Massey v. New York City Department of Corrections

Background

Tyrone H. Massey, proceeding without a lawyer, sued the City of New York, Correction Officer Palmentari, Captain John Doe, Correction Officer John Doe, and Dr. Ho under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that, after a fire started in his jail cell at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island on May 5, 2020, defendants denied his requests for medical attention and did not let him leave the cell for ten hours while it was filled with smoke. He alleged lasting breathing problems, chest pains, headaches, blurry vision, eye pain, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress.

The City of New York and Palmentari moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that Massey had not exhausted the available administrative remedies. Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman recommended granting the motion as to those defendants and dismissing the claims against Ho and the John Doe defendants. No party objected to the recommendation.

Exhaustion requirement

The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires prisoners, including people detained before trial, to complete available administrative remedies before bringing a lawsuit about prison conditions under § 1983. The New York City Department of Correction’s grievance process required an inmate to file a grievance and request a formal hearing, appeal to the facility warden or designee, appeal to the Department of Correction’s central review committee, and appeal to the New York City Board of Correction.

The court found that Massey did not complete this process. In his complaint, Massey stated, “I have not written any grievance,” and the court found no indication elsewhere in his submissions that he had followed any of the required steps concerning the fire and alleged denial of medical care.

The court also rejected Massey’s reasons for not exhausting the process. His general fear that correctional personnel would retaliate or intimidate him was not enough because he did not allege specific supporting facts. The court also found that the grievance process was not unavailable merely because some of Massey’s earlier grievances had been returned as non-grievable staff-discipline complaints or had gone unanswered. The process included procedures for responding when officials did not answer, and Massey did not use those procedures. In addition, the court found that his medical-care allegations were grievable through that process.

Ruling and disposition

After reviewing the unobjected-to recommendation for clear error, Judge George B. Daniels found no error and adopted the recommendation in full. The court held that Massey’s failure to exhaust was not excused. Because the grievance process required filing within ten days of the event and more than a year had passed since the May 5, 2020 fire, the court concluded that exhaustion was no longer possible and that the defect could not be corrected.

The court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss. It dismissed the claims with prejudice against the City of New York and Palmentari, and also dismissed with prejudice the claims against Ho and the John Doe defendants, even though those defendants had not been served or appeared. The clerk was directed to close the motion and the case.