Sean Rose v. Khorey J. Anderton, Jeremy McBride, Kay Lowery, Shane Tasky, Richard Miles, Joshua Cheek, Michael Clark, and Latoya Hughes

Summary

The court resolves motions for summary judgment concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act in Sean Rose’s civil rights action arising from his incarceration at Big Muddy River Correctional Center. The court denies Defendant Lowery’s motion, grants in part and denies in part the IDOC Defendants’ motion, and dismisses Defendant Latoya Hughes without prejudice for failure to exhaust. The court lifts the stay on merits discovery.

Holdings

1. Defendant Lowery failed to establish that Plaintiff did not exhaust available administrative remedies for the claims against her; her motion for summary judgment was denied.
2. Plaintiff sufficiently exhausted his Count 1 Eighth Amendment claim against Clark and Anderton; the IDOC Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment was denied as to that claim.
3. Plaintiff exhausted his claims against Tasky because the grievances described the relevant adjustment-committee proceedings and attached a document identifying Tasky as the hearing committee chair; summary judgment was denied as to Tasky.
4. Plaintiff failed to exhaust his claims against Hughes because none of his grievances named Hughes or provided a description sufficient to identify her; Hughes and the claims against her were dismissed without prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff exhausted available administrative remedies for his claims against Defendant Lowery.
2. Whether Plaintiff exhausted his Eighth Amendment cold-cell claim against Defendants Clark and Anderton.
3. Whether Plaintiff exhausted his claims against Defendants Tasky and Hughes by providing sufficient identifying information in his grievances.
4. Whether the ARB's responses and procedural requirements rendered administrative remedies unavailable or thwarted Plaintiff's attempts to exhaust.

Disposition

other