Paine v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 22 February 2010
• Docket Number: Case No. 06 C 3173.
• Citation: 689 F. Supp.2d 1027
• Parties: Kathleen PAINE, as Guardian of the Estate of Christina Rose Eilman, a Disabled Person, Plaintiff, v. Officer Jeffrey JOHNSON, Officer Richard Cason, Officer Rosendo Moreno, Lieutenant Carson Earnest, Sergeant David Berglind, Detention Aide Sharon Stokes, Officer Teresa Williams, Detention Aide Cynthia Hudson, Detention Aide Catonia Quinn, Officer Deborah Mabery, Officer Pamela Smith, Officer Benita Miller, Officer Pauline Heard, and City of Chicago, a municipal corporation, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

689 F.Supp.2d 1027

Kathleen PAINE, as Guardian of the Estate of Christina Rose Eilman, a Disabled Person, Plaintiff, v. Officer Jeffrey JOHNSON, Officer Richard Cason, Officer Rosendo Moreno, Lieutenant Carson Earnest, Sergeant David Berglind, Detention Aide Sharon Stokes, Officer Teresa Williams, Detention Aide Cynthia Hudson, Detention Aide Catonia Quinn, Officer Deborah Mabery, Officer Pamela Smith, Officer Benita Miller, Officer Pauline Heard, and City of Chicago, a municipal corporation, Defendants.

Case No. 06 C 3173.

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

February 22, 2010.

Jeffrey Singer, David H. Leavitt, Kimberly Alina Kayiwa, Misty Rose Martin, Mitchell P. Morinec, Segal, McCambridge, Singer & Mahoney, Ltd., Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Sara L. Ellis, Schiff Hardin LLP, George D. Sax, Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Scharf, Jordan E. Marsh, Megan Kelly McGrath, City of Chicago Office of the Corporation Counsel, Sarah R. Marmor, Stephanie Ann Scharf, Schoeman Updike Kaufman & Scharf, Chicago, IL, Matthew Alan Hurd, Barrett Elizabeth Rubens, City of Chicago, Craig Alan Roeb, Chapman, Glucksman, & Dean, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

VIRGINIA M. KENDALL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Kathleen Paine ("Paine"), as Guardian of the Estate of Christina Rose Eilman ("Eilman"), filed this suit against various members of the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago (collectively "Defendants"), alleging civil rights violations in connection with Eilman's arrest and subsequent release from the Second District women's lockup without providing her access to mental health treatment. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 and Local Rule 56.1, Defendants have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts II, VI, X, XV, XVIII, XX, XXII, XXIV, XXVI, XXVIII, XXXIII (claims against Defendants Cason, Moreno, Earnest, Berglind, Stokes, Williams, Hudson, Quinn, Mabery, Smith and Heard for failure to provide medical care), XXXIV (claim against Heard for failure to respond after creating increased risk) and XXXVIII (Monell claim against the City of Chicago) of Paine's Third Amended Complaint.¹ For the reasons stated herein, Paine's Motion for Summary Judgment is granted as to Count XXVI and denied as to Counts II, VI, X, XV, XVIII, XX, XXII, XXIV, XXVIII, XXXIII, XXXIV and XXXVIII.

STATEMENT OF FACTS²

On May 5, 2006, Eilman, a twenty-one year old college student from Los Angeles, California traveled to Chicago, Illinois. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 10, 12, 13.) On May 8, 2006, less than five hours after being released from the Second District women's lock-up, Eilman was found, wearing nothing but her bra and panties, lying on the ground outside of the Robert Taylor public housing building after having been raped. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 15; Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 357, 361.) She had fallen from a seventh floor apartment window. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 15; Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 357, 361.) Remarkably, Eilman survived the fall; however, she suffered severe injures including brain damage and spine damage. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 16.) Prior to the fall, Eilman suffered from bipolar disorder, which tended to be episodic, and often severe enough to require hospitalization. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 10, 24, 25.) One year prior to her travel to Chicago, Eilman was injured in a one-car accident in California. At that time, she displayed bizarre behavior such as slurred speech and scattered thought process, and she physically attacked a friend. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 19.) As a result, Eilman was involuntarily committed to a mental facility in California, where she remained for 37 days to treat her disorder. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 10, 21.)³

I. May 6th, 2006—Midway Airport Frontier Airlines Ticket Counter

On May 6, 2006, Eilman went to Midway Airport in an effort return home to California. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 39.) It is unknown why Eilman was in Chicago because she is the only one with that knowledge and she has little recollection of the events. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 22.) What is known, is that, at the airport, she became involved in a verbal altercation with a Frontier Airlines ticket counter agent who told her that she did not have a reservation with the airline. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 44.) Upon hearing this, Eilman appeared confused, began to swear at the Frontier Airlines' employees, tore up a $20 bill and threw it in the trash, and took her boots off and placed them on the ticket counter. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 45, 46, 50.) Frontier Airlines' employees described her behavior as "crazy," "erratic," "forceful," "loud," and "confrontational," and stated that she appeared to be having "mood swings" and to be "on drugs." (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 48, 49, 43.) Eilman left the airport that day without obtaining a flight to California. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 37.)

II. May 7, 2006—Southwest Airlines Ticket Counter/Gate

The following day, on May 7, 2006, Eilman returned to Midway Airport wearing extremely short shorts, winter boots and a small top that showed her mid-section. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 42.) While at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, Eilman became involved in another verbal altercation that resulted in her taking off a boot and throwing it across the counter hitting a Frontier Airlines' employee. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 39.) Eilman continued to yell and scream for ten minutes and finally screamed, "I want my fucking boot back." (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 39.) Eilman also approached an infant, who was seated in his stroller, and began screaming "stop fucking crying." (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 37.) The infant, however, was not crying or making any noise at all; rather, the infant was being perfectly quiet at that time. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 37.) Aisha Miller ("Miller"), a Southwest customer service agent, described Eilman's behavior as frightening and out of control. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 40.)

After Southwest personnel gave her a ticket to return to her home in California, Eilman proceeded to the Southwest gating area where she began yelling at other passengers and airline employees, using profanity, not using complete sentences and generally not making sense. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 38.) When she pet a blind man's guide dog, the man's caretaker asked her not to touch the animal. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 52.) In response, Eilman became hostile and aggressive towards the caretaker, yelling rap lyrics at him and screaming that the blind man had been exposed as a phony. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 52, 53.) At that point, Tessa Williams ("Williams"), a Southwest gate agent, called the police. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 53.) Williams described Eilman's behavior as very "erratic," "bizarre," "wild" and "confrontational." (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 51.) Chicago Police Officers then arrived on the scene and escorted Eilman out of the airport. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 54.)

III. May 7th, 2006-Midway's CTA Station

At about 1:50 p.m., Midway Airport Chicago Police Department ("CPD") officers escorted Eilman to Midway Airport's Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA") train and bus station. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 54, 85.) While at the CTA station, Eilman created another disturbance, which CTA customer service agents Velma Thompson ("Thompson") and Sharon Lewis ("Lewis") observed. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 24; Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 55.) Eilman started rapping, taking her clothes off and dancing provocatively for different men at the station. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 56.) Her behavior was erratic; one minute she was crying and upset, the next she was calm, and the next she was dancing and singing. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 55.) At one point, Lewis approached her and asked her to stop dancing, but Eilman refused. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶¶ 59, 55.)

Defendant Chicago Police Officers Richard Cason ("Officer Cason") and Rosendo Moreno ("Officer Moreno") were working the third watch at the CTA station on May 7, 2006. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 23.) Initially, Thomson told Officer Cason that Eilman was approaching CTA patrons and causing a disturbance and that she had been escorted to the CTA station by three CPD officers from Midway Airport. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 85.) Officer Cason approached Eilman and observed her arguing with a man about smoking and the price of oil. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 25, 27, 30.) Eilman was moving into the man's personal space, acting aggressive and generally causing an annoyance. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 76; Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 25, 27, 30.) Eilman told Officer Cason that she wanted to take a train back to Los Angeles, and he told her he would help her take a train to the Amtrak station, where she could then take a train home. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 26.)

At that point, while Eilman continued to argue with the man next to her, Officer Cason told Eilman that she would have to either get on a train or leave the CTA station. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 27.) Officer Cason then observed an instant change in Eilman's behavior; she became aggressive and confrontational towards him. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 83; Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 28.) Specifically, Eilman began to approach Officer Cason while screaming obscenities at him and threatened to take Officer Cason's gun and shoot him with it. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 28; Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 87.) Eventually, Eilman left the station and walked outside. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 29.)

At approximately 2:00 p.m., while Eilman was still outside the CTA station, Officer Moreno arrived for work and observed Eilman chastising another man for smoking cigarettes. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 31.) Specifically, she screamed, "if you light that fucking cigarette, I leave. I'll fucking leave." (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 31.) At the time, Eilman's face was two to three inches from the man's face, and she was shouting and talking very fast. (Def. 56.1 Reply ¶ 61.) Officer Moreno approached Eilman, identified himself as a police officer, and told her that she could not yell and swear on CTA property. (Pl. 56.1 Resp. ¶ 32.) Although Eilman temporarily listened to Officer Moreno, after about a minute she began arguing with the man again and twice attempted to remove his cigarette...