KENT J. DAWSON, District Judge.
Before the Court is defendants Lake's Crossing Center, Matthew Bowman, Louis Orozco, Steven O'Brien, Kenny Sapoulu, Abby Mascareno, Eric Kellemeyer, Debbie Lawson, Silvario Mendoza, and Ronna Dillinger's ("Lake's Crossing defendants") partial Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 21) to which defendant Dr. H. Hale Henson joined (ECF No. 22). Also before the Court is Dr. Henson's own Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 24). Plaintiff Lakeisha Holloway responded to both motions (ECF No. 27), and the defendants have replied (ECF Nos. 28, 29). Holloway also seeks leave to amend her complaint (ECF No. 30) to which the defendants responded (ECF Nos. 32, 33), but Holloway did not reply.
Lakeisha Holloway brought this civil rights case under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged constitutional violations during her time as a pretrial detainee at the Lake's Crossing Mental Health Center. Lake's Crossing is a maximum-security psychiatric facility near Reno, Nevada. It houses both male and female inmates and provides "comprehensive forensic mental health services" to custodial defendants.
Holloway filed grievances with Lake's Crossing in July and August of 2016. When nothing changed, she filed her first complaint. The Court screened that complaint and found that Holloway failed to plead colorable claims for relief. Screening Order, ECF No. 4. It dismissed the complaint but allowed Holloway to refile, which she did on February 28, 2018.
Although Holloway had multiple run-ins with male detainees, her trouble with the Lake's Crossing staff began in June of 2016, after she was physically assaulted by inmate Michael Bell. Compl. at 16.
Four days later, Holloway contacted the advocate hotline number, seeking help with the conditions at Lake's Crossing.
Holloway's situation continued to deteriorate. In early August, Holloway was sexually assaulted by a male inmate. Around 8:30 p.m. on August 5, an inmate with the last name "Walker" approached Holloway from behind while she used the community telephone. Without warning, Walker removed his genitals and rubbed them against Holloway from behind.
Shortly thereafter, Holloway began a court-ordered psychotic-drug regimen. Dr. Henson oversaw the administration of the drug under the order. Dr. Henson started Holloway with 10 milligrams of the drug, which caused her to faint.
More than a month passed without incident for Holloway, but in late September she suffered another incident with a male inmate. Around midnight on September 27, a male inmate named David Flores snuck into Holloway's room while she was asleep. Holloway awoke to find Flores touching her while propositioning her for sex.
Holloway then filed her first complaint. Each of the defendants have now moved to dismiss some or all of Holloway's claims, and Holloway again moves to amend her complaint.
The constitution guarantees indigent parties "meaningful access to the courts."
The Court applies a two-step approach when considering a motion to dismiss. First, it accepts the plaintiff's well-pleaded factual allegations as true. Legal conclusions or mere recitals of the elements of a cause of action, on the other hand, do not receive the assumption of truth.
The Court's screening order interpreted the allegations of Holloway's complaint as claims for failure to protect against the Lake's Crossing defendants, failure to provide adequate medical care against Dr. Hanson, and retaliation against every defendant. Screening Order 8, 9, 10. Though the underlying allegations are the same, Holloway's complaint formatted the causes of action slightly differently. She alleged (1) an Eighth Amendment claim for cruel and unusual punishment; (2) a substantive due process claim; and (3) an Eleventh Amendment immunity claim. Compl. at 11, 31, 35. Holloway brings her claims against each defendant in both their individual and official capacities.
The Lake's Crossing defendants and Dr. Henson have separately moved to dismiss portions of Holloway's claims. The Lake's Crossing defendants move to dismiss Holloway's substantive due process claim and her immunity claim under the Eleventh Amendment. They did not move to dismiss Holloway's failure to protect or retaliation claims. Dr. Henson joined Lake's Crossing's motion as to Holloway's substantive due process claim. Dr. Henson also moves to dismiss Holloway's claims for inadequate medical care and retaliation. The Court will first evaluate the Lake's Crossing defendants' motion, which only covers the substantive due process and Eleventh Amendment claims. It will then analyze Dr. Henson's motion, covering each of Holloway's claims against the doctor.
Holloway's complaint alleges that several known and unknown Lake's Crossing employees violated Holloway's substantive due process rights by failing to adequately protect her while she was detained at Lake's Crossing. Holloway brings her claims against each defendant in their individual and official capacities. The Lake's Crossing defendants argue that they cannot be sued in their official capacities. They also argue that Lake's Crossing itself is immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment, which does not provide Holloway a private right of action. Lake's Crossing is correct.
As an initial matter, Holloway cannot sue these defendants in their official capacities, nor can she sue the Lake's Crossing facility because it is immune from suit. The Eleventh Amendment prohibits an individual from suing a non-consenting state in federal court. U.S. Const. amend. XI;
Here, Holloway has not alleged any facts that Lake's Crossing does not qualify for immunity under the Eleventh Amendment, nor could she. Lake's Crossing is the very "agent or instrumentality" for which the Eleventh Amendment provides immunity. Lake's Crossing is a "secure facility of the [Nevada] Division of Public and Behavioral Health." NRS §§ 175.539(5)(b), 433.233(1)(d). The facility provides psychiatric services to defendants with mental disorders and aids the state's determination of whether a criminal defendant is competent to stand trial. It is founded and funded by Nevada law. If that were not enough, any judgment that Holloway receives against Lake's Crossing or against its employees in their official capacities would implicate Nevada public funds. These factors weigh strongly in favor of immunity.
Holloway's stand-alone Eleventh Amendment immunity claim fails for the same reason. The Eleventh Amendment does not provide plaintiffs a private cause of action.
Next, the Lake's Crossing defendants argue that Holloway's substantive due process claim fails because the defendants' conduct does not "shock the conscience." Dr. Henson joined the Lake's Crossing defendants' motion as to Holloway's substantive due process claim. Joinder, ECF No. 22. The "touchstone of due process" is protection against arbitrary actions of the government.
Holloway has not met that standard. Her allegations that these defendants failed to keep her safe from other inmates or provided inadequate medical care lack the malicious intent needed to demonstrate a substantive due process violation. At worst, Holloway's claims demonstrate deliberate indifference to her risk of harm, which is more appropriately remedied under the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendment.
In sum, Holloway has not pleaded sufficient facts to support her substantive due process or Eleventh Amendment claims. Therefore, the Court dismisses those claims entirely. However, the Lake's Crossing defendants did not move to dismiss Holloway's failure to protect or retaliation claims. Therefore, those claims survive against the Lake's Crossing defendants.
Having joined Lake's Crossing's motion to dismiss Holloway's substantive due process and immunity claims, Dr. Henson moves separately to dismiss Holloway's retaliation and inadequate medical care claims. Holloway's claims arise out of two distinct events during her confinement. The retaliation claim arises out of Dr. Henson's role in Lake's Crossing's decision to move Holloway from her assigned bedroom to a video-surveilled room after she filed her first grievance. Holloway believes that Dr. Henson and others only elected to move her to retaliate for the grievance she filed. Second, Holloway claims that Dr. Henson violated her Fourteenth Amendment right to receive adequate medical care based on the doctor's administration of anti-psychotic drugs, which caused her to faint and hit her head. Holloway claims that Dr. Henson maliciously administered an abnormally high dose of the drug, knowing that it would cause unwanted side effects.
Dr. Henson counters that the decision to move Holloway to a video-monitored room was not retaliatory. He argues that the move was not an adverse action and that Holloway does not allege that the move lacked a legitimate correctional goal. As for Holloway's claim of inadequate medical care, Dr. Henson was under court order to administer the drug. The doctor also points out that Holloway agrees that the dose he administered is considered a "starting dose." Alternatively, Dr. Henson moves to dismiss Holloway's medical care claim inasmuch as it is a claim for medical malpractice because she failed to file an expert affidavit as required by NRS § 41A.071.
An inmate's right to contest the conditions of his confinement is protected by the First Amendment. Without that protection, inmates would be left without adequate recourse for injustices suffered during their confinement.
Holloway's retaliation claim began with Lake's Crossing's decision to move her to a video-monitored room. It also includes the Lake's Crossing defendants' actions after that decision, which include physically forcing her into the new room, stripping her naked, and later withholding her personal mail. The portion of the claim against Dr. Henson is limited to his role in the decision to move Holloway to the video-surveilled room. Holloway has not alleged that Dr. Henson was involved in withholding her belongings or physically forcing her into the new room. Holloway has not alleged that Dr. Henson elected to move her because she filed a grievance, nor does she claim that the decision lacked a legitimate correctional purpose. There is no allegation that Dr. Henson was even aware that Holloway filed a grievance before he voted to move her to the video-monitored room. The extent of Holloway's allegation is that Dr. Henson was "assigned to her caseload," and that a group of caregivers "came up with the decision to move [her] into a room with a camera." Compl. at 21. From there, Holloway's dispute was with her social worker Vikki Erickson, who allegedly told Holloway she was being moved because her complaints were "becom[ing] a problem."
Similarly, Holloway does not allege any facts to suggest that Dr. Henson's part in the decision to move her lacked a legitimate correctional goal. At the time, Holloway already complained that other inmates had broken into her room (
Next, Holloway alleges that Dr. Henson deprived her of her Fourteenth Amendment right to adequate medical care by administering a dangerous dose of anti-psychotic drugs that caused her harm. On August 8, 2016, Dr. Henson administered the first dose of an anti-psychotic drug that he was court ordered to administer. Compl. at 27. He administered ten milligrams of the drug. Holloway experienced a reaction to that dosage, which caused her to faint.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees pretrial detainees constitutionally adequate healthcare during their detention.
There are four elements to Holloway's claim: (1) the defendant made an intentional decision with respect to the plaintiff's conditions of confinement; (2) those conditions subjected the plaintiff to a risk of serious harm; (3) the defendant did not take reasonable measures to abate the risk even though a reasonable official would have taken such measures; and (4) by not taking those measures, defendants caused plaintiff's injuries.
Here, Holloway has not alleged that Dr. Henson made an intentional decision regarding the conditions of her confinement or, if he did, that the decision was not reasonable. To be clear, Dr. Henson did not make the decision to medicate Holloway on his own. Compl. at 27 (Holloway began taking anti-psychotic drugs, which were "court ordered by the judge"). Under the order, Dr. Henson administered ten milligrams of the drug, and Holloway fainted.
Alternatively, Dr. Henson moves to dismiss Holloway's medical-care claim under NRS § 41A.071. Section 41A.071 requires a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action to submit an expert affidavit with the complaint to establish the necessary standard of care. The statute is clear. The Court "shall dismiss" without prejudice any medical malpractice claim that is filed without the necessary affidavit. NRS § 41A.071. Although Holloway styled her medical-care claim under the Fourteenth Amendment, the substance of the claim is closer to professional negligence.
Finally, Holloway moves for leave to again amend her complaint to add the identities of previously unknown Doe defendants and to present "additional counts of [her] civil rights" complaint. Mot. to Amend 1, ECF No. 30. The Court's screening order permitted Holloway to substitute the identities of the Doe defendants as she learns them.
The Court denies the remainder of Holloway's motion without prejudice for failure to attach a proposed amended complaint. Once a party has exhausted its amendment as a matter of course, it may not further amend the complaint without consent of the opposing party or leave of the Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Generally, leave to amend is freely given, but the Court may deny amendment if it would unnecessarily delay the case, would cause undue prejudice, would fail to cure the deficiencies of the prior complaint, or would be futile.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the partial Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 21) filed by Lake's Crossing defendants Abby, Debbie, Dillinger, Eric, Kenny, Louis, Matthew, Seal, Steven, and Lake's Crossing Mental Health Center, to which Dr. H. Hale Henson joined (ECF No. 22) is
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendant Dr. H. Hale Henson's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 24) is
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Holloway's Motion for Leave to Amend Her Complaint (ECF No. 30) is
IT IS FURTHER ORDRED that Holloway's Motion for Clarification (ECF No. 31) is