Gunnar George Tempest v. Zoure Daouda

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed Gunnar George Tempest’s complaint alleging that a nurse practitioner violated the Eighth Amendment by failing to place him in a disability-accessible cell after shoulder surgery. The court held that the allegations did not plausibly show conscious disregard of a serious risk to his health or safety and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his Wisconsin medical-negligence claim. The court granted Tempest until March 2, 2026, to file an amended complaint.

Holdings

1. Tempest failed to plausibly allege an Eighth Amendment claim because the complaint did not show both an objectively serious risk of harm and that Daouda consciously disregarded that risk.
2. The allegations against unidentified medical staff failed to state a plausible Eighth Amendment claim because those individuals were not named as defendants in the caption and the allegations were too vague to show conscious disregard or causation.
3. After dismissing the federal claim, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the related state-law medical-negligence claim, without deciding its merits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Tempest plausibly alleged that Daouda consciously disregarded an objectively serious risk to his health or safety in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
2. Whether allegations concerning unidentified medical staff's failure to provide a recovery packet or verbal instructions stated a plausible Eighth Amendment claim.
3. Whether the federal court should exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Tempest's Wisconsin medical-negligence claim after dismissing the federal claim.

Disposition

dismissed