Moore v. Giorla
Moore v. Giorla
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff, a Pennsylvania state prisoner, filed this pro se action under *703
Plaintiff and the sole remaining Defendant have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Defendant's motion and deny Plaintiff's motion.
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Plaintiff Troy Lamont Moore, Sr. was imprisoned at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center ("PICC"). He alleges that on September 16, 2013, while at PICC, the toilet in his cell overflowed repeatedly-and despite Plaintiff's requests, Correctional Officer Walton did not let Plaintiff out of that cell for at least eight hours, leaving him surrounded by raw sewage during that time. See Am. Compl., ECF No. 46.
On June 26, 2014, after exhausting his administrative remedies, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Philadelphia Prison Commissioner Louis Giorla, Major Claudette Martin, Nurse McGrogan, and another unnamed nurse under
After filing answers and conducting discovery, all defendants (except "Walden," who had not yet been served) filed motions for summary judgment. ECF Nos. 21, 24, 38. In a memorandum opinion, the Court granted Defendants' motions for summary judgment because they lacked personal involvement. ECF No. 42. The Court also dismissed the claims against a person identified as "Walden" without prejudice, considering that PICC had been unable to identify her, and that she had not been served.
Plaintiff repeatedly attempted to serve "Walden," but the summons were returned to Plaintiff unexecuted, with notations that PICC could not identify her. See ECF Nos. 6, 48, 52, 54, 56. Eventually, after the U.S. Marshals were unable to contact or find "Walden" to effectuate service, they contacted PICC's human resources department, which furnished the Marshals with the correct spelling. Tr. of July 24, 2017 Hearing at 12:17-20. Thereby, Walden was identified as Officer Walton. See
Then, on February 10, 2016, Plaintiff filed his Amended Complaint against "S. Walton," alleging that Walton had ignored Plaintiff's requests to remove him from his cell after he was exposed to raw sewage coming from an overflowing toilet in his cell. ECF No. 46. On December 19, 2016, the Court ordered that the caption be amended to replace "S. Walton" with "Saajida Walton." ECF Doc. 52. On May 2, 2017, Plaintiff served Saajida Walton with a copy of the Amended Complaint. ECF Doc. 57.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
*704Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "A motion for summary judgment will not be defeated by 'the mere existence' of some disputed facts, but will be denied when there is a genuine issue of material fact." Am. Eagle Outfitters v. Lyle & Scott Ltd.,
The Court will view the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. "After making all reasonable inferences in the nonmoving party's favor, there is a genuine issue of material fact if a reasonable jury could find for the nonmoving party." Pignataro v. Port Auth.,
The guidelines governing summary judgment are identical when addressing cross-motions for summary judgment. See Lawrence v. City of Phila.,
III. DISCUSSION
As noted above, the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court will address each motion in turn.
A. Defendant's Motion
Defendant argues that the statute of limitations bars Plaintiff's claim. In the alternative, she argues that she is entitled to qualified immunity. The Court will first address the issue of qualified immunity.
1. Qualified Immunity
When a defendant in a § 1983 action claims qualified immunity, a court must first determine if the plaintiff's allegations are sufficient to establish the violation of a federal constitutional or statutory right. Wilson v. Layne,
Qualified immunity is a legal determination to be made by the Court. Siegert v. Gilley,
"[A] prison official violates the Eighth Amendment only when two requirements are met." Gilblom v. Gillipsie,
These needs include "food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, medical care and personal safety." Griffin v. Vaughn,
"Sanitation is one of the basic human needs recognized by eighth amendment cases," Peterkin v. Jeffes,
In this case, Plaintiff alleges that he was covered in raw sewage for approximately eight hours. See Am. Compl., ECF No. 46. Regarding the qualified immunity analysis, Defendant only contests whether the injury was sufficiently serious, and whether Plaintiff's rights were clearly established. Considering the "particular weight" given to exposure to human waste, see Martin,
2. Statute of Limitations
Claims brought under § 1983 are subject to the state statutes of limitations governing personal injury actions. Garvin v. City of Phila.,
In this case, the underlying events giving rise to Plaintiff's claims occurred on June 16, 2013. However, Plaintiff did not serve Walton with a copy of the Amended Complaint until May 2, 2017, almost four years after the incident, and nearly two years after the statute of limitations had run. Accordingly, the statute of limitations bars Plaintiff's claim against Walton unless the Amended Complaint "relates back" to the initial Complaint under Rule 15(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Such an amended pleading relates back where, among other requirements, the party to be brought in by amendment knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against him or her, "but for a mistake concerning the proper party's identity." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c). The core of the relation back inquiry is "what the prospective defendant knew or should have known" after the initial pleading was filed. Krupski v. Costa Crociere S. p. A.,
There is no evidence in the record that Walton knew or should have known of this action before the statute of limitations had run. Moreover, Plaintiff does not so contend. See generally Tr. of July 24, 2017 Hearing. Instead, Plaintiff's argument is that that the PICC, via Walton's supervisors, "knew exactly who [Plaintiff] was referring to," id. at 12:1-2, and had ample time to provide Walton's "true name." Id. at 6:1-8. Yet, even assuming that PICC had adequate notice that Walton was the intended defendant, that does not establish that Walton herself had notice. Further, as explained below, any such notice that PICC had is not imputed to Walton.
The Third Circuit has recognized two methods of imputing notice to defendants under Rule 15(c) : (i) the existence of a shared attorney between the original and proposed new defendant; and (ii) an identity of interest between these two parties. Additionally, Rule 15(c)(3)(B) requires that the party sought to be added knew or should have known that, but for a mistake, the plaintiff would have named him or her in the original complaint. Singletary v. Pennsylvania Dep't of Corr.,
In this case, neither method of imputing notice is applicable. First, Walton and the other defendants did not share an attorney prior to the running of the statute of limitations. Second, the Third Circuit has held that notice to an employer does not constitute notice to a non-managerial, staff-level employee. See
*707Additionally, equitable tolling does not apply in this case. For one, Plaintiff was aware that his initial attempts to serve Walton were returned unexecuted, and that PICC was at least claiming that it could not identify her. See ECF Nos. 6, 48, 52, 54, 56. Yet, Plaintiff did not request through discovery that PICC produce Walton's identity.
Because Plaintiff has failed to show that Walton had either actual notice or constructive notice within the required 120 day period under Rule 15(c), Plaintiff's Amended Complaint does not relate back to the date of the initial Complaint. Therefore, Plaintiff's § 1983 claims against Walton are barred by the statute of limitations.
B. Plaintiff's Motion
Plaintiff, in his motion, basically summarizes the case and contends that there is no genuine dispute of material fact. Thus, in Plaintiff's view, he is entitled to summary judgment in his favor. Although Plaintiff is correct that Defendant has not disputed the basic facts of this case, as discussed above, the statute of limitations bars his claims.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court will grant Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, but deny Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment.
An appropriate order follows.
ORDER
AND NOW , this 28th day of March, 2018 , upon consideration of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 60), Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 65), Plaintiff's response in opposition thereto (ECF No. 66), and for the reasons set forth in the accompanying memorandum opinion, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF NO. 60) is DENIED.
2. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 65) is GRANTED.
3. The clerk shall mark the case as closed.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
JUDGMENT
AND NOW , this 28th day of March, 2018 , in accordance with the Court's Memorandum and accompanying Order, it is ORDERED that JUDGMENT is ENTERED in favor of Defendant against Plaintiff.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
The basic facts of this case are not disputed for the purposes of summary judgment. See Telephone Conference Tr. 3:22-7:10, Apr. 6, 2015, ECF No. 39.
According to Plaintiff, the reason for Plaintiff's confusion was that he was provided the name of the correctional officer orally by another prison employee, which Plaintiff then attempted to spell phonetically. See Tr. of July 24, 2017 Hearing at 7:10-14.
See also McBride v. Deer,
"The naming of a John Doe defendant in a complaint does not stop the statute of limitations from running or toll the limitations period as to that defendant." Garvin,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Troy Lamont MOORE, Sr. v. Louis GIORLA
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published