United States District Court, W.D. Arkansas, Texarkana Division
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
HON.
BARRY A. BRYANT UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Before
the Court is a Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 11) filed by
Defendant Sevier County, Arkansas. Plaintiff filed a Response
(ECF No. 14) and Defendant Sevier County filed a Reply. (ECF
No. 15). Pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. §
636(b)(1) and (3)(2011), the Honorable Susan O. Hickey, Chief
United States District Judge, referred this case to the
undersigned for the purpose of making a Report and
Recommendation.
I.
BACKGROUND
The
instant motion is based on the doctrine of res
judicata. Defendant Sevier County argues Plaintiff's
claims are barred because they were previously brought in
Everhart v. Gentry, et al, Civil No. 4:17-cv-04113
and dismissed with prejudice. Accordingly, the Court will
first discuss the issues and claims decided in the 2017
lawsuit.
A.
Plaintiff's 2017 Lawsuit
On
December 7, 2017, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit pro se
under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the Eastern District of
Arkansas against the following Defendants: Sharon Flournoy, a
nurse employed by Southern Health Partners, Inc. the third
party medical provider for the Sevier County Detention Center
(“SCDC”); Deputy Chris Walcott, the jail
administrator for the SCDC; and Robert Gentry, the Sheriff of
Sevier County. (ECF No. 2). The case was transferred to the
Western District, Texarkana Division, on December 11, 2017.
(ECF No. 4). Plaintiff claimed these Defendants denied him
medical care while he was incarcerated in the SCDC between
August 20, 2017, and October 25, 2017, when they ignored his
complaints of pain from his hernia and ulcers in his mouth
and when his medications were “messed up” and
improperly dispensed to him on three occasions. Plaintiff
also claimed his constitutional rights were violated when
Defendant Walcott refused to provide him with copies of his
grievances. Plaintiff sued Defendants in their official and
individual capacities and sought “compensation for pain
and suffering, emotional distress and mental anguish”.
(ECF No. 2, p. 6).
On July
25, 2018, Nurse Flournoy filed a summary judgment motion and
brief in support arguing she was not deliberately indifferent
to Plaintiff's serious medical needs and “no policy
or custom of Southern Health Partners, Inc. caused Plaintiff
to suffer any unconstitutional harm.” (ECF No. 33, 35,
p. 7). Plaintiff filed a Response in opposition to the motion
on August 15, 2018. (ECF No. 41). On September 11, 2018,
Robert Gentry and Chris Walcott filed a summary judgment
motion and brief in support arguing in relevant part they
were not deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff's medical
needs and there was no basis for official capacity liability
against their employer Sevier County. (ECF No. 42). On
October 2, 2018, Plaintiff filed a Response in opposition to
Gentry and Walcott's motion. (ECF No. 46).
On
December 20, 2018, the Court issued a Memorandum Opinion and
Order granting in part and denying in part Defendants'
motions for summary judgment. (ECF No. 47). Specifically, the
Court found Southern Health Partners, Inc. was under contract
with the SCDC to provide healthcare services to inmates
housed at the SCDC and Nurse Sharon Flournoy was an employee
of Southern Health Partners, Inc. According to the affidavit
of Nurse Sharon Flournoy, there was no policy of Southern
Health Partners, Inc. that prohibited treatment of Plaintiff
for his medical conditions. (ECF. 35-1, p. 3). Plaintiff did
not dispute this. In addition, the Court discussed in detail
the policies of the SCDC regarding medical care for all
inmates housed in the facility and found the summary judgment
record demonstrated Sevier County and Southern Health
Partners, Inc. had policies in place to provide adequate
medical care to Plaintiff and other inmates at the Sevier
County Jail in 2017. Id.
The
Court dismissed with prejudice all official capacity claims
against Defendants Gentry, Walcott and Flournoy finding
Plaintiff failed to produce evidence of any policy or custom
of Sevier County or Southern Health Partners, Inc. which
contributed to the alleged violation of Plaintiff's
constitutional rights. Id. at p. 19. However, the
Court denied summary judgment on Plaintiff's individual
capacity claims against Nurse Flournoy and Chris Walcott for
denial of medical care based on Plaintiff's complaints of
pain. (ECF No. 67). The 2017 lawsuit is currently set for a
jury trial on March 30, 2020. (ECF No. 69).
B.
Plaintiff's 2019 Lawsuit
Plaintiff
filed the instant case pro se pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983 on August 14, 2019. (ECF No. 1). In response to
this Court's order, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint
on September 5, 2019. (ECF No. 5). Plaintiff is asserting
claims against Defendants Sevier County and Southern Health
Partners, Inc. for denial of medical care based on inadequate
polices, failure to abide by the policies in place, and
failure to train their employees. (ECF No. 5).
In his
first claim Plaintiff states Defendant Sevier County and
Southern Health Partners, Inc. were “deliberately
indifferent/conflicting medical policies and
procedures” between August 26, 2017, through October
25, 2017, “even when constituted a medical emergency on
several different occasions, one of which I was taken to
emergency room…”. (ECF No. 5, p. 4). Plaintiff
states the SCDC's and Southern Health Partners Inc.'s
“medical (emergency) policies and procedures are in
direct conflict with one another …for instance SCDC
states all staff trained to handle medical emergencies/to
handled immediately, then states all medical is to be handled
by SHP Inc.'s reference jail policies for further/more
specific instructions…” Id. at p. 5.
In
Claim Two, Plaintiff alleges between August 26, 2017 and
October 25, 2017, Southern Health Partners Inc.'s
“continuous operation while chronically understaffed,
resulting in denial of medical care even when constituted a
medical emergency, falsifying/forged document/medical
records, operation outside scopes of practice from
personel…” (ECF No. 5, p. 5). Plaintiff goes on
to state Southern Health Partners Inc.'s website states
“specifically to provide a higher than standard quality
of medical care and that they reduce risk & impact of
negative events involving inmate medical are through
training, processes and supervision yet failed to meet the
genuine medical needs of myself…due to understaffing
…” Id. at p. 6.
In
Claim Three, Plaintiff alleges Defendants Sevier County and
Southern Health Partners Inc. failed to properly
“train, supervise/evaluate its staff/medical personel
to ensure all applicable standards are met & adequate
medical care provided”. Plaintiff claims Defendants
“allowed its personal to deny/delay medical care
leaving me subject to further injury, ...