Noland v. Wheatley

• Decision Date: 22 October 1993
• Docket Number: No. 3:93-CV-55RM.,3:93-CV-55RM.
• Citation: 835 F. Supp. 476
• Parties: Larry NOLAND, Plaintiff, v. William WHEATLEY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

835 F. Supp. 476

Larry NOLAND, Plaintiff, v. William WHEATLEY, et al., Defendants.

No. 3:93-CV-55RM.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

October 22, 1993.

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John W. Emry, Jr., Franklin, IN, for plaintiff.

Caren L. Pollack, Michael R. Morow, James S. Stephenson, Indianapolis, IN, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

MILLER, District Judge.

This cause comes before the court on the motion of defendants William Wheatley, Sheriff of Wabash County, Edie Gidley, Sandy Nelson, Kevin Farr, and the Board of Commissioners of Wabash County to dismiss or, in the alternative, for qualified immunity. The defendants seek dismissal of plaintiff Larry Noland's claims under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the Indiana Jail Standards.

For the reasons that follow, the court finds that the defendants' motion must be granted in part and denied in part.

I. Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) authorizes dismissal of complaints that state no actionable claim. The complaint's factual allegations will be taken as true and viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff when challenged by a motion to dismiss. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Dismissal is appropriate only if it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

II. Factual Background

Mr. Noland is a semi-quadriplegic, and confined to a wheelchair as a result of suffering a broken neck more than nineteen years before his incarceration in the Wabash County Jail (the "jail"). He has no use of his legs, limited use of his left hand, and approximately eighty percent of the use of his right hand. Mr. Noland has no bladder; he must use both a colostomy and urostomy bag to remove body waste. Mr. Noland requires soap and water to clean his hands when he cleans or changes the bags. He requires several medications daily. Failure to maintain daily medications, to care for any body sores, or to keep Mr. Noland clean was a known danger to his health and life.

On September 17, 1991, Mr. Noland was arrested and placed in the jail. On the initiative of the Wabash County Sheriff's Department, Mr. Noland was moved a short time later to a nursing home because of his disability. The defendants were aware, or should have been aware, of Mr. Noland's condition and needs.

On February 19, 1992, Mr. Noland again was arrested and incarcerated in the jail. He had recently received a skin graft for an old sore on his buttocks that had healed. Upon incarceration, Mr. Noland had no pressure sores or other such problems. During his stay in the jail, Mr. Noland developed four separate pressure sores, which were not only quite painful, but dangerous to his health. Mr. Noland also had severe renal problems aggravated by the lack of adequate access to water and medical treatment.

At Sheriff Wheatley's direction, Mr. Noland was placed in the jail's padded cell rather than being transferred to a nursing home or hospital. The padded cell had no bed or other furniture, no running water, and only an open drain in the floor for disposal of bodily waste. The padded cell had poor ventilation and temperature control. It was unclean and a stench emitted from the open drain in the floor. While in the padded cell, Mr. Noland was constantly on camera; thus, he had no privacy, even when bathing himself. Moreover, the door to the padded cell was nearly always locked, unlike other jail areas. Housing in the padded cell generally is limited to emergency situations and then for only twenty-four hours at a time; Mr. Noland spent three months in the padded cell. The defendants were well aware of the intended limited use of the padded cell.

The jail had at least one cell with a bed and running water that might have accommodated Mr. Noland; yet, accepting the complaint's allegations as true, the defendants denied Mr. Noland use of that cell. The cells in the female unit were also suitable to Mr. Noland's needs. No attempt was made to accommodate Mr. Noland, even though Mr. Noland complained about his assignment to the padded cell to Sheriff Wheatley and to each jail officer who came into the cell or who passed by.

After two nights, Mr. Noland received a bed and a pitcher of water. Mr. Noland still had no means of washing his hands or cleaning either his colostomy or urostomy bags after emptying them. The pitcher was refilled once in a while with only warm water. Mr. Noland did not receive the quantity of water needed to keep his kidneys functioning. He complained to both Sheriff Wheatley and Ms. Gidley about his lack of sufficient water, but to no avail.

Even after a physician prescribed more water to keep Mr. Noland's system functioning properly, the defendants denied him a sufficient quantity of water. Ms. Nelson refused to bring Mr. Noland water when he requested it. The physician prescribed sixty-four ounces of water for Mr. Noland per shift, but Mr. Noland often received less than eight ounces each day.

Initially, Mr. Noland was not allowed to shower as other inmates were, but could only sponge bathe himself every other day. After three months, Mr. Noland was given access to a shower, but he had to sit on the dirty floor despite his open pressure sores and an infected ankle sore. His showering time was limited to thirty minutes despite his difficulties in washing himself with only one arm. Mr. Noland had to dress and undress on the shower floor.

According to the complaint, Mr. Noland consistently was denied the medical treatment he required. Ms. Nelson and Ms. Gidley would deny Mr. Noland his medication or give it to him late. No one in the jail was trained to handle Mr. Noland's medications; Sheriff Wheatley refused to employ a licensed nurse to care for Mr. Noland's medical needs. Rather, a female inmate, Hazel Sigsby, looked after Mr. Noland, though irregularly. Mr. Noland asked Sheriff Wheatley for a practicing nurse to care for his sores and other needs, to no avail.

When Mr. Noland spilled or got material from one of his bags on his hands, he often had to wait as long as twenty-four hours to wash it off. As a result, he had to eat many meals with the human waste still on his hands.

Mr. Noland was moved to a regular cell on May 6, 1992, but could not sleep in the bed provided because his wheelchair did not fit through the door to the bed. Mr. Noland still lacked access to water and a bathroom, and had very little room in his cell to maneuver his wheelchair.

Mr. Noland's wheelchair once had a flat tire. When approached, Mr. Farr forced Mr. Noland to get out of the wheelchair and crawl back to his cell to have the tire repaired. On another occasion, Mr. Farr refused to allow Mr. Noland to wash his hands although Mr. Noland had feces on his hands, explaining that it was not Mr. Noland's bath day. Mr. Noland had to wait until his bath day to wash the feces off his hands.

Shortly after his incarceration, the defendants forced Mr. Noland to sit in his wheelchair for nearly thirteen hours despite having been advised that two hours was the prescribed limit that Mr. Noland could sit in his wheelchair. Although Mr. Noland asked to be moved several times, he was told to wait. Pressure on a paralyzed individual's skin for more than two hours is a common cause of pressure sores. As a result, Mr. Noland's new skin graft was destroyed and his pressure sore reopened.

Finally, the defendants denied Mr. Noland recreation, access to the law library, and other programs and services because of his disability. Other inmates with disabilities were provided these programs and services.

III. Discussion

A. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Claims

Mr. Noland has failed to state a claim under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ("the Act"). The Act provides in pertinent part:

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 706(8) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

29 U.S.C. § 794(a). To state a claim under the Act, a plaintiff must allege the following material elements:

(1) the plaintiff is a "handicapped person" under the Act; (2) the plaintiff is "otherwise qualified" for participation in the program; (3) the plaintiff is being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subjected to discrimination under the program solely by reason of his handicap; and, (4) the relevant program or activity is receiving federal financial assistance.

Landefeld v. Marion General Hosp., Inc., 994 F.2d 1178, 1180-81 (6th Cir.1993) (citations omitted).

Because Mr. Noland has failed to allege in his complaint that the relevant program or activity receives federal financial assistance, the court must dismiss his claims under the Act. However, in the interest of deciding claims on their merits, the court will afford Mr. Noland fifteen days following the entry of this order in which to file an amended complaint with respect to the claims under the Act.

B. Americans with Disabilities Act Claims

Mr. Noland has stated a claim of discrimination based on his handicap under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). ADA Sections 12131 through 12134, 42 U.S.C. § 12131-12134, prohibit discrimination in public services, and are the relevant sections governing Mr. Noland's claims. The ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., provides:

Subject to the provisions of this subchapter, no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from

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