Manney v. Monroe

• Decision Date: 27 July 2001
• Docket Number: No. 97 C 7483.,97 C 7483.
• Citation: 151 F.Supp.2d 976
• Parties: Henry M. MANNEY, Plaintiff, v. Ms. D. MONROE, Superintendent Michael Moore, Ofc. J. Chin, Ofc. J. Mueller, and Cermak Health Services of Cook County, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

Page 976

151 F.Supp.2d 976

Henry M. MANNEY, Plaintiff, v. Ms. D. MONROE, Superintendent Michael Moore, Ofc. J. Chin, Ofc. J. Mueller, and Cermak Health Services of Cook County, Defendants.

No. 97 C 7483.

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

July 27, 2001.

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Jeffrey B. Steinback, Chicago, IL, for plaintiff.

Patrick S. Smith, Chicago, IL, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KEYS, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56, and Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15. Plaintiff Henry Manney ("Plaintiff" or "Mr. Manney") sued Defendants Denise Monroe, Michael Moore, John Mueller, Joseph Chin, and Cermak Health Services under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983") (West 2001) for allegedly violating his constitutional and civil rights. Specifically, Mr. Manney claims that prison officials denied him treatment for his dental condition, exhibiting deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. He also seeks to amend his Complaint to add the County of Cook and Jean Kirriazes as Defendants. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment with respect to Defendants Moore, Mueller, Chin, and Cermak Health Services, but denies the Motion regarding Defendant Monroe. The Court also denies Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint to add the County of Cook and Jean Kirriazes as Defendants.

FACTS

In December 1996, Henry Manney was a detainee at Cook County Jail—Division 11 ("CCJ"). (Plaintiff's Response to Defendant's Statement of Material Facts ["Resp. to Def.'s SMF"] ¶ 2.) Beginning in January 1997, Plaintiff began experiencing a toothache. (Defendant's Statement of Material Facts ["Def.'s SMF"] ¶ 5.) He alleges that he verbally complained daily, but never received treatment while at CCJ.

Cermak Health Services ("Cermak") provides dental treatment to pretrial detainees at Cook County Department of Corrections ("CCDOC"). (Def.'s SMF ¶ 5.) Ms. Monroe has been employed with Cermak since May 1995 as a dental hygienist. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 4.) She is responsible for educating inmates on oral hygiene, screening inmates for dental care, which includes teeth cleaning services and taking x-rays, and referring inmates to staff dentists for dental care that she is unlicensed to perform. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 6.) Ms. Monroe has authority to schedule dental examinations for patients at Cermak; however, she does not receive grievances from inmates. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 8-9.)

In 1997, Mr. Moore was the Superintendent of CCJ, (Def.'s SMF ¶ 39), where he reviewed inmate grievances pertaining to jail conditions, but not those pertaining to health care. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 40-41.) As such, Mr. Moore asserts that he did not receive any grievances submitted by Mr. Manney concerning his toothache. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 42.)

Mr. Mueller is a correctional social worker employed by the Cook County Sheriff's Department. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 25.) He processes inmate grievances, which entails reading the grievances, determining which department to direct them to, signing them, assigning them tracking numbers, then filing them with the appropriate department. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 26.) It is undisputed that Mr. Mueller has no authority to investigate or respond to an inmate's grievance, and has no control over an inmate's dental care. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 28.)

Mr. Chin is an assistant administrator of program services employed by the Cook County Sheriff's Department. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 33.) He supervises religious and law library program services. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 34.) It is undisputed that Mr. Chin has no control over inmates' dental care. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 34.) Further, he neither receives nor processes grievances from inmates. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 35.) It is uncontested that Mr. Manney never had personal contact with Mr. Chin. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 36.)

Ms. Kirriazes is the Director of Continuous Improvement of Cermak Health Services. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 41.) She is allegedly responsible for reviewing inmates' health care grievances. (Def.'s SMF. ¶ 41.)

From December 1996 to January 1997, Mr. Manney contends that he suffered a minor toothache. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 12.) From February to April 1997, he claims that the pain worsened. (Manney Dep., at 53, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.) From April to June 1997, he maintains that the pain became "a little unbearable". (Manney Dep., at 53, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.) Finally, from June to September 1997, he attests that it was "ridiculous", "unbearable", and that he could not describe the pain. (Manney Dep., at 53, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.) Mr. Manney contends that he wrote approximately thirty grievances regarding his dental condition while detained at CCJ.¹ (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 17.) Defendants dispute this contention, maintaining that he submitted only four grievances: two dated March 30, 1997, one dated April 12, 1997, and another dated May 26, 1997.² (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 17, 19.)

Ms. Monroe, the dental hygienist, maintains that she never received any of Plaintiff's grievances. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 9.) Mr. Mueller, the correctional social worker, admits that he received four grievances that Mr. Manney submitted. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 29-32.) After determining that all four involved dental matters, Mr. Mueller responded by signing his and his supervisor's name, Mr. Chin. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 29-32.) He then filed the grievances with Cermak. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 29-32.) Mr. Chin asserts that he did not receive any grievances from Mr. Manney. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 35.) He explains that he authorized Mr. Mueller to sign his name to grievances to merely expedite the process. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 35.) Admittedly, Plaintiff had no direct contact with Mr. Mueller, (Manney Dep., at 37, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF), or personal contact with Mr. Chin. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 36.)

Mr. Moore, the Superintendent of CCJ, denies receiving any health care grievances, including those submitted by Plaintiff. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 42.) He contends that Ms. Kirriazes, a Director of Cermak, reviews such grievances.³ (Def.'s SMF ¶ 42.) Mr. Manney also claims that his family telephoned Superintendent Moore to complain about Plaintiff's dental condition. (Plaintiff's Statement of Additional Material Facts ["Pl.'s SMF"] ¶ 1.) Plaintiff further asserts that, in March 1997, he sent Mr. Moore six or seven letters requesting dental assistance, but received no response. (Pl.'s SMF ¶ 1.) However, there is no evidentiary support of these letters or phone calls in the record.

There is a disputed issue of material fact concerning the number of times Mr. Manney saw a dentist while at CCJ. Mr. Manney admits that he saw a dentist in February or March 1997, and that this dentist probed his mouth, took x-rays, and gave him Motrin. Plaintiff further admits seeing a dentist, again, in June or July of 1997, who examined him, took x-rays, and gave him Motrin and Tylenol. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 15; Manney Dep., at 39-41, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.) Mr. Manney adamantly denies ever seeing a dentist again while in CCJ. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 23.) Defendants, however, contend that Mr. Manney saw a dentist at least four times while held at CCJ, specifically on February 24, March 20, April 17, and June 12, 1997. (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 14-18.) Mr. Manney acknowledges that he took "a lot of trips down [to dental services]" and received Tylenol or Motrin from nurses.⁴ (Manney Dep., at 47, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.)

Mr. Manney contends that Ms. Monroe, the dental hygienist, was deliberately indifferent to his dental condition. He alleges that he began complaining to her in January 1997, and continued to complain through August 1997. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 9.) It is undisputed that Ms. Monroe visited Mr. Manney in his cell to provide dental care in January or February 1997.⁵ (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 11.) During this visit, Mr. Manney claims that she examined a lump in his mouth, remarked, "oh, that is kind of bad", and told him she would schedule an appointment. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 11, Manney Dep., at 30-32, Ex. 1 to Def.'s SMF.) Ms. Monroe then scheduled a dental appointment for Mr. Manney. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 13.) It is undisputed that, after this visit from Ms. Monroe, Mr. Manney saw a dentist either in February or March 1997. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 15.)

There are, however, disputed issues of material fact concerning how many times Ms. Monroe screened Mr. Manney for dental care. Mr. Manney contends that he only saw Ms. Monroe once for dental care, (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶ 10), while Ms. Monroe insists that she screened him twice for care, once in February 1997 and, again, on September 3, 1997, after he submitted a health services request form.⁶ (Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 10, 11, 22.) She further asserts that she scheduled a dental appointment for him on September 10, 1997. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 23.) Other than the January or February cell visit, Mr. Manney denies receiving dental care from Ms. Monroe and denies seeing a dentist in September 1997 or at any time subsequent to June or July 1997. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 10, 23.) Mr. Manney claims that, after Ms. Monroe's visit to his cell in January or February 1997, he repeatedly complained to her as she walked by his cell, but she ignored him and failed to schedule a dentist appointment, except for the one in either February or March 1997.⁷ (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 9-10.) It is undisputed that Ms. Monroe had no further contact with Mr. Manney for dental care after the alleged September screening on September 3, 1997. (Def.'s SMF ¶ 24.)

Between October and November 1997, Mr. Manney left CCJ and was transferred to Joliet Correctional Center ("Joliet") where he saw a "whole team of medical", but his dental condition was not addressed. (Resp. to Def.'s SMF ¶¶ 46-49.) He maintains...