Kevon Houston v. Nicole Brown and Lisa Payne

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin grants summary judgment to Nicole Brown and Lisa Payne in Kevon Houston’s 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action. The court holds that the failure to enter or communicate a temporary low-bunk restriction, even if negligent or grossly negligent, did not establish deliberate indifference under the Eighth Amendment.

Holdings

1. Brown was entitled to summary judgment because Houston presented no evidence that she personally participated in or was directly responsible for the failure to enter or communicate Payne's temporary low-bunk restriction, and supervisory status does not create vicarious liability under § 1983.
2. Payne was entitled to summary judgment because no reasonable jury could find that she intentionally failed to enter or communicate the temporary low-bunk restriction, and any failure was, at most, inadvertence, negligence, or medical malpractice rather than deliberate indifference.
3. Summary judgment was proper for both defendants because, viewing the evidence in Houston's favor, no reasonable jury could find an Eighth Amendment violation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the failure to enter or communicate Houston's temporary low-bunk restriction constituted deliberate indifference to a serious medical need in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
2. Whether Health Services Manager Brown was personally involved in, or directly responsible for, the alleged constitutional deprivation.
3. Whether Nurse Payne's failure to ensure that the temporary restriction was entered into institutional records or communicated to security personnel amounted to more than negligence or medical malpractice.
4. Whether defendants were entitled to summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56.

Disposition

other