Thompson v. Wash. Parish Gov't
| Decision Date | 23 October 2015 |
| Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 14-2440 SECTION "B"(2) |
| Parties | J. D. THOMPSON III v. WASHINGTON PARISH GOVERNMENT ET AL. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Louisiana |
Plaintiff, J. D. Thompson III, is a prisoner currently incarcerated in the Hunt Correctional Center ("Hunt") in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. He filed this complaint pro se and in forma pauperis pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Washington Parish Government, Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Randy Seal, Captain Jim Miller and Nurse Wanda Jones. Thompson alleges that while incarcerated in Washington Parish Jail ("WPJ"), he was subjected to various unconstitutional conditions of confinement and denied adequate medical treatment. He seeks injunctive relief and "$50 million dollars in compensatory damages for mental anguish and pain and suffering." Record Doc. Nos. 9 and 26 (Complaint and Statement of Facts) (emphasis added).
On September 15, 2015, I conducted a telephone conference in this matter. Participating were plaintiff pro se; Gary L. Hanes and Georgia Thomas, counsel for defendants. Plaintiff was sworn and testified for all purposes permitted by Spears v. McCotter, 766 F.2d 179 (5th Cir. 1985), and its progeny.
Two motions are pending before me in this matter. Before the Spears hearing, defendant Washington Parish Government filed a motion to dismiss plaintiff's claims pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and (1) on grounds of failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Record Doc. No. 22. Plaintiff filed responses to defendant's motion. Record Doc. Nos. 32 and 37. In addition, after the conference, Thompson filed a motion to amend his complaint to expand upon his claim of unconstitutional conditions of confinement. Record Doc. No. 42. Plaintiff's testimony during the Spears hearing has been considered in connection with these motions.
Thompson testified that he is currently incarcerated at Hunt based upon his conviction on June 23, 2015, for a sex offense involving his step-granddaughter for which he is currently serving a sentence of fifty (50) years in prison. He confirmed that his claims in this case all arise from a time period from October 22, 2013, until June 25 2015, during which he was incarcerated in the Washington Parish Jail as a pretrial detainee awaiting trial on the sex offense charge for which he was ultimately convicted. Thompson acknowledged that he asserts two kinds of claims in this case; the first alleging unconstitutional unsanitary conditions of confinement; and the second that he received inadequate medical care for ailments arising from his exposure to those conditions.1
As to his claim that he was subjected to unconstitutional unsanitary conditions, Thompson testified that the jail was infested with black mold and mildew as a result of a roof leak throughout his incarceration. He stated that jail officials had known about the mold issue since January 2013, but refused to take any action to prevent the risks to inmates of exposure to mold. "There was mildew, like black mildew . . . that regular cleaning won't remove from the jail," Thompson stated. He said the mold was in the inmates' showers and dormitories, including in three separate dorms where he was housed, located around the roof and the bases of the walls where water leaked from the roof.
Thompson testified that jail officials brought in special supplies to try to clean the mold, including "bleach and regular cleaning supplies" that were issued to inmates in an attempt to clean the mold. He said these special cleaning efforts occurred daily for a period of about two weeks around June-July 2014, but then the special efforts ceased. Thompson said the strongest cleaning supplies that were used during this two-week period were no longer provided to the inmates, who nevertheless continued to receive the ordinary cleaning supplies that were routinely used to clean the dorms, consisting of "regular mop water," which was provided "every day."
Thompson testified that jail officials called in two outside consulting companies to assess the mold problem in the jail. He said the collection date for mold samples and inspection by these outside specialists was January 8, 2013, according to documents Thompson had been provided at his request by the jail warden. He stated that the documents reflect that jail officials received the results of the sampling in May 2014, and the results showed "high and medium" mold presence in the jail. He confirmed that the special two-week cleaning efforts in the jail occurred after these sampling results were received.
Thompson submitted copies of these documents with his lawsuit papers in this court. Record Doc. No. 7 (Response to Order at pp. 3-4) and Record Doc. No. 25 (Witness and Exhibit List at pp. 3-4). As plaintiff testified, the report contained in the documents reflects that the collection date for mold samples and inspection conducted by EMSL Analytical, Inc. of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was January 8, 2013; jail officials received the results of the sampling in May 2014; and the results showed "high and medium" presence of two mold spore types (Cladosporium and Ulocladium)2 in the jail.Id., Record Doc. Nos. 7 and 25 at p. 4. A letter accompanying the report from Chief Deputy Mike Haley dated May 29, 2014, regarding "Conditions of Confinement Concerns," which appears to have been addressed originally to an inmate other than plaintiff, states the following:
Id., Record Doc. Nos. 7 and 25 at p. 3.
As to the intensive cleaning efforts in June 2014, Thompson testified, Thompson said his research had revealed that mold emits "a poisonous gas . . . that affects your spinal column and your chest."
Asked what injuries he suffered as a result of his exposure to this mold, Thompson said "severe itching when I was there. . . now I'm having respiratory problems," including "it's hard for me to breathe sometimes . . . I'm short-winded." He also said he is having problems with his spinal cord, but he did not know if those problems were related to his slip and fall in the jail in June 2014, which is the subject of his separate lawsuit. He acknowledged that he did not know if the mold had played any part in his spinal problems.
Thompson confirmed that he had received the medical records I ordered defendants to produce, Record Doc. Nos. 11 and 39, but that he had reviewed only some of them. He confirmed that the medical records he had reviewed were accurate. He said that he had made complaints about the mold issues and asked for medical assistance. He testified that Nurse Wanda Jones at the jail denied him medical treatment for his mold-related problems, especially when he requested to see a doctor about the issue.
Thompson complained that he did not receive adequate care for his itching, breathing and dry-coughing problems resulting from mold exposure. He acknowledged the indications in some of his medical records that he had received numerous medications, as reflected in the records, for pain and other conditions. He said those medications included Tylenol, "sleeping medication, anxiety medication, blood pressure medication, Coumadin," which he described as a blood thinner provided to him for heart problems, including blood clots and atrial fibrillation. He said he was also provided withthe other medications at the Washington Parish Jail that he had been receiving before his incarceration. He said he was not provided with any medication for his itching because Nurse Jones prevented him from seeing a doctor about the mold issues.
Thompson confirmed the notation in his medical records that on October 2, 2014, he was seen by a doctor at the jail, but he did not know what the reference in the report to providing Thompson with a "medical dose pack" meant. He estimated that he saw Doctor Thomas while incarcerated in the Washington Parish Jail "maybe about four or five times," but he could not remember the precise dates, although he stated that his visits to the doctor were spread throughout the time he was in the Washington Parish Jail.
Thompson testified that he told Dr. Thomas about the problems he was experiencing from mold exposure, but the doctor did nothing about them. He also stated that Nurse Jones later told Thompson that the doctor had told her that there was nothing wrong with Thompson resulting from mold exposure. Thompson claimed that, like his issues with his spinal condition resulting from...
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