United States District Court, W.D. Michigan, Southern Division
Hon.
Paul L. Maloney Judge.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Ray
Kent United States Magistrate Judge.
This is
a pro se civil rights action brought by a prisoner
in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections
(MDOC). This matter is now before the Court on defendants
Mullins and Bunting's motion for summary judgment (ECF
No. 51).
I.
Background
Plaintiff's
complaint named the following MDOC employees at Ionia
Correctional Facility (ICF) as defendants: Assistant Resident
Unit Supervisor Lloyd Thurlsby; Inspector Miniard; Grievance
Coordinator C. Lewis; Capt. Cassel; Lt. Zwiker; Sgt.
Desrochers; Correctional Officer (CO) Mullins; Medical
Manager Jody Lebarre; Medical Supervisor Joanne Bunting; and
Nurses Nicole Doolittle and Unknown Cafiero. Opinion (ECF No.
5, PageID.56). The Court previously summarized
plaintiff's claims as follows:
Plaintiff's claims arise out of an incident at ICF on
April 3, 2016. On that date, Defendants Mullins and
Desrochers took Plaintiff to segregation for exhibiting
threatening behavior. On the way, Defendants Mullins and
Desrochers took Plaintiff to the shower area and ordered him
to strip for purposes of a search. Plaintiff handed his
clothing to Defendant Mullins. Plaintiff alleges that
Defendant Mullins, unbeknownst to Plaintiff, stepped to the
side and sprayed pepper spray on Plaintiff's undershorts.
When Plaintiff put on his clothing, he suffered a severe
burning sensation on his genitals, scrotum, and anus.
Plaintiff was handcuffed and taken to his segregation cell.
He was not supplied with soap and towels to permit him to
wash off the spray. The spray continued to chafe and burn.
Plaintiff requested medical care for the burns. Plaintiff
claims that Defendants Bunting and Cafiero would not provide
treatment for nearly a week. By that time, the burn had
subsided. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Doolittle also
refused to provide care because Plaintiff complained that the
officers had assaulted him.
Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Desrochers, Cassell,
Thurlsby, Miniard, Zwiker, and Lewis are responsible for
Defendant Mullins' actions because they failed to
supervise him or intervene, rectify, or investigate the
incident. (Complaint, ECF No. 1, PageID.5.) Similarly,
Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Lebarre failed to provide
corrective supervision for the health care provider
defendants. (Id., PageID.4-5.)
Id. at PageID.56-57 (footnote omitted). All
defendants have been dismissed from this case except for CO
Mullins and Medical Supervisor Bunting (named as
“Buntind” on the docket sheet). Now, defendants
Mullins and Bunting have moved for summary judgment.
II.
Defendants' motion for summary judgment
A.
Legal standard
“The
court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that
there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the
movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). Rule 56 further provides that a party
asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must
support the assertion by:
(A) citing to particular parts of materials in the record,
including depositions, documents, electronically stored
information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations
(including those made for purposes of the motion only),
admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials; or
(B) showing that the materials cited do not establish the
absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or that an adverse
party cannot produce ...