Opinion ID: 1358526
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adequacy of the Pleadings and Leave to Amend

Text: Although the district court found that Shomo was entitled to amend his complaint in order to state timely Eighth Amendment claims based on the continuing violation doctrine, it nonetheless dismissed those claims against several defendants, with prejudice, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We review de novo a district court's grant of a motion to dismiss, accepting all factual allegations in the complaint as true, and drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiff's favor. Chambers v. Time Warner, Inc., 282 F.3d 147, 152 (2d Cir.2002). To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to `state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). [A] pro se complaint is to be read liberally, and should not [be] dismiss[ed] without granting leave to amend at least once when a liberal reading of the complaint gives any indication that a valid claim might be stated. Gomez, 171 F.3d at 795 (quotation marks and alterations omitted). Here, the district court properly dismissed Shomo's claims with prejudice as to certain defendants, but should have granted leave to amend as to other defendants.
The complaint alleged that Corrections Officer Little injured Shomo by grabbing and pulling him against the bars of a jail cell on March 11, 2000. The district court properly characterized the facts as alleging an assault that cannot be construed as part of a deliberate medical indifference claim, and to which the continuing violation doctrine would not apply. [2] Because the alleged assault occurred more than three years before filing of the complaint, the assault claim is time-barred and was properly dismissed with prejudice. The complaint also alleged a single incident on September 7, 1999, in which Captain Swartz handcuffed Shomo to another prisoner, contrary to an order that Shomo be handcuffed at the waist with a belt, resulting in Shomo's injuring his left arm. The continuing violation doctrine does not apply to the claim against Swartz because there is no indication that Shomo is able to allege acts involving Swartz that fall within the three-year statutory period. The claim against Swartz relating to the September 7, 1999 incident was properly dismissed as untimely. However, because the handcuffing is alleged to have been in contravention of medical orders, the Swartz incident may still be relevant to any claim against the City.
Dr. Francois was alleged to have denied Shomo's request for a second opinion after an October 13, 1999, medical examination that concluded Shomo had no indication for treatment of any kind and may do ADLs. The only reasonable inference from these allegations is that Dr. Francois was following a previous recommendation contained in the October 13, 1999, examination report. Because the denial of Shomo's request for a second opinion does not fall within a policy of disregarding medical recommendations, the continuing violation doctrine does not apply to the claim against Dr. Francois, the claim is time-barred, and it was properly dismissed without leave to amend. Dr. Singh was alleged to have provided Shomo with care on a few occasions. Although the complaint alleges that on one occasion Dr. Singh refused to perform a physical examination or to refer Shomo for a second opinion, Dr. Singh inquired about Shomo's ailments and prescribed medication. See Chance v. Armstrong, 143 F.3d 698, 703 (2d Cir.1998) (So long as the treatment given is adequate, the fact that a prisoner might prefer a different treatment does not give rise to an Eighth Amendment violation.). Even assuming these facts could make out a claim of deliberate indifference, the claim against Dr. Singh is time-barred. There is no allegation that Dr. Singh ignored a medical recommendation nor any indication that Shomo had further contact with Dr. Singh after September 26, 2000. Accordingly, the claim was properly dismissed with prejudice. The complaint names Physician Assistant Wright, but alleges no wrongful conduct. Absent any allegations of wrongful acts that could relate to conduct within the statutory time period, Shomo's claim against Physician Assistant Wright was also properly dismissed without leave to amend.
Shomo named DOC Commissioner William J. Fraser, DOC Deputy Commissioner Eric Perry, and several unnamed supervisors as defendants in the complaint. The only allegation pertaining to these defendants is that Shomo filed complaints with Commissioner Fraser and Deputy Commissioner Perry's offices. It is well settled in this Circuit that personal involvement of defendants in alleged constitutional deprivations is a prerequisite to an award of damages under § 1983. Colon v. Coughlin, 58 F.3d 865, 873 (2d Cir.1995) (quotation marks omitted). Given Shomo's failure to allege the supervisors' personal involvement in the alleged Eighth Amendment violations, the district court properly ruled that Shomo failed to state valid claims against the supervisors. Even so, we conclude that Shomo should be granted leave to replead against these defendants. The district court determined that Shomo's complaint was inadequate because there were no allegations that Fraser and Perry were aware of the violations, that grievances sent to the supervisors notified them of constitutional violations, or that the supervisors acted or failed to act in a way that caused any constitutional violations. It is possible that Shomo could remedy the inadequacies identified by the district court. Because we cannot `rule out any possibility, however unlikely it might be, that an amended complaint would succeed in stating a claim,' Cruz v. Gomez, 202 F.3d 593, 597-98 (2d Cir.2000) (quoting Gomez, 171 F.3d at 795), we remand for Shomo to replead his claims against the named and unnamed supervisors.
To ultimately prevail on his municipal liability claim against the City, Shomo must establish that violations of his constitutional rights were precipitated by a municipal policy or custom. Vann v. City of New York, 72 F.3d 1040, 1049 (2d Cir. 1995). As stated above, Shomo's complaint is replete with allegations of medical and security staff repeatedly refusing to provide treatment in accordance with medical recommendations. The district court found that Shomo fail[ed] to identify any municipal or DOC policy or custom that caused his injuries. In the district court's view, Shomo could not assert a municipal policy where he was seen by many doctors and received numerous medical tests. However, the policy alleged by Shomo is one of regularly disregarding medical recommendations concerning proper treatment. That Shomo was frequently seen by doctors who administered tests does not establish the absence of the aforesaid policy. To satisfy application of the continuing violation doctrine, Shomo will need to allege the persistence of the municipal policy and non-time-barred acts indicating the acquiescence of policy-making officials in subordinates' misconduct. Shomo points to a number of medical recommendations that purportedly were made after September 26, 2000, including requests that Shomo be transferred to specialized housing and receive a neurological evaluation, and a notation on one of his medical records stating please help ADLs. Shomo could support application of the continuing violation doctrine with allegations that policy-making officials were aware that medical recommendations were deliberately ignored. Where the complaint already contains allegations of disregarded medical recommendations from before the statutory time period, it is possible that Shomo will be able to adequately set forth similar allegations as to recommendations made after September 26, 2000. Accordingly, we remand for Shomo to replead his municipal liability claim against the City. Because Shomo's complaint can be read to allege that St. Barnabas Hospital had a similar policy as a medical provider on behalf of DOC and it is possible that Shomo can allege non-time-barred acts in furtherance of the policy, we also remand for Shomo to replead his Section 1983 claim against St. Barnabas Hospital. [3]