Donte S. Harris, Jr. v. Jordan Kijek et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment on exhaustion grounds in Donte Harris, Jr.’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. The court held that Harris failed to exhaust his retaliation claim because his inmate complaints did not identify protected activity or connect that activity to Defendant Jordan Kijek’s alleged destruction of his property. The retaliation claim was dismissed without prejudice, while the court allowed for potential summary judgment motions concerning the remaining Eighth Amendment claims.

Holdings

1. A prisoner asserting retaliation must provide prison officials with notice of the protected activity that allegedly motivated the retaliatory conduct and connect that activity to the defendant's conduct. Harris failed to exhaust because his inmate complaints did not allege that he threatened to file an inmate complaint or that Kijek discarded his property because of that threat.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Harris exhausted available administrative remedies for his retaliation claim by filing inmate complaints that did not identify the protected activity allegedly motivating Kijek's retaliatory conduct.
2. Whether Defendants were entitled to partial summary judgment on the exhaustion issue.

Disposition

dismissed