### IN THE COURT OF APP EALS OF TENNESS EE ATJAC KSON A SS IG N E D ONBRIE FS N O V E MB E R 2 4, 200 9 WI LLI E WASH v. CORRECT IO NAL CORPORATI ON OF AMERI CA, ET AL 

### . D irec t A p p ea l f

ro m th e C ircu it C o u rt fo r H a rd em a n C o u n ty N o. 08- 02- 0371 J. W eber M cC raw , Judge

N o. W 2008- 02856- C O A - R 3- C V - F i l ed F ebruary 18, 2010

A pp el l ant f

i l ed a co m plai nt al l eging va ri ou s cau ses of act i on againstnu m erous defenda nts
. T he tr i al cour tdi s m i s s ed hi s com pl ai ntforfai l ur e t o com pl y w i t h t he r equi r em ent s of T enn. C o d e An n . § 4 1

- 2 1

- 8 0 1 , e ts e q . W e a f f i r m.

T enn. R . A pp. P . 3; A ppeal as of R i ght ; Judgm ent of

t he C i rcui t C ourt A f

f i rm ed A L AN E. H I GHERS , P .J ., W

. S. , del i ver ed the opi ni on of the C our t , i n w hi ch D AV I D R. F ARMER , J

. , and H OL L Y M. K I RBY , J

. , j oi ned. W illie W a s h , W h ite v ille , T e n n e s s e e , pro se N o B r i ef f

i l ed on beha l f of the appe l l eeTenn. R

. C t. App . 1 0 st at es : 1 This Co urt, with the co ncurren ce o f all judg es p articipatingin the ca se, m ay affirm , re v erse or modify

the actions of thetrial co urt by memorand

um op inion whe n a forma l opin ion w ould hav e no pr ec ed enti al v alue . Wh en a ca se is de ci de d by m emor an dum o pi ni on it s ha ll be d esignated “MEMO RA ND UM O PI

NI ON ”, shall n ot bepu

blished , and shall n ot becited or relied on for any reaso n in any

unrelated case.

Tenne ss eeC od e Ann ot at ed s ec ti on 4 1- 21

- 80 1, e t s eq . g ov er

ns law suit s by

inm at es . Th e tria l c ourt 2 di d no t s pe ci fy

whi chr eq

ui re m ents w er e no t met
. -2- M E M OR AN DU M OP I NI ON 1 I. F ACTS & P ROCEDURAL H I ST ORY W i l l i e W as h ( “A ppel l ant ”) i s an i nm at e appa r ent l yhous ed i n a fa ci l i t ym anage d by C o rrecti o n s C o rpo rati o n o f A m erica (“ C C A ”). A p p ell an t fi led a co m p lai n tagai ns tnum er ous defe ndant s , i ncl udi ng C C A , i n t he H ar deman C ount yC i rcu i tC our ton O ct ober30, 2008, al l egi ng, among other t hi ngs , i nadequa t e l egal as s i s t ance and medi cal car e. O n N ovember 6 , 2 0 0 8 , th e trial co u rt d ism iss e d th e c o m p lain t f o r f a ilu re to c o m p lyw ith th e re q u ire m e n ts o f T e n n e ss e e C o d e A n n o tate d se c tio n 4 1 -2 1 -8 0 1 , e t s e q . A p p e llan t ti m e lya p p e a led to th is 2 C o u rt
. II. I SSUES P RESENT ED O n a p p e a l, A p p e llan t p re se n ts th e f o llo w in g iss u e f

o r re v iew , as w e p e rc e iv e it: 1

. W h e th e r th e trial c o u rt e rre d in d ism iss in g A p p e llan t’s c o m p lain t.

III . D I SC US SI ON W hen cons i der i ng an appe al fr om a tr i al cour t ’ s gr ant of a m ot i on t o di s m i s s , w e t ake al l al l egat i ons of fa ctin the co m p l ai ntas t rue, and w e r evi ew t he tr i al cour t ’ s l egal con cl usi on s de novo w ith n o p re s u m p tio n o f c o rr e c tn e s s . T en n . R . A p p . P . 1 3 (d ); O wens v. T r ucks tops of

A m er i ca , 9 1 5 S

. W

. 2 d 4 2 0 , 4 2 4 (T en n . 1 9 9 6 ). T he r ecor d befor e us cont ai ns s even “ I nm at e G r i evanc es ” fi l ed by A ppel l antbetw een D ec em ber2007 and O ct ober2008. O n D ece m ber17, 2007, A ppel l antfi l ed a gr i evanc e cl ai m i ng thathe had be en deni ed acce s s t o t he corr ect i onal fac i l i t y ’ s l aw l i br ary , and thatan-3-

offi cerhad “i nt er fer ed w i t h [hi s ] cour tdates.” T he fol l ow i ng day , A ppel l antr ece i ved an “I nappr opr i at e G r i evanc e N ot i fi cat i on” s t at i ng t hat hi s r eques t ed s ol ut i on w as out s i de of the boar d’ s di s cr et i on, and ther efor e thathi s gr i evanc e coul d notbe pr oces s ed. A g ain, on Ja n u a ry9 , 2 0 0 8 , A p p e llan t f iled a g rie v a n c e c laim in g th a t h e w a s d e n ied a c c e ss to th e c o u rts an d to the law li b rary . A n “In ap p rop ri ate G ri ev an ce N o tificati o n ” re g ard ing A p p ell an t’ s cl ai m w as r ender ed on J anuary14, 2008, fi ndi ng the gr i evanc e i nappr opr i at e, as A ppel l ant had al r eadyfi l ed a gr i evanc e on the i s s ue, and s t at i ng t hatt he gr i eva n ce co u ld notbe pr oces s ed bec aus e i tl acke d s peci fi c det ai l s as r equi r ed bythe I nm at e G r i evanc e H andbook. A ppel l antal s o fi l ed gr i evanc es r egar di ng t he l ack of a t r as h can i n hi s cel l , cl ai m i ng der ogat or y r emar ks w er e made byan off i cer , and al l egi ng unpr ofes s i onal conductand s exual har as s m entbyoffi cer s . E ach gr i evanc e w as deemed i nappr opr i at e orot herw i s e di s m i s s ed i n document s dat ed F ebruary , A pr i l , and J une 2008, r es pect i vel y . A ppel l antfi l ed a gr i evanc e on J ul y 17, 2008, cl ai m i ng t hat a fa ci l i t ynur s e had i nt er fer ed w i t h hi s acc es s t o m edi cal car e. A ppel l antcont ended, among ot hert h ings , t hatt he nur s e pr event ed hi m fr om s eei ng t he doct or , that s he negl ect ed t o t r i m hi s t oe nai l s , and thats he fa i l ed t o pr ovi de hi m w i t h foot cr eam and l ot i on. A gai n, on A ugus t4, 2 0 0 8 , A p pel l ant ’ s gr i evanc e w as deemed i nappr opr i at e bec aus e i tw as not fi l ed w i t hi n s even day s of t he occurr ence gi vi ng r i s e t o t he gr i evanc e, and bec aus e i tr ai s ed mul t i pl e i s s ues . A ddi t i onal l y , a J ul y29, 2008 “R es pons e of Super v i s o ro f

Gr i e v e d Emp l o y e e o rDep a r t me n t ” was s u b mi t t e d i n d i c a t i n g th a tApp el l ant h a d s e e n th e n u r s e t e n t i m e s , t h e d o c t o r f o u r t i m e s , a n d th e n u r s e p r a c t i t i o n e ro n c e . F i n a l l y, A ppel l ant fi l ed a gr i evanc e of O ct ober 2, 2008, al l egi ng he had been deni ed t r eatm entbyan ey e doct or . W e fi nd not hi ng i n t he r ecor d i ndi cat i ng t he gr i evanc e comm i t t ee’ s di s pos i t i on o f th e O c to b e r 2 n d c la im

.

T enn essee C od e A nn otat ed sect i on 41 -21-806 st at es: ( a) A n i nm at e w ho fi l es a cl ai m t hati s s ubj ectt o r evi ew byt he gr i evan ce c o m m itt e e e sta b lish e d b y th e d e p a rtm e n t s h a ll f ile w ith th e c o u rt a n a f

f id a v it s t at i ng t he dat e the gr i evanc e w as fi l ed a n d the d ate the fi nal deci s i on w as r ece i ved byt he inm ate w i t h a copyof the fi nal deci s i on fr om t he gr i evanc e comm i t t ee. (b) T h e c o u rtsh all d ism iss th e c lai m if th e inm ate f ail s to f il e the claim b ef

o re the thi r t y - fi r s tday aft er t he dat e the i nm at e r ece i ves t he fi nal deci s i on fr om t he gr i evanc e comm i t t ee. (c ) If a c laim is fil ed b ef o re the g ri ev an ce p roc ed u re is co m p let e, th e c o u rt s hal l s t ayt he pr ocee di ng w i th r es pect t o t he cl ai m fora per i od nott o exce edWe no te that the rec ord contain s no indication that the griev ance proced ure h ad n ot be en c om

pleted 3 prior to the filing of App ellant’s com plaint, such that a stay of the trial court procee ding s w as n ecessary . See Ten n. Cod e A nn. § 41-21 -806(c)

. -4- n in e ty (9 0 ) d a y s to p e rm it c o m p le tio n o f th e g ri e v a n c e p ro c e d u re . In h is c o m p lain t to th e trial c o u rt, A p p e llan t id e n tifie s n u m e ro u s c a u se s o f a c tio n , all of w hi ch s t em from the above- m ent i oned gr i evanc es . T he caus es of act i on al l eged i ncl ude the d en ial o f f

o o t cre am an d h ea lth ca re a cc ess, be ing serv ed low -qu ali tyfo o d , the n u rse’s fai l ur e t o tr i m hi s t oe nai l s , i nadequa t e l aw l i br ary s uppl i es , and hi s need for presc ri p ti on glas ses. W e fi nd t hat as t o each cause o f act i on , w i t h the excep t i on of A pp el l ant’ s cl a im reg ard ing ey e c are , m o re tha n thirty -on e d ay s p asse d b etw ee n the g ri ev an ce co m m ittee’s deci s i on r egar di ng s uch and the fi l i ng of A ppel l ant ’ s compl ai nti n t he t r i al cour t on O ct ober 30, 2008. A ccor di ngl y , w e fi nd t hatthe tr i al cour tpr oper l ydi s m i s s ed thes e cl ai m s pur s uant to T en n esse e C o d e A n n o tat ed sec ti o n 4 1 -21 -80 6 (b). A s w e st at ed above, t he re cor d befor e us cont ai ns no aff i davi ts t at i ng the gr i evanc e comm i t t ee’ s deci s i on r egar di ng A ppel l ant ’ s ey e ca r e cl ai m . T hus , w e fi nd t hatA ppel l ant 3 has fai l ed t o s at i s fyt he r equi r ement s of Tennes s ee Code Ann o t a t e ds e c t i o n 4 1

- 21- 806( a) , and w e a f f ir m th e tr ia l c o u rt ’s d is m is s a l o f th is c a u s e o f

a c tio n . See Far nswort h v. K enya , N o. W 20 01 -0096 1-C O A -R 3-C V , 20 02 W L 54 39 2, at *3 -4 (Ten n. C t
. A pp . Jan 9, 20 0 2 ); R e id v. Lutc he N o. 01- A

- 01- 9803- C H 00168, 1999 W L 166543, at2- 3 ( T enn. C t
. A pp. M ar . 29, 1 9 9 9 ).

I V. C ONC L US I ON F o r th e af

o rem en ti o n ed rea so n s, w e af firm the tri al co u rt ’s dism issal of A p p ell an t’ s comp lai n t. C o st s of thi s appea l ar e t axed t o A ppel l ant , W i l l i e W as h, forw hi ch exe cut i on m a y i s s u e i f

n e c e s s a r y.

_________________________________ A LA N E. H I G H ER S, P. J

. , W

. S.