Webb v. Jessamine Cnty. Fiscal Court

• Decision Date: 05 August 2011
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 5:09–CV–314–JMH.
• Parties: Ashley Mae WEBB, Plaintiff, v. JESSAMINE COUNTY FISCAL COURT, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky

802 F.Supp.2d 870

Ashley Mae WEBB, Plaintiff,

v.JESSAMINE COUNTY FISCAL COURT, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 5:09–CV–314–JMH.

United States District Court,E.D. Kentucky,Central Division at Lexington.

Aug. 5, 2011.

Christopher Derek Hunt, Steven A. Wides, Lexington, KY, for Plaintiff.

Adrian M. Mendiondo, D. Barry Stilz, Kinkead & Stilz, PLLC, Brent L. Caldwell, Noel Embry Caldwell, Caldwell, Caldwell & Caldwell, LLP, Lexington, KY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOSEPH M. HOOD, Senior District Judge.

This action is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment [Record No. 65]. Plaintiff has filed a Response [Record No. 70], and Defendants have made a Reply in further support of their Motion [Record No. 73]. The Court has also had the benefit of Plaintiff's Surreply [Record No. 76]. This motion is now ripe for decision and, for the reasons stated below, will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff's amended complaint avers a number of claims against Defendants Jessamine County Fiscal Court, Jessamine County Judge–Executive William Neal Cassity, and Jessamine County Detention Center, in their official capacities, and Jailer Cecil Ray Moss, Deputy Jailer Tami Jean Teaven, Lt. James David Crowe, and Cpt. James Lynn Watts, in both their individual and official capacities. Plaintiff avers that Defendants “were deliberately indifferent to her serious medical needs, resulting in her being forced to endure labor unassisted by any medical personnel, and to give birth to her daughter in the ... holdover cell” at the Jessamine County Detention Center (“JCDC”) in violation of her Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Plaintiff also avers Defendants' failures with respect to hiring, training, supervising, and disciplining JCDC employees led to this deprivation of Plaintiff's constitutional rights. Finally, she avers that Defendants were negligent and intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon her in violation of Kentucky common law. She bases her claims upon the facts set forth below.

Plaintiff was booked into the JCDC on August 25, 2006 at 10:46 p.m. At booking, Plaintiff told Teaven that she was nine months pregnant. Shortly after booking, Plaintiff told Teaven that she was suffering sharp back pains, that she was experiencing vaginal discharge, that the mucous plug had discharged from her cervix, and that she felt the urge to have a bowel movement but was unable to do so. Teaven gave Plaintiff an aspirin substitute at 3:01 AM after Plaintiff again complained to Teaven of cramping and feeling the urge to have a bowel movement although she was unable to do so. Plaintiff was moved to another cell because of her continued complaints of pain. JCDC Facility Event Reports show this move happened at 4:15 a.m. After she was moved to the new cell, Plaintiff again informed Teaven that she continued to feel the urge to have a bowel movement but could not do so.

Thirty minutes later Plaintiff told Teaven that her water had broken, but Teaven did not call for help. Rather, Teaven told Plaintiff to put her wet pants back on and stop urinating on herself. About forty-five minutes to an hour later, Plaintiff told Teaven that she could feel her baby crowning, but Teaven did nothing in response. Plaintiff informed Teaven that she could not meet with pre-trial services because she felt her “child was coming.” Jail officials finally notified EMS at 6:50 A.M. once Teaven became convinced that Plaintiff's amniotic sac had ruptured. Plaintiff blacked out at some point, only to come to with EMS assisting her in delivering her baby.

On the night in question, Jailer Moss was not present at the JCDC, nor is there evidence that anyone was relaying the events at bar to him over the course of the hours that Webb labored. Of those remaining defendants present at the jail, Crowe knew that Webb was pregnant and had a view of the cells that Webb occupied that night from his post. Crowe heard a commotion from where Webb was housed and received Teaven's reports from Teaven. At some point, Crowe approached the door of Webb's cell, which he never entered, and told her to put her clothes back on and to “stop lying ... and stop acting like a child.” Watts knew that Plaintiff was pregnant and was aware to some extent of the complaints that prompted Teaven to transfer Webb from one cell to another as she labored, but he heard only reports from Crowe and Teaven. Ultimately, it was Watts who relayed the message from Teaven to another guard that EMS was needed once Teaven decided to make that request.

At the end of it all, Plaintiff delivered a healthy baby and suffered no physical injuries during the delivery, but she was, however, embarrassed and humiliated by the experience.

II. APPLICABLE STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard for summary judgment mirrors the standard for directed verdict. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A grant of summary judgment is proper “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 judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

The moving party bears the initial burden to show 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). This burden is met simply by showing the court that there is an absence of evidence on a material fact on which the nonmoving party has the ultimate burden of proof at trial. Id. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to “come forward with some probative evidence to support its claim.” Lansing Dairy, Inc. v. Espy, 39 F.3d 1339, 1347 (6th Cir.1994). A material fact is one that may affect the outcome of the issue at trial, as determined by substantive law. A genuine dispute exists on a material fact, and thus summary judgment is improper, if the evidence shows “that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Summers v. Leis, 368 F.3d 881, 885 (6th Cir.2004).

The judge's function is not to weigh the evidence, but to decide whether there are genuine issues for trial. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Multimedia 2000, Inc. v. Attard, 374 F.3d 377, 380 (6th Cir.2004). The evidence should be construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party when deciding whether there is enough evidence to overcome summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Summers, 368 F.3d at 885.

III. DISCUSSIONA. Defendants Crowe, Watts, and Moss, in their Individual Capacity, Enjoy Qualified Immunity With Respect to Plaintiff's Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983; Defendant Teaven Does Not.

Defendants ask this Court to evaluate whether they are entitled to qualified immunity with respect to Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against them in their individual capacity because “government officials performing discretionary functions, generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). Once Defendants assert that they are due qualified immunity, “the burden of proof [shifts] to the plaintiff to show that the defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity.” ¹ Lanman v. Hinson, 529 F.3d 673, 683 (6th Cir.2008). To avoid summary judgment based on an assertion of qualified immunity, Plaintiff must first show “a violation of a constitutional right” and that the violated right “was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the defendant's alleged misconduct.” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 232, 129 S.Ct. 808, 172 L.Ed.2d 565 (2009). Plaintiff's claims that her constitutionally secured right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment are discussed below.

1. Delay in Providing Medical Care

In the case at bar, Plaintiff claims that the individual defendants violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment when they delayed seeking medical care for her while she was in labor.² “The legal standard for asserting an Eighth Amendment claim regarding medical care for prisoners is ‘deliberate indifference,’ ” Terrance v. Northville Reg'l Psychiatric Hosp., 286 F.3d 834, 843 (6th Cir.2002), and plaintiffs must meet a two-prong test that contains both an objective and subjective component to show deliberate indifference which rises to the level of “cruel and unusual punishment.” U.S. Const. amend VIII; Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970, 128 L.Ed.2d 811 (1994). As to the objective portion, “the deprivation alleged must be, objectively ‘sufficiently serious.’ ” Farmer, 511 U.S. at 834, 114 S.Ct. 1970 (quoting Wilson v. Seiter, 501 U.S. 294, 298, 111 S.Ct. 2321, 115 L.Ed.2d 271 (1991)). The plaintiff must then show that the prison official had a “sufficiently culpable state of mind.” Id. (quoting Wilson, 501 U.S. at 297, 111 S.Ct. 2321). The Court considers these factors below.

a. A genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether Plaintiff presented an “objectively, ‘sufficiently serious' ” medical need.

As an initial matter, it is well established that simply being pregnant—without more—does not constitute a serious medical condition. See Patterson v. Carroll Cnty. Detention Ctr., No. 05–101–DLB, 2006 WL 3780552, at *3 n. 5, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92507, at *13 n. 5 (E.D.Ky. Dec. 20, 2006). As with any human condition, however, developments that “require immediate attention” can arise. Id. (quoting Smith v. Franklin Cnty., 227 F.Supp.2d 667, 677 n. 10 (E.D.Ky.2002)); see also Coleman v. Rahija, 1996 WL...