Traore v. NYC Department of Corrections

Background

Abdoulaye Traore, who was representing himself, sued the New York City Department of Correction and “Medical Staff at Rikers Island” under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that he was taken into custody on a parole violation on November 9, 2021, and that officials at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island did not provide his prescription mental-health medication for weeks. He alleged that the lack of medication caused him to become mentally unstable and fearful. He said that he called 311 more than 40 times and that his criminal defense attorney called the jail numerous times to complain. He sought money damages.

Screening standard

Because Traore was allowed to proceed without paying filing fees, the court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). That law requires dismissal of an action, or part of an action, that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim for relief, or seeks money from an immune defendant. The court also explained that self-represented complaints are read liberally, but they still must provide enough factual detail to make a claim plausible.

Claims against the Department of Correction and the City

The court dismissed Traore’s claims against the New York City Department of Correction because a New York City agency generally is not an entity that can be sued. Because Traore clearly intended to assert claims against New York City, the court construed the complaint as asserting claims against the City of New York and directed the Clerk of Court to replace the Department with the City in the caption. The court stated that this amendment was without prejudice to defenses the City might assert.

The court explained that a municipality cannot be held liable under Section 1983 solely because one of its employees allegedly committed wrongdoing. Traore needed to allege facts showing that a City policy, custom, or practice caused the violation. The court found that he had not alleged facts suggesting that the City had a policy, custom, or practice of failing to provide detainees with required medication. It granted him leave to amend to provide such facts.

Claims against “Medical Staff at Rikers Island”

The court dismissed the claims against “Medical Staff at Rikers Island” because a general medical-staff designation does not identify a person who can be sued under Section 1983. The dismissal was without prejudice to Traore pursuing claims against individual Department employees who allegedly violated his rights. The court allowed him to identify unknown individuals as “John Doe” or “Jane Doe,” while providing available identifying information such as physical characteristics or badge numbers.

Inadequate medical care

The court assumed for purposes of the order that Traore’s claim arose under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because he was detained as a parole violator. It explained that an inadequate-medical-care claim requires facts showing both a sufficiently serious medical risk and that the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly failed to take reasonable care despite knowing, or having reason to know, of an excessive risk to the detainee’s health or safety. Negligence alone is not enough.

The court found that Traore had not pleaded enough facts to state this claim. He gave few details about the nature of his mental illness and did not say how long he was without medication. Although he alleged that he and his attorney complained to the jail, he did not identify an individual who failed to provide the medication while knowing, or having reason to know, of the risk to him. The court therefore concluded that he had not stated a Section 1983 claim for inadequate medical care.

Leave to amend and disposition

The court granted Traore 60 days to file an amended complaint. The amended complaint must completely replace the original complaint and must include the facts and claims he wants the court to consider. The court directed him to identify relevant people, describe what each defendant did or failed to do and when and where it occurred, describe his injuries, and state the relief sought. For a claim against the City, he must allege a City policy, custom, or practice that caused the alleged violation. For claims against individual employees, he must allege facts about his condition and medication, identify personally involved employees, and show that they knew or should have known about a serious medical risk and disregarded it.

The court’s conclusion dismissed Traore’s claims against “Medical Staff at Rikers Island” for failure to state a claim and dismissed his claims against the New York City Department of Correction. It directed the Clerk to add the City of New York as a defendant and granted leave to amend. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that failure to amend within 60 days, absent good cause, would result in dismissal for failure to state a claim. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.