Garretson v. City of Madison Heights

• Decision Date: 27 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-1046.,04-1046.
• Citation: 407 F.3d 789
• Parties: Juli GARRETSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF MADISON HEIGHTS, Madison Heights Police Department, John Doe(s), Madison Heights Police Officers, Peter Altobelli, Jeremy Dixon, and Anthony Roberts, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

407 F.3d 789

Juli GARRETSON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF MADISON HEIGHTS, Madison Heights Police Department, John Doe(s), Madison Heights Police Officers, Peter Altobelli, Jeremy Dixon, and Anthony Roberts, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 04-1046.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: February 3, 2005.

Decided and Filed: April 27, 2005.

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ARGUED:

Alyson L. Oliver, Waterford, Michigan, for Appellant. Marcia L. Howe, Johnson, Rosati, LaBarge, Aseltyne & Field, Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

ON BRIEF:

Alyson L. Oliver, Waterford, Michigan, for Appellant. Marcia L. Howe, Johnson, Rosati, LaBarge, Aseltyne & Field, Farmington Hills, Michigan, for Appellees.

Before: SILER, COLE, and CLAY, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

SILER, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff Juli Garretson was arrested by the Madison Heights Police Department on charges of retail fraud. During the booking process, Garretson informed police that she was an insulin-dependent diabetic and that she would need insulin that night. Garretson alleges that the police denied her insulin and that she was subsequently hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis. Garretson filed suit in the Eastern District of Michigan against the City of Madison Heights ("City"), the Police Department, Officers Peter Altobelli and Jeremy Dixon, Detective Anthony Roberts, and an unnamed officer, John Doe. She alleged violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and state law claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence. Madison Heights's motion for summary judgment was granted. We AFFIRM in part and REVERSE and REMAND in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Garretson was arrested by Officers Altobelli and Dixon of the Madison Heights Police Department for retail fraud in 2001. She was transported to the Madison Heights lock-up facility where she allegedly informed the booking officer, Altobelli, of her diabetic condition and that she was late for her current dose of insulin. Altobelli informed her that insulin would not be supplied, but that she could make arrangements for insulin to be delivered and that the jail would administer it upon delivery. Garretson then requested a transfer to the Oakland County jail, as she knew from a previous stay that it would provide insulin. The request was denied, and no arrangements were made to acquire and administer insulin to her.

After booking, Garretson was placed in a holding cell. She claims that she informed the John Doe officer who escorted her to this cell of her medical needs, and he allegedly responded that he would "see what he could do." She claims that throughout the night she suffered symptoms of insulin deprivation and high blood sugar and that she knocked on the cell door to get assistance, with no response. The cell contained an activated telephone, but Garretson made no calls.

The next morning she was questioned by Detective Roberts. Garretson informed him of her condition and her desire for treatment. After concluding his interrogation, he arranged for her to receive emergency medical treatment. At that time Garretson was not exhibiting physical symptoms of distress, and she was returned to her cell. Paramedics arrived, and she was transported to an emergency room. Following treatment, she was arraigned. She was then transported to North Oakland Medical Center where she remained for several days, receiving treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis.

Garretson filed suit against the City and the Police Department (collectively "Madison Heights," unless otherwise noted), and several individual police officers. She asserted respondeat superior liability pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983; violations of the Fourth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and gross negligence. The district court granted Madison Heights's motion for summary judgment in its entirety. Garretson only appeals the judgment as to the Fourteenth Amendment claims and the state law claims for emotional distress and gross negligence.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment. Farhat v. Jopke, 370 F.3d 580, 587 (6th Cir. 2004). Summary judgment is proper "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

III. DISCUSSION

A. FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT

Garretson has asserted a claim against Madison Heights and several individual officers under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.¹ The Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause grants pretrial detainees a right to adequate medical treatment—a right analogous to the Eighth Amendment rights of prisoners. Watkins v. City of Battle Creek, 273 F.3d 682, 685 (6th Cir.2001).

1. Madison Heights

The language of § 1983 does not create municipal liability "unless action pursuant to official municipal policy of some nature caused a constitutional tort." Monell v. Dept. of Soc. Serv. of City of New York, 436 U.S. 658, 691, 98 S.Ct. 2018, 56 L.Ed.2d 611 (1978). Additionally, "a municipality cannot be held liable solely because it employs a tortfeasor—or, in other words, a municipality cannot be held liable under § 1983 on a respondeat superior theory." Id; see also Stemler v. City of Florence, 126 F.3d 856, 865 (6th Cir. 1997) ("While a municipality may be held liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for a constitutional violation directly attributable to it, § 1983 does not impose vicarious liability on a municipality for the constitutional torts of its employees."). To prove her case, Garretson must show that the Madison Heights officers acted with deliberate indifference to her medical needs. Stemler, 126 F.3d at 865, 870. This is a "stringent standard of fault, requiring proof that a municipal actor disregarded a known or obvious consequence of his action." Id. at 865 (internal quotations omitted). Furthermore, Madison Heights can only be liable under § 1983 if the risks of a constitutional violation were plainly obvious. Id. (citing County Comm'rs of Bryan County v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 117 S.Ct. 1382, 137 L.Ed.2d 626 (1997)).

Garretson argues that Madison Heights's conduct, and that of its police officers, was premised on an unwritten custom of not providing medical attention to pre-trial detainees prior to arraignment —a policy or custom of inaction. She refers to the "Madison Heights Policy on Medical Care while in Custody" to support her position. Such an alleged policy of inaction "must reflect some degree of fault before it may be considered a policy upon which § 1983 liability may be based." York v. City of Detroit, 438 Mich. 744, 475 N.W.2d 346, 353 (1991) (citing Canton v. Harris, 489 U.S. 378, 109 S.Ct. 1197, 103 L.Ed.2d 412 (1989)). Garretson must show: (1) a clear and persistent pattern of mishandled medical emergencies for pre-arraignment detainees; (2) notice, or constructive notice of such pattern, to Madison Heights; (3) tacit approval of the deliberate indifference and failure to act amounting to an official policy of inaction; and (4) that the custom or policy of inaction was the "moving force," or direct causal link, behind the constitutional injury. See Doe v. Claiborne County, 103 F.3d 495, 508 (6th Cir.1996).

Here, there is no evidence that Madison Heights, or its Police Department, had a custom of denying medical treatment to pre-arraignment detainees. Nor is there evidence that Madison Heights had notice of a "clear and persistent pattern" of such treatment demonstrating the existence of a policy of inaction. Nor, as the district court noted, is there evidence that Madison Heights was the "moving force" behind Garretson's injuries. Therefore, the decision of the district court that the City, and its Police Department, are entitled to summary judgment on the § 1983 claims is AFFIRMED.

2. The Individual Officers

Qualified immunity is an affirmative defense available to government officials performing discretionary functions. See generally Owen v. City of Independence, 445 U.S. 622, 652-53, 100 S.Ct. 1398, 63 L.Ed.2d 673 (1980). This issue of qualified immunity for the individual officers was not addressed by the district court. Apparently, having decided that summary judgment was appropriate on the merits of Garretson's claims, the court determined issue of qualified immunity was moot. However, this issue must be addressed more closely here.

We must first determine whether Garretson has "alleged facts which, when taken in the light most favorable to her, show that the [officers'] conduct violated a constitutionally protected right." Comstock v. McCrary, 273 F.3d 693, 702 (6th Cir.2001) (citing Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 200-02, 121 S.Ct. 2151, 150 L.Ed.2d 272 (2001)). If this threshold question is answered affirmatively, we then address whether such right was clearly established at the time of the violation. Id.

(a) Constitutional Violation

Garretson alleged that individual Madison Heights officers violated her Fourteenth Amendment rights by exhibiting a deliberate indifference to her medical needs while she was detained pretrial in the Madison Heights jail. See Blackmore v. Kalamazoo County, 390 F.3d 890, 895 (6th Cir.2004) (citing Roberts v. City of Troy, 773 F.2d 720, 723 (6th Cir.1985)). See also Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 104, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976). This claim has objective and subjective components. Napier v. Madison County, 238 F.3d 739, 742 (6th Cir.2001). The objective component requires a showing that the alleged deprivation is sufficiently serious—that she was incarcerated "under...