Navedo v. Maloney, CivA.00-10011-NG.
| Decision Date | 28 September 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. CivA.00-10011-NG.,CivA.00-10011-NG. |
| Citation | 172 F.Supp.2d 276 |
| Parties | Ezequiel NAVEDO, Plaintiff, v. Michael T. MALONEY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Gary C. Crossen, Foley, Hoag & Elliot, Boston, MA, Ezequiel Navedo, Shirley, MA, Gary C. Crossen, Rubin & Rudman, LLP, Boston, MA, for Plaintiff.
Laura D. Hochman, Nancy Ankers White, Bruce R. Henry, Morrison, Mahony
& Miller, William J. Davenport, Bloom & Buell, Boston, MA, for Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Plaintiff Ezequiel Navedo ("Navedo") filed this action against various officials of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, a private entity contracted to perform medical services at the prison, and employees (physicians) of that entity. He claims that their refusal to allow him access to a wheelchair and to disabled-accessible facilities during his incarceration at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk ("MCI Norfolk") and at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Shirley ("MCI Shirley") deprived him of his civil rights and caused severe and irreparable damage to his left leg.1
Navedo alleges that permanent disabilities in his back, hips, and left leg have rendered him wheelchair-bound. However, on his transfer to MCI Norfolk, the defendants denied him permission to use a wheelchair, not because of medical issues, but simply because the prison facilities were not wheelchair-accessible. Defendants also failed to provide him with access to safe showering facilities for over a month. Moreover, the situation was not remedied on Navedo's subsequent transfer to MCI Shirley, a disabled-accessible facility, where Navedo was again denied the use of a wheelchair and an accessible shower. As a result, Navedo alleges, his physical condition was exacerbated: The defendants subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment, deprived him of his civil rights, and caused him emotional as well as physical distress.
The six defendants are: Michael T. Maloney ("Maloney"), Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Timothy Hall ("Hall"), Superintendent, MCI Norfolk, Tempthia Battle ("Battle"), Deputy Superintendent, MCI Norfolk; Correctional Medical Services, Inc. ("CMS"); Joyce Cormo ("Cormo"), Health Services Administrator for CMS at MCI Norfolk; Nawfal Istfan ("Istfan"), a physician employed by CMS and Medical Director of MCI Norfolk; and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ("Commonwealth"). Two different motions for summary judgment are pending before this Court: one raised by the corrections officials, defendants Maloney, Hall, Battle, and the Commonwealth, and the other by CMS, Cormo, and Istfan. Taken together, the defendants argue that Navedo cannot satisfy the Eighth Amendment standard of deliberate indifference to serious medical need, that at least some of the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity, and that Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131 et seq., is inapplicable due to the nature of Navedo's disability and to the measures taken by the defendants to accommodate him.
For the reasons set forth below, Maloney et al.'s Motion to Dismiss, or, in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment [docket entry # 33] is DENIED as to defendant Maloney and GRANTED as to defendants Hall and Battle with regard to the Eighth Amendment and § 1983 claims; the A.D.A. claims as against the defendants in their individual capacities are DISMISSED; and summary judgment with regard to the remaining A.D.A. claims is DENIED. CMS et al.'s Motion for Summary Judgment [docket entry # 44] is DENIED as to defendant Istfan, GRANTED as to defendant Cormo, and GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as to defendant CMS.
As required in considering a motion for summary judgment, I review the facts in the light most favorable to Navedo, the non-moving party. In June of 1993, Navedo sustained serious injuries to his back, hips, and left leg as a result of an auto accident. After medical treatment, Navedo's left leg remained permanently disfigured, and he made regular use of a wheelchair. While the parties dispute the extent of Navedo's injuries over the time covered by the complaint, specifically, and whether he was completely wheelchair-bound throughout, it is a fact that he entered the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord ("MCI Concord") in July of 1998 in a wheelchair, and he retained use of and access to his wheelchair at all times while incarcerated there. Likewise, when Navedo was transferred to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Pondville ("MCI Pondville")2 in November of 1998, he arrived in a wheelchair and had access to a wheelchair at all times, even as he was undergoing physical therapy and became able to ambulate only intermittently using a foot brace and a cane.
It is also a fact that when Navedo was transferred to MCI Norfolk in July of 1999, there was a notation on Navedo's Intrasystem Transfer Form that he was "wheelchair-bound."3 Nevertheless, Navedo claims that he was told — at the Norfolk prison gate — that he would not be permitted to keep his wheelchair because the facility was not wheelchair-accessible. The defendants do not contradict this allegation, by affidavit. Rather they suggest that whatever Navedo was told at the gate, Norfolk did not provide Navedo with a wheelchair because CMS staff concluded that he did not require one.
From July 1999 through April 2000, while Navedo remained at MCI Norfolk, Navedo's condition (as observed and recorded by defendant Istfan, his treating physician) became progressively worse, resulting in diminished motor functioning of his lower extremities; his bladder function also appeared to be deteriorating.4 Navedo's repeated requests for a wheelchair were turned down,5 and he did not receive physical therapy at any time while incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.
Shortly after his transfer to MCI Norfolk, Navedo sustained a fall in a bathroom, which he alleges was partially due to the lack of a grab bar or other disability accommodations in the facilities. Several weeks later, he was moved to a single, disabled-accessible cell in a transitory unit normally used for inmates awaiting a permanent cell assignment; Navedo did not receive access to an accessible unit with a shower until September 12, 1999.
Because there were no permanent cells at Norfolk that provided disabled access, Navedo had to remain in the transitory unit, where inmates retained substantially fewer privileges.6 This unit was located at the opposite end of the facility from the gym and from most other programs and activities. Navedo's subsequent request for a stand-up locker in his cell (because he could not access his personal storage space due to his disability) was denied, and he was forced to leave a number of personal items on the floor of his cell, resulting in warnings that his cell was not in compliance with institution rules for storage of personal items.
Significantly, on January 27, 2000, the MCI Norfolk Classification Board7 voted to recommend Navedo's transfer to MCI Shirley, based on a determination that his "current medical issues [] can be better dealt with in the proper environment." Defendant Battle promptly approved the transfer on February 1. Defendant Maloney, however, refused to transfer Navedo, claiming that his "medical needs can be met at Norfolk."8
Navedo was finally transferred to MCI Shirley in April 2000,9 where he is presently incarcerated. On April 10, he requested an orthopedic mattress of the same type given to him at MCI Norfolk. Dr. Rencricca, a CMS doctor at Shirley, denied this request one week later, finding no indication in Navedo's record that such a mattress was required. At Shirley, Navedo has been placed in a disabled-accessible cell, but has not been given access to a safe, accessible unit with a shower. He was offered the use of a wheelchair, but one without leg supports; when he objected to the lack of leg supports, he was not provided with an alternative wheelchair.10 He is currently being treated by a physical therapist at MCI Shirley, and is awaiting treatment by an orthopedic surgeon.
Navedo alleges that the defendants subjected him to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, deprived him of his civil rights, and discriminated against him on the basis of disability. He argues that the defendants' subjective awareness of his medical condition and of his need for a wheelchair, and their refusal to provide him with more appropriate conditions, amount to deliberate indifference to his serious medical condition, and have caused him severe pain and suffering. Moreover, Navedo claims that his living conditions in the transitory unit at MCI Norfolk (July 1999 to April 2000) deprived him of the enjoyment of programs, activities, benefits, and privileges available to all non-disabled inmates.
The defendants have raised two sets of arguments for summary judgment. Maloney et al. claim that Navedo has made no Eighth Amendment showing that they were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs. Rather, they characterize the situation as a difference of opinion as to the medical necessity of a wheelchair. They point out that Navedo has "received extensive care and treatment for several medical conditions"11 during the course of his incarceration.
As to Navedo's § 1983 claims, Maloney et al. argue that they cannot be held vicariously liable for the allegedly tortious actions of their subordinates, that they cannot be sued under § 1983 in their official capacities, and that Navedo failed to allege that they were persons acting under color of state law.
With regard to certain of the A.D.A. claims, Maloney et al. take the position that (1) they are protected by qualified immunity, (2) Navedo does not qualify for protection under the A.D.A. because his physical impairments do not...
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