. Gabriel Ochoa, Chief Investigator Juan Diaz, in their individual and official capacities, Sheriff Michael Sheahan, in his official capacity, and Cook County, Defendants.

No. 03 C 5207.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

May 4, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Steven Francis Molo, Shearman & Sterling, New York, NY, Allison G. Margolies, Cara A. Hendrickson, Jose Jorge Behar, Juliet Vanessa Berger-White, Mary M. Rowland, Matthew J. Piers, Patrick Michael O'Brien, Gessler Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym Ltd., Chicago, IL, for Plaintiffs.

Daniel P. Duffy, Peterson, Johnson & Murray, SC, E. Michael Kelly, Bernard E.J. Quinn, James Matthias Lydon, Kristy Marie Kelly, Robert Thomas Shannon, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, James P. Navarre, Cogan & McNabola, P.C., Michael Joseph Hayes, Joel Christopher Griswold, John Thomas Roache, Wallace Cyril Solberg, Bell, Boyd & Lloyd LLC, Alastar Sean McGrath, Law Offices of Alastar S. McGrath, Jeffrey S. McCutchan, Paul Anthony Castiglione, Cook County State's Attorneys, Louis R. Hegeman, Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL, Terry E. Johnson, Nathan Kristopher Johnson, Timothy J. Pike, Peterson, Johnson & Murray, S.C., Milwaukee, WI, Matthew Patrick Walsh, Walsh and Associates, West Palos Heights, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ST. EVE, District Court Judge.

Plaintiffs Roger Fairley and Richard Gackowski filed a Second Amended Complaint alleging that Defendants violated their First Amendment rights to the United States Constitution in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Before the Court are Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c). For the reasons discussed in detail below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendant Sheriff Michael Sheahan's Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court grants in part and denies in part Defendant Edward Byrne's and Defendant Dennis Andrews' Motions for Summary Judgment. Further, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants Evan, Fermaint's, Noberto Bercasio's, Fred Coffey's and Ronald Prohaska's Motion for Summary Judgment. The Court also grants Defendant Juan Diaz's, Defendant Patrick Loizon's and Defendant Gregory Ernst's Motions for Summary Judgment in their entirety. Finally, the Court grants in part and denies in part Timothy Kaufmann's and Saul Weinstein's Motions for Summary Judgment.

BACKGROUND¹

I. The Parties

Plaintiffs Roger Fairley and Richard Gackowski are former correctional officers at the Cook County Department of Corrections ("CCDOC"), who resigned from the CCDOC on February 4, 2003. (R. 447-1, Defs.' Joint Local Rule 56.1(a)(3) Stmt. Facts. ¶¶ 1, 2; R. 553-1, Pls.' Corrected Rule 56.1(b)(3) Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 420.) During the relevant time period, Defendant Dennis Andrews was the superintendent of Division I, Defendant Edward Byrne was a correctional officer with the rank of lieutenant, and Defendant Patrick Loizon was a correctional officer with the rank of sergeant at the CCDOC. (Id. ¶¶ 3-5.) Defendants Evan Fermaint, Noberto Bercasio, Fred Coffey, and Ronald Prohaska were all correctional officers at the CCDOC during the pertinent time period. (Id. ¶¶ 6-9.) Defendant Gregory Ernst was an investigator with the Internal Affairs Division ("IAD") of the CCDOC and Defendant Saul Weinstein and Juan Diaz served as Chief Investigators at IAD. (Id. ¶¶ 10, 11, 14.) Defendant Timothy Kaufman was an investigator with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department and Defendant Michael Sheahan served as the Sheriff of Cook County. (Id. ¶¶ 12, 15.) Cook County and Gabriel Ochoa are no longer Defendants in this lawsuit. (Id. ¶ 13.)

II. CCDOC Training Academy

Fairley attended the CCDOC Training Academy from October 31, 1994 until January 27, 1995. (Id. ¶ 55; Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 1.) At his deposition, Fairley testified that while on a visit to Division II of the CCDOC with his training academy class, he witnessed a correctional officer take a pool stick and hit an inmate who was using crutches. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 2; Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 448-66.) Fairley further testified that the next day during class, an academy cadet complained about the incident. (Id. ¶ 4, Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 463.) After that, Fairley stated that an academy instructor told Fairley's class that the cadets stick together and that they should not make bad remarks about anyone because "unity is the key." (Id. ¶ 6, Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 462-63.)

Gackowski began training at the CCDOC Training Academy on June 12, 1995 and was part of the Class of 95-4. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶ 43; Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 7.), At his deposition, Gackowski testified that he and his training academy class visited the Cook County Jail and witnessed officers throw a handcuffed inmate face-first into a bench. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 8; Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 131.) Gackowski further testified that while in training, a sergeant illustrated how to speed cuff inmates and that it was possible to shatter the inmate's bones in doing so. (Id. ¶ 15, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 126.) According to Gackowski, the sergeant then joked that the reporting officer would never know how the bones became shattered. (Id. ¶ 16, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 126-27.) Further, Gackowski testified that a training sergeant told them after an Internal Affairs class that the IAD investigators were not their friends, but instead they were there to "trip up" the correctional officers. (Id. ¶ 25, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 117-18.) The sergeant further explained to the cadets that they should be careful when they write their reports and that they should not "set each other out." (Id.)

Former correctional officer, Ricky Rodriguez, who started at the Training Academy in June of 1996, testified that:

The code of silence is brought up to us and I believe it's brought up to us in the Redman training, that we are the officers, they are the inmates, we are the good guys, they are the bad guys. If you expect your fellow officers to back you up, you need to back them up, so basically what goes on in the jail stays in the jail.

(Id. ¶¶ 18, 19, Pls.' Ex. 33, Rodriguez Dep. at 211.)

III. Division I Incidents

After their academy training, both Fairley and Gackowski worked in Division I of the Cook County Jail during part of the relevant time period and became friends. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 21, 26, 35-38.) Fairley testified that while working in Division I in late 1998 or early 1999, he witnessed Defendant Coffey and another correctional officer hit two inmates. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 46, Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 507-09.) Fairley then told another officer to get a supervisor. (Id. ¶ 47, Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 509-10.) After the incident, Fairley testified that he told a sergeant about it, after which Coffey called Fairley a snitch and threatened to beat him up. (Id. ¶¶ 48, 50, Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 510-13.)

Gackowski testified that on April 1, 2000 he witnessed Coffey punch and kick inmate Rodney Brown. (Id. ¶ 51, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 295-96.) After Brown fell to the floor, Gackowski testified that Coffey continued to kick Brown. (Id., Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 296.) According to Gackowski, he yelled at Coffey while Coffey was beating Brown and told Coffey not to include him as a witness in his report. (Id. ¶ 53, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 286.) After the Brown incident, Gackowski testified that he told his supervising sergeant about the beating. (Id. ¶ 54, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 296-97.) Coffey subsequently told Gackowski that he was not "part of the team." (Id. ¶ 57, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 183.) Also after this April 2000 incident, Gackowski testified that Defendant Fermaint started calling him a snitch. (Id. ¶ 58, Pls.' Ex. 19, Gackowski Dep. at 207-08.) Similarly, Defendants Coffey, Fermaint, and Bercasio started calling Gackowski a "social worker." (Id. ¶ 59, Defs.' Ex. 1, Gackowski Dep. at 403-04.)

IV. The July 29, 2000 Incident

Fairley testified at his deposition that on July 29, 2000 he saw Fermaint and another correctional officer abuse inmates, including Nathson Fields and James Scott, in the SI-2 (Special Incarceration Unit Two), which is the maximum security tier located in the basement of Division I. (Defs.' Stmt. Facts. ¶¶ 64, 65; Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 71.) Fairley testified that other officers, including Bercasio, also beat some inmates while they were handcuffed and shackled. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 72; Defs.' Ex. 8, Fairley Dep. at 691, 922-23.) Further, Fairley stated that he told the officers to stop beating the inmates and subsequently reported the beating to his supervisors. (Id. ¶¶ 76, 93.) Also, Fairley testified that after the incident, Lieutenant Byrne told him not to write up a report and that IAD would interview him, yet no investigator from IAD ever interviewed Fairley in connection with the incident. (Id. ¶¶ 79, 80.) Defendant Superintendent Andrews was also informed about the altercation in Division I on July 29, 2000. (Id. ¶ 81.) Furthermore, Fairley told Gackowski along with other correctional officers about the beating he had witnessed on July 29, 2000. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶¶ 91, 98.)

Gackowski did not witness any of the events on July 29, 2000 in the SI-2 because he was assigned to Division VIII, which houses the Cermak Hospital Emergency Room. (Id. ¶ 82; Defs.' Stmt. Facts ¶¶ 66-70.) He nonetheless heard about the incident from officers in Division VIII. (Pls.' Stmt. Add'l Facts ¶ 83.) At the emergency room, Gackowski...