Moore v. Westchester County Jail

Background

Jordan L. Moore, representing himself and proceeding without paying filing fees, brought a civil-rights action under Section 1983 against Westchester County, Sgt. Bonds #139, C.O. Lee, R.N. Bishop, and Correct Care Solutions/Wellpath, identified in the case as C.C.S. Moore alleged violations of the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Moore alleged that on November 28, 2018, his cell in the special housing unit was flooded, cold, and furnished with a ripped and dirty mattress but no blanket or bedroll. He said he reported those conditions to C.O. Lee and Sgt. Bonds. He also alleged chest pains, shortness of breath, loss of feeling in his lower extremities, and sharp lower-back pain. According to Moore, R.N. Bishop did not complete a blood-pressure check, and Sgt. Bonds told her to leave. Moore further alleged that he slipped, injured his head and back, and was later restrained and moved by unnamed members of an emergency response team.

Moore also made allegations about jail staff entering his cell, withholding mail, legal materials, grievance forms, and a Bible, restricting outside correspondence, preventing showers, and preventing tooth brushing on two occasions. The court noted that the emergency response team members identified by the County Attorney were not named as defendants in the second amended complaint and had been terminated from the case.

Motions and Legal Standard

The County Defendants and the C.C.S. Defendants separately moved to dismiss the second amended complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which asks whether the complaint states a legally sufficient claim. Moore did not oppose the motions, and the court deemed them fully submitted and unopposed. In deciding the motions, the court accepted well-pleaded factual allegations as true and assessed whether they plausibly showed an entitlement to relief.

The court rejected the argument that the complaint should be dismissed merely because Moore did not number its paragraphs. It also rejected dismissal for failure to plead exhaustion of administrative remedies. The court held that exhaustion is generally an affirmative defense rather than a pleading requirement and found that Moore plausibly alleged the grievance process was unavailable because he said he had been denied grievance forms.

Deliberate-Indifference Claims

Because Moore alleged that he was a pretrial detainee, the court analyzed his claims about medical care and confinement conditions under the Fourteenth Amendment. Such claims required allegations that the conditions posed an unreasonable risk of serious harm and that officials intentionally imposed the conditions or recklessly failed to take reasonable steps after knowing, or having reason to know, of the risk.

For the serious-medical-needs claim, the court held that Moore did not adequately plead the objective seriousness of his injuries. As to C.O. Lee, the court found that Lee took reasonable measures by calling R.N. Bishop to examine Moore and later calling a code signal when help did not promptly arrive. As to Sgt. Bonds and R.N. Bishop, the court found that Moore did not allege enough facts showing that his chest pains and shortness of breath were chronic, lasted beyond the few hours described, caused substantial pain, or affected his daily activities. The court also found that Moore did not allege that Sgt. Bonds or R.N. Bishop denied adequate medical care for his back and lower-extremity complaints.

The court dismissed the medical-care claims against Westchester County and C.C.S. because Section 1983 liability could not be based only on a theory that an organization was responsible for its employees’ conduct.

For the conditions-of-confinement claim, the court assumed that the flooded cell may have posed an unreasonable health risk but found that Moore’s allegations showed officials responded to the risk: C.O. Lee reported the conditions to Sgt. Bonds, Sgt. Bonds reported them to a captain, and Moore was moved from the cell later that evening. The court found Moore’s additional allegations about touching, withheld materials, correspondence, showers, and tooth brushing too conclusory to state a legally cognizable claim. It also dismissed any conditions-of-confinement claim against Westchester County and C.C.S. based on the same prohibition against relying solely on an organization’s responsibility for its employees.

Excessive Force, Fourth Amendment, and County Claims

The court dismissed the excessive-force claim because Moore attributed the force during the cell transfer to unnamed emergency response team members who were not defendants. Moore did not allege that C.O. Lee, Sgt. Bonds, or R.N. Bishop were personally involved in that force. Any excessive-force claim against Westchester County or C.C.S. also failed because it relied on organizational responsibility rather than allegations of their own unconstitutional conduct.

The court dismissed Moore’s Fourth Amendment claim because it found no plausible factual basis for it. It also dismissed his claims against Westchester County and C.C.S. alleging an unconstitutional county or company policy, practice, or failure to train because Moore had not adequately pleaded an underlying constitutional violation.

Disposition

Judge Vincent L. Briccetti granted both motions to dismiss. The court concluded that another opportunity to amend would be futile because Moore had already been allowed twice to amend and the problems with the second amended complaint were substantive. The Clerk was instructed to terminate the motions and close the case. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Moore permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.