S.R. v. U.S.

• Decision Date: 27 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-20648-CIV.,07-20648-CIV.
• Citation: 555 F.Supp.2d 1350
• Parties: S.R., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida

555 F.Supp.2d 1350

S.R., Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants.

No. 07-20648-CIV.

United States District Court, S.D. Florida, Miami Division.

May 27, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jeffrey T. Donner, Donner Law Firm PL, Matthew S. Sarelson, Sarelson, P.A., Miami, FL, for Plaintiff.

Wendy A. Jacobus, Isabel Munoz-Acosta, United States Attorney's Office, Michael S. Pasano, Carlton Fields, Miami, FL, Myles H. Malman, Jonathan H. Rosenthal, Malman Malman & Rosenthal, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Defendants.

Damioun Cole, Antonio Echeberria, Miami, FL, pro se.

ORDER

CECILIA M. ALTONAGA, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE came before the Court for a hearing on May 2, 2008, upon Defendant, the United States of America's ("United States[']") Motion for Summary Judgment [D.E. 128]. The undersigned has considered the parties' written submissions, their oral arguments, the record, and applicable law.

I. BACKGROUND¹

Plaintiff, S.R., is a former federal inmate. S.R. was sentenced on March 9, 1999 and subsequently assigned to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut ("FCI-Danbury"). During her incarceration at FCI-Danbury, she was transferred to and temporarily housed at the Federal Detention Center in Miami ("FDC-Miami") on four separate occasions: from October 2, 2002 until January 7, 2003 (see Declaration of Brenda Davila ("Davila Decl.") at ¶ 3), from August 13, 2003 until December 16, 2003 (see id. at ¶ 4), from March 30, 2004 until August 31, 2004 (see id. at ¶ 5), and finally from July 12, 2005 until August 16, 2005 (see id. at ¶ 6). Each of these temporary transfers to FDC-Miami was made at the request of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida so that S.R. could serve as a witness or cooperate in other criminal prosecutions. (Deposition of S.R. ("S.R.Dep.") [D.E. 146-2] at 320:6-323:3). S.R. testified that during her first two stays at FDC-Miami she was sexually assaulted by Defendants, Charles Jenkins ("Jenkins") (see id. at 323:4-326:19), Isiah Pollock ("Pollock") (see id. at 326:20-327:19), and Antonio Echeverria ("Echeverria") (see id. at 329:7-331:18), Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP")guards.

On December 10, 2003, S.R. provided an affidavit to a BOP employee describing her allegations of sexual abuse by Jenkins, Pollock, and Echeverria. (See BOP Complaint File [D.E. 146-3] at 24-26). This affidavit recited many of the same allegations contained in S.R.'s Complaint in this action. (See id.). On December 11, 2003, S.R. told her psychologist at FDC-Miami that she had recently made allegations of sexual abuse against BOP employees. (See Report of Edda I. Aponte [D.E. 146-5]). Also on December 11, 2003, FDC-Miami's Warden, Richard Stiff ("Stiff), referred S.R.'s allegations against Jenkins, Pollock, and Echeverria for an investigation. (See BOP Complaint File). On March 9, 2004, S.R. provided another affidavit to agents from the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General detailing her allegations. (See id. at 1-5). The investigation ultimately concluded S.R.'s allegations could not be substantiated. (See id. at 42). S.R. also testified that she later reported her allegations of abuse to an Assistant United States Attorney and an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent while providing her cooperation in another criminal matter, although she did not mention Jenkins, Pollock, or Echeverria by name. (See S.R. Dep. at 335:10-336:15).

On January 21, 2004, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Mark McClish ("McClish") forwarded a letter to the BOP which S.R. had sent to her sentencing judge recounting her allegations of sexual abuse against Jenkins and Echeverria. (See Letter to United States District Judge Malcolm Howard [D.E. 146-4]). A purported "Statement Analysis" which McClish sent along with the correspondence indicates McClish's belief that the allegations in the letter were fabricated. (See id.).

S.R. testified that between March 2004 and June 2004, she was vaginally and anally raped by Defendant, Damioun Cole ("Cole"), while at the FDC-Miami. (See S.R. Dep. at 340:2-341:19). She also testified she was sexually assaulted again by Jenkins during her final stay at FDC-Miami in 2005. (See id. at 341:23-343:2). S.R. had returned to FDC-Miami in 2005 in order to provide testimony against Cole for sexually assaulting another federal inmate. (See id. at 341:20-22, 343:15-345:3). On June 14, 2005, S.R. was interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") in connection with its investigation into allegations of sexual assault by Cole against another inmate. (See Report of Investigation [D.E. 146-6]). During this interview, S.R. once again provided details regarding her allegations of sexual abuse by BOP guards dating back to 2002, including the alleged assaults against her by Cole. (See id.). On August 10, 2005, S.R. met with a civil attorney while incarcerated at FDC-Miami. (See S.R. Dep. at 309:19-310:3).

S.R. was released from federal custody on June 12, 2006. (See Davila Decl. at ¶ 7). S.R. initially filed a civil complaint against the United States on March 12, 2007. (See Complaint [D.E. 1]). The action was dismissed without prejudice on August 3, 2007 [D.E. 45] because of S.R.'s failure to file an administrative complaint with the Bureau of Prisons prior to commencing her civil action, as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a). Standard Form 95 ("Form 95") is a form administrative complaint for the submission of claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. § 2671, to the appropriate federal agency. S.R. has testified she was unaware of the existence of Form 95, and she believed she had done everything possible while incarcerated to redress the alleged sexual assaults against her. (See S.R. Dep. at 346:3-348:1).

On April 12, 2007, S.R. filed a Form 95 with the BOP requesting $5,000,000 in damages. S.R. then refiled her civil action against the United States on October 9, 2007 under the FTCA alleging claims for premises liability, negligent hiring, and negligent supervision related to the alleged sexual assaults she suffered while incarcerated at the FDC-Miami. (See Complaint [D.E. 1], Case No. 07-22655-Civ-Altonaga). The later action was subsequently consolidated with this case on October 18, 2007. (See Order [D.E. 99]).

The United States now moves for summary judgment on the grounds that S.R.'s claims are barred because she failed to file an administrative complaint within the statute of limitations period set forth in the FTCA, and she is not entitled to equitable tolling of that limitations period.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Legal Standard

Summary judgment shall be rendered "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In making this assessment, the Court "must view all the evidence and all factual inferences reasonably drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Stewart v. Happy Herman's Cheshire Bridge, Inc., 117 F.3d 1278, 1285 (11th Cir.1997), and "must resolve all reasonable doubts about the facts in favor of the non-movant." United of Omaha Life Ins. Co. v. Sun Life Ins. Co. of Am., 894 F.2d 1555, 1558 (11th Cir.1990).

"By its very terms, this standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (emphasis in original). "As to materiality, the substantive law will identify which facts are material. Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted." Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Likewise, a dispute about a material fact is a "genuine" issue "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Id. However, "[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-movant]." Id. at 252,

"For factual issues to be considered genuine, they must have a real basis in the record ... mere conclusions and unsupported factual allegations are legally insufficient to defeat a summary judgment motion." Ellis v. England, 432 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir.2005) (citations omitted). The moving party "always bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment is proper "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. In those cases, there is no genuine issue of material fact "since a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." Id. at 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

B. Application of the FTCA Statute of Limitations

"A federal court may not exercise jurisdiction over a suit under the FTCA unless the claimant first files an administrative claim with the appropriate agency." Suarez v. U.S., 22 F.3d 1064, 1065 (11th Cir.1994) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a)). In addition...