Wearing v. Gregory

Background

Earl Wearing, representing himself, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Dr. Emili Gregory, Dr. Julius Nwoso, Vivian Vega, and Dr. Boris Mosheyev. The complaint identified the defendants as staff members of a medical practice in White Plains, New York. The court had allowed Wearing to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance.

Wearing alleged that on December 8, 2017, Vega verbally attacked him without cause and Gregory discharged him as a patient because he exercised his First Amendment right to free speech. He alleged that he then could not obtain pain medication for 26 days. He claimed violations of due process and equal protection under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, a First Amendment violation by Gregory, and a conspiracy by Nwoso and Mosheyev with Gregory. He sought money damages.

Reasoning

The court explained that § 1983 provides a remedy for the deprivation of federally protected rights by people acting under the authority of state law. Private parties generally are not liable under that statute. Because the complaint alleged that Gregory, Nwoso, Vega, and Mosheyev were private parties who did not work for a state or other government body, the court held that Wearing had not stated a § 1983 claim against them.

After dismissing the federal claims, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, meaning its authority to hear related state-law claims, over any state-law claims Wearing may have asserted. The court also concluded that the defects could not be fixed by amendment and therefore declined to grant leave to amend.

Disposition

The court dismissed the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim. It terminated all other pending matters. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Wearing permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal.