Ia Tonda Phupa Trik Taylor v. Washington
| Decision Date | 15 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:20-cv-174 |
| Parties | IA TONDA PHUPA TRIK TAYLOR, Plaintiff, v. HEIDI WASHINGTON et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Honorable Robert J. Jonker
This is a civil rights action brought by a state prisoner under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as, purportedly, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1985, and 1986, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Pub. L. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996), and various provisions of state law. Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996) (PLRA), the Court is required to dismiss any prisoner action brought under federal law if the complaint is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A; 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(c). The Court must read Plaintiff's pro se complaint indulgently, see Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972), and accept Plaintiff's allegations as true, unless they are clearly irrational or wholly incredible. Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992). Applying these standards, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim. The Court will also deny Plaintiff's pending motions.
Plaintiff is presently incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) at the Kinross Correctional Facility (KCF) in Kincheloe, Chippewa County, Michigan. The events about which he complains occurred at that facility.
Plaintiff sues the following MDOC employees: Director Heidi Washington; Deputy Director At-Large Kenneth McKee; Director of Health Care Services Marti Kay Sherry; and Deputy Director/Chief Grievance Coordinator Richard Russell. Plaintiff further sues the following KCF employees: Warden Michael Brown and Grievance Coordinator Melissa Gustafson. Plaintiff also sues Corizon Healthcare, Inc. (Corizon) and its CEO Kathy Witty; NXGEN MDX (NXGEN), NXGEN Physician Timothy Stallman, and NXGEN "Proof Signature" Jacqueline Peacock;1 Keefe, Inc.; and Access Securepak (Access).
Although the body of Plaintiff's typewritten complaint spans 66 pages—142 pages with the attachments—it contains relatively few factual allegations that could give rise to a claim under § 1983 or any other law. As with dozens of other prisoners who have brought cases in the Western District of Michigan during the last year, Plaintiff appears to have a legitimate fear of the threat posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He seeks to challenge the response of the MDOC and several of its contractors. Yet, rather than describing in simple and clear terms the conduct of which he complains, Plaintiff states numerous legal conclusions—based apparently on speculation—and cites many constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations, and cases of marginalrelevance. Moreover, where Plaintiff provides factual allegations, his chronology of events frequently is muddled and unclear.
Plaintiff alleges that he suffers or has suffered from multiple medical maladies while in the custody of the MDOC. In 2003, Plaintiff was diagnosed with chronic heart disease, chronic hypertension, and an irregular heartbeat. (Compl., ECF No. 1, PageID.22.) Plaintiff also has several psychiatric conditions. He has been diagnosed with "severe depression/schizo-affective disorder," bipolar disorder, psychotic mood disorder, and an anxiety disorder. (Id., PageID.26.) Plaintiff further alleges that in October 2018 while at the Ionia Correctional Facility, he contracted a severe case of influenza during an outbreak at the facility. (Id., PageID.24.)
Plaintiff receives multiple treatments for his medical conditions. Plaintiff was placed in a chronic care treatment program. He states that the program only treats his medical conditions but not his psychiatric conditions. Plaintiff asserts that under the treatment program, he takes Lisinopril, Hydrochlorothiazide, and Simvastatin. For his psychiatric conditions, he takes medications including Trilifon, Celexa, and what he refers to simply as "cocktails." Plaintiff also states that he must avoid excessive heat.
Plaintiff's more recent allegations begin in January 2020. On January 12, 2020, he alleges that KCF administration locked the facility down due to a virus outbreak. Plaintiff speculates that this outbreak was, in fact, due to the virus that causes COVID-19. Plaintiff, like other prisoners at KCF, lives in a double-bunked cube that is approximately 12 feet by 20 feet, which he shares with seven other prisoners. During the January 2020 outbreak, several prisoners were seen by Corizon personnel or other health care staff and then returned to Plaintiff's cube. Plaintiff alleges that when he came down with symptoms soon afterward, he was provided with Tamiflu. Medical personnel did not provide him a mask in January 2020. Plaintiff alleges thatproviding Tamiflu in January 2020 was a "cruel cost-cutting . . . method[] [that] is extremely dangerous and should not be a medical remedy 'during COVID-19', which will result 'in serious risk' of injury." (Id., PageID.28.)
Plaintiff further alleges multiple deficiencies related to masks beyond the failure of medical personnel to provide him one in January 2020. Plaintiff asserts that "the CDC issued the DEFENDANT[]S very strict 'Personal Protection Equipment and Guidelines' (PPE-GL), specifically for PLAINTIFF as a 'prisoner', to first be provided" with either a "3M VFlex 1085S Mask" or an "N95 Mask." (Id.) On April 7, 2020, several Defendants provided him with what he describes as a "dangerously inefficient, extremely thick an[d] unbreathable 'Washable Mask[s].'" (Id.) Plaintiff contends that in providing these masks, Defendants engaged in "deliberate avoidance of federal mandates" because they did not provide the masks he purports the CDC required nor were the mask Defendants did provide vetted or approved "by the CDC, NIH, WHO, or any State or Federal Health agency." (Id.) Plaintiff further argues that the MDOC Defendants conspired with Defendants Corizon and Witty when they did not provide N95 masks after federal officials "'made available 500 million N95 masks' to the States." (Id.) In short, Plaintiff alleges that because he has not been provided with N95 or similar masks, Defendants have been deliberately indifferent to his health and wellbeing. Masks, however, are just one facet of MDOC's COVID-19 response that Plaintiff finds lacking.
Plaintiff also takes issue with the selection of soap available to prisoners. He acknowledges that Defendants Washington, McKee, and Sherry provide MDOC prisoners four bars of soap every two weeks, and he attaches a diagram showing their size. He alleges that the CDC "mandated that PLAINTIFF be provided with as much 'alcohol-based antibacterial soap as needed,'" and that "the scientific findings that alcohol-based antibacterial soap contains a 'highpercentage' of a 'key bacteria and germ killing' ingredient: 'Benzalkonium Chloride.'" (Id., PageID.32-33.) Plaintiff asserts, however, that the MDOC soap "do[es] not contain the mandatory[] 'Benzalkonium Chloride' anti-bacteria killing ingredient." (Id., PageID.34.) Plaintiff maintains that because the MDOC soap does not contain what he views as a necessary ingredient, he is forced to purchase expensive soaps from Defendants Keefe and Access. He claims that even the options available for purchase, however, have extremely low levels of benzalkonium chloride. Plaintiff contends that Defendants Keefe, Access, Washington, McKee, Sherry, Russell, and Brown refuse to comply with CDC guidelines.
Plaintiff further challenges various aspects of the MDOC's COVID-19 testing program. He acknowledges that MDOC began testing prisoners in late March 2020, and he asserts that he was tested in early May 2020. He allegedly received a "nasal swab test" which he argues has been found "attractively 'inexpensive' but dangerously 'inaccurate', and 'deadly.'" (Id., PageID.36.) In support of his position, he further alleges that the tests had "not cleared or [been] approved by the FDA." (Id., PageID.38.) He appears to allege that, due to what he deems as an inferior test, he received a false-negative result. He also contends that, given the aggregate test results, several of the MDOC Defendants were irresponsible because one of the 1,541 prisoners at KCF had tested positive for COVID-19.
Although Plaintiff challenges the sufficiency of the COVID-19 testing both for himself and within his prison more broadly, he also challenges the authority of the MDOC to test prisoners in its facilities. Plaintiff asserts that he "never provided sworn signature approval" to be tested. (Id.) Plaintiff argues that prisoners were placed in a position of choosing between permitting testing and quarantining for two weeks in segregation. He also appears to allege thathis DNA was tampered with, and his "highly valuable 'DNA information'" was effectively "sold" as part of the testing process. (Id.)
Plaintiff's remaining allegations are less connected specifically to the threat posed by COVID-19. He asserts that the prison misused Medicaid funding allocated for him apparently provided under the federal government's emergency stimulus packages. Prison officials allegedly listen in and interfere on phone calls when anything related to COVID-19 is discussed. Prison officials also allegedly delayed or tampered with Plaintiff's mail, including some legal mail. He alleges that one of the two Innocence Clinics working with him to challenge his conviction is no longer assisting him due to, at least in part, issues with mail.
Plaintiff subsequently alleges 17 separate "Counts"2 apparently based on his allegations, which cite specific constitutional provisions, statues, and regulations. (Id., PageID.47-64.) Prior to referencing those specific authorities within each count, Plaintiff subtitles each count as "Violations of the United States...
To continue reading
Request your trial