DAVID STEWART CERCONE, Senior District Judge.
On July 31, 2017, pro se Plaintiff, David Probst, pro se, initiated this prisoner civil rights lawsuit against SCI-Greene Medical Dept and Doctor Jin, incorrectly identified as Doctor Jyn. In accordance with the Magistrate Judge's Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), and Rules 72.C and 72.D of the Local Rules of Court for Magistrate Judges, all pretrial matters were referred to United States Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy.
Defendant SCI-Greene Medical Dept filed a motion to dismiss arguing that all claims against it should be dismissed because the Eleventh Amendment bars Plaintiff's claims against it and that the Medical Department is not an entity capable of being sued nor is it a "person" within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (ECF No. 14). Defendant Jin filed a separate motion to dismiss alleging,
The Magistrate Judge notified the parties that because Defendant Jin had presented material outside the complaint, his motion to dismiss would be converted into a motion for summary judgment on the issue of exhaustion, and allowed the parties time to submit additional briefing and evidence.
On February 23, 2018, Magistrate Judge Eddy issued a Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 29) recommending that the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendant SCI-Greene Medical Dept be granted for failure to state a claim and that the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendant Jin, which had been converted into a motion for summary judgment on the issue of exhaustion, be granted as Plaintiff had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies as required by the PLRA. The Magistrate Judge further recommended that the Court decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state law negligence/medical malpractice claim and that leave to amend be denied as futile. Service of the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation was made on the parties, who were informed that, in accordance with the Magistrate Judge's Act, 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and (C), and Local Rule of Court 72.D.2, they had until March 9, 2018 (ECF users) and March 12, 2018 (non-ECF users) to file written objections. Plaintiff filed timely objections (ECF No. 30); Defendants did not file objections nor a response to Plaintiff's objections.
Where, as here, objections have been filed, the court is required to make a de nova determination about those portions of the Report and Recommendation to which objections were made.
Plaintiff's first objection concerns the Magistrate Judge's recommendation that SCI-Greene be dismissed. This objection requires little discussion. Plaintiff argues:
Obj. at 2. This objection is without merit. As explained in the Report and Recommendation, it is well established that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections ("DOC") is an agency or arm of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, therefore, the DOC and/or its institutions, such as SCI-Greene, are entitled to the same Eleventh Amendment immunity which the Commonwealth enjoys.
Plaintiff's remaining objection concerns the Magistrate Judge's recommendation that Plaintiff's claims against Dr. Jin be dismissed as Plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with respect to the claims raised against Dr. Jin in the complaint. Plaintiff does not dispute that he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, rather he continues to attempt to place responsibility for his failure to exhaust at the hands of prison officials, specifically his Unit Manager and the Superintendent, whom he argues failed to respond to his requests inquiring how to exhaust his grievance. Plaintiff does not dispute that (i) when he came into the DOC system, he was provided a copy of the Inmate Handbook and was given instructions regarding it; (ii) he received "new inmate orientation" on March 14, 2011, which included instruction on the grievance system; (iii) he could have made a request of appropriate staff for a copy of the Inmate Handbook; or (iv) copies of the Inmate Handbook are maintained in the prison's libraries. The summary judgment record reflects that the grievance process was available to Plaintiff at all times.
The Court agrees with the Magistrate Judge's recommendation and finds that Plaintiff has simply not shown that "he was misled or that there was some extraordinary reason he was prevented from complying with the statutory mandate."
In light of Plaintiff's failure to properly exhaust his claims, all claims against Defendant Jin will be dismissed.
The Court also agrees with the recommendation that to the extent that Plaintiff is bringing separate negligence/medical malpractice claims against Dr. Jin, such claims should be dismissed without prejudice for want of jurisdiction. A District Court may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims if "the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction." 28 U.S.C.A. § 1367. However, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has recognized, "where the claim over which the district court has original jurisdiction is dismissed before trial, the district court
After undertaking a de nova review of the pleadings and documents in this case, together with the Report and Recommendation, and the Objections thereto, the Court finds that the Report and Recommendation should be adopted as the opinion of the Court. Accordingly, Defendant SCI-Greene Medical Dept's motion to dismiss will be granted and Defendant Jin's motion to dismiss, which has been converted into a motion for summary judgment will be granted; Plaintiff's separate state law negligence/medical malpractice claims against Dr. Jin will be dismissed without prejudice for want of jurisdiction; Plaintiff's objections will be overruled, and the Magistrate Judge's February 23, 2018, Report and Recommendation as augmented below will be adopted as the opinion of the court.
For the reasons set forth above, Defendant SCI-Greene Medical Dept's motion to dismiss will be granted and Defendant Jin's motion to dismiss, which has been converted into a motion for summary judgment on the issue of exhaustion, will be granted. The Court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff's state law claims. Plaintiff's objections will be overruled and the Magistrate Judge's February 23, 2018, Report and Recommendation as augmented above will be adopted as the opinion of the Court. An appropriate order will follow.