Gill v. Coyne

• Decision Date: 13 October 2021
• Docket Number: Civil Action 3:18-CV-00631-CHL
• Parties: ERIC GILL, Plaintiff, v. JAMES COYNE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Kentucky

ERIC GILL, Plaintiff, v. JAMES COYNE, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 3:18-CV-00631-CHL

United States District Court, W.D. Kentucky, Louisville Division

October 13, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Colin H Lindsay, Magistrate Judge United States District Court

Plaintiff Eric Gill (“Gill”) alleges that he was subjected to various infringements on his civil rights and seeks relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of the First and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution and under 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-2 for violations of his statutory free exercise rights. (DN 1, at PageID # 3-12.) Gill brings these claims against Defendants James Coyne (“Coyne”), individually and in his official capacity as a deputy warden at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex (“LLCC”), Jessie Ferguson (“Ferguson”), individually and in her official capacity as a deputy warden at LLCC, Lindsay Blevins (“Blevins”), individually and in her official capacity as a unit administrator at LLCC, Misty Hair (“Hair”), individually and in her official capacity as a unit administrator at LLCC, Betty Ramos (“Ramos”), individually, and Brian Owens (“Owens”), in his individual capacity (collectively “Defendants”). (Id., at PageID # 2-3.) The Parties have consented to the jurisdiction of a Magistrate Judge to enter judgment in this case with direct review by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the event an appeal is filed. (DN 29.) Defendants have moved for summary judgment on all claims. (DN 46.) Gill filed a response in opposition. (DN 51.) This matter is now ripe for review.

I. BACKGROUND

Gill's claims stem from his alleged treatment while incarcerated at LLCC in July 2018. Since 2001, Gill has been serving a life sentence for charges unrelated to this action and has been held at several facilities operated by the Kentucky Department of Corrections (“KDOC”) during that time. (DN 46-2, at PageID # 181; DN 46-6, at PageID # 275.) On June 19, 2018, Gill was transferred from the Kentucky State Reformatory (“KSR”) to LLCC. (DN 51-6, at PageID # 431.) On August 10, 2018, Gill was transferred from LLCC to Little Sandy Correctional Complex. (DN 46-2, at PageID # 198.) Gill's claims arise from three separate incidences that took place during his stay at LLCC.

a Incident with Gill's Cellmate

Gill was placed in the restrictive housing unit, and on July 7, 2018, another inmate, C.M., was placed in his cell. Gill alleges that he was sexually assaulted by C.M. and detailed the incident at the time in an inmate grievance form. (DN 46-4, at PageID # 229-31.) What follows is a summary of Gill's grievance. C.M. was acting erratically upon entering the cell on July 7, 2019 and made sexually explicit comments and gestures toward correctional staff throughout the day. (Id., at PageID # 230.) The following day, C.M. asked an inmate “watcher” to retrieve Parole Officer Excelle (“Excelle”), one of several parole officers that were recruited to cover shifts at the time when LLCC was short-staffed. (Id., at PageID # 230.) (See DN 46-6, at PageID # 298.) C.M. threatened to beat his head against the window until she came and “started beating his head on the window . . . .” (Id., at PageID # 230.) When Excellee arrived, C.M, told her that “he was gonna get naked and get in his bunkies bed with him.” (Id.) Officer Excellee gave C.M. an extra tray of food in exchange for his agreement not to do so. (Id.) Soon after, C.M. removed his clothes, “stood on the bed rail and shook his penis and was yelling sexual comments and he was becoming more and more incoherent.” (Id.) Gill asked to speak to a member of corrections staff that he identifies as “Lt. Adams” (“Adams”) and was eventually brought to Lt. Adams's office. (Id.) Gill explained C.M.'s behavior and requested to be placed in another cell. (Id.) Adams told Gill that no one was honoring his trades and returned Gill to his cell with C.M. (Id.) Later that day, Gill went to sleep and awoke, noting, “I felt something penetrate my rectum so a looked and [C.M.] is in my bed trying to push his finger in my butt.” (Id.) A struggled ensued and Gill pushed C.M. to the floor. (Id.) Gill beat the cell window to get the attention of correctional staff. (Id.) Owens arrived and Gill asked to speak with him “about an urgent PREA matter, ” but when Gill declined to discuss it through his cell door, Owens “just walked away.” (Id.) About twenty minutes later, Gill told another corrections officer what had happened, and was subsequently moved to another cell. (Id.)

On July 9, 2018, the day after the assault, Paige McGuire, who is listed on an incident report as a staff nurse, sent an email to PREA coordinator Helen Long notifying her that Gill reported a sexual assault. (DN 46-7, at PageID # 321.) The same day, an investigation was initiated by the PREA coordinator, who interviewed Gill and C.M. and reviewed the security footage of the incident. (DN 46-3, at PageID # 224-27.) The investigation concluded with a finding that Gill's allegations were unsubstantiated because the security camera's view of Gill's bed was obstructed. (Id., at PageID # 226.) It is unclear whether Gill reported the assault to McGuire directly or if she was made aware of the report from another source. The only entries on Gill's medical history record for July 9, 2018 are a medication renewal and mental health watch review. (DN 51-2, at PageID # 407.) On July 19, 2018, Gill completed a healthcare request stating: “I filled out a sick call for some ointment because I have some type of scratch in my rectum & I never heard anything.” (Id., at PageID # 408.) In response to this request, a nurse prescribed a topical ointment on July 20, 2018. (Id.) It does not appear that Gill was examined in connection with this prescription. (See id.) Gill testified that he was never sent for medical examination in connection with the assault despite requesting that Coyne, Ferguson, Blevins, Owens and Hair do so. (DN 46-2, at PageID # 205-08, 210-213, 215.)

b. Exposure to Cold Temperature

On July 15, 2018, a corrections officer observed Gill, with the assistance of his cellmate, lift himself up the wall of his cell and scratch the screen of a security camera with an unknown object. (DN 51-2, at PageID # 412.) A cell entry team was subsequently called to remove both inmates and place them each in a restraint chair. (Id.) A restraint chair allows correctional staff to bind inmates at the ankles, wrists, shoulders, and waist. (DN 46-6, at PageID # 305.) LLCC is equipped with several restraint chairs, and they are used “quite often.” (DN 46-6, at PageID # 305; DN 46-5, at PageID # 256.) In the restrictive housing unit, the restraint chairs are placed in the showers. (DN 46-6, at PageID # 306.) Coyne testified that this location was selected because there was limited space in the facility where “the restraint chair could be restrained to the wall so inmate couldn't knock it--or tip it over.” (Id.) During his deposition, Gill explained that “[t]hey got the space where the shower runs, and they got a space on over where you can step out of and dry off at. It's got two vents right there. I believe it's two vents. I know one for sure.” (DN 46-2, at PageID # 196.) Gill testified that he was secured in the restraint chair, and “they pushed me in that room in the shower . . . right in front of the vent that's blowing down on me.” (Id.) At the time, he was naked, but for a pair of paper boxers. (Id., at PageID # 195-96.) Gill testified: “I froze to death in that chair. I mean really froze to death. Hands started aching real bad, feet shivering.” (Id., at PageID # 184.) In a grievance dated July 19, 2018, Gill wrote that after thirty or forty-five minutes, “I sent for the nurse because I was feeling funny, freezing & couldn't quit shivering.” (DN 51-2, at PageID # 410.) He testified: “I asked them to move me and they didn't. And I got the nurse up there and the nurse even told them my hands is [sic] turning blue and they still wouldn't move me.” (DN 46-2, at PageID # 197.) Gill wrote in his grievance: “[w]hen they finally came to take me out the chair, I could barely talk & I couldn't stop shaking. The chill bumps on me were so big it looked like I had a bad rash.” (DN 51-2, at PageID # 411.)

After he was removed from the restraint chair, according to Gill, “[t]hey put me in a cell downstairs . . . I was freezing in the cell. Tried to cover the vent up, I couldn't get the vent covered. I told them we need sheets or something. They still wouldn't give me some sheets and I was just up there in that shower freezing to death.” (DN 46-2, at PageID # 198.) Gill wrote in his July 19, 2018 grievance that he still wore only paper boxers and “froze all night & couldn't sleep cause the steel bunk was way too cold & hard to lay on . . . it went on for at least 18 hours.” (DN 51-2, at PageID # 411.) When asked about any injury he suffered as a result of his exposure, Gill testified “I didn't have frostbite, but the only pain is stinging in my hands and feet and just freezing. I mean it's a painful situation when there's nothing there--you go from one freezing area to another one.” (DN 46-2, at PageID # 200.)

c. Kosher Meals

Gill is Jewish and follows a kosher diet as a part of his religious practice. (DN 46-2, at PageID # 193, 208.) LLCC does not have a kosher kitchen; kosher meals served to inmates are prepared at KSR, transported to LLCC, and delivered individually to inmates enrolled in the kosher diet program. (DN 46-6, at PageID # 280-81.) To enroll in the program, “inmates had to sign up for it through the chapel” and enter into a kosher diet participation agreement. (DN 46-8, at PageID # 335-336, 338.) These agreements conditioned enrollment in the program on the inmate's adherence, and witness...