Opinion ID: 773932
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Shirley Robinson, Youth Development Aide in Unit 7

Text: 72 As a youth development aide, Robinson performed a role that was similar to a YDC counselor's: providing security in the units and monitoring resident interactions. As with Burley, the plaintiffs' claims against Robinson involve only direct liability. The plaintiffs proffer the following two acts as evidence of Robinson's deliberate indifference: (1) when Beers-Capitol told Robinson that Whetzel impregnated her, Robinson's first response was to say, Well, you know you can get in trouble making accusations like that,; and (2) Robinson delayed reporting Beers-Capitol's allegation to her supervisor (although it is unclear from the record exactly how long this delay was, as Robinson's and Earnhart's testimony differ on this point). Because these actions by Robinson occurred after Beers-Capitol's abuse, and the plaintiffs present no evidence regarding Robinson's awareness of Whetzel's activities before that abuse, Beers-Capitol has presented no evidence to support her deliberate indifference claim against Robinson. See Lewis v. Richards, 107 F.3d 549, 553 (7th Cir. 1997). Tate, however, has a potential direct deliberate indifference claim against Robinson, as her abuse occurred after Robinson's actions, and Tate can argue that these actions are evidence that, by the time of Tate's abuse, Robinson was aware of the risk Whetzel posed to the female residents but was indifferent to this risk. 73 Nevertheless, we conclude that the above-described evidence is an insufficient basis for inferring that Robinson knowingly and unreasonably disregarded an objectively intolerable risk of harm. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 846. The plaintiffs' evidence contains only a single instance where Robinson was informed of an allegation against Whetzel. Moreover, she did report this allegation to her supervisor (albeit after a short delay). While Robinson's response to the allegation--telling Beers-Capitol that you can get in trouble making allegations like that--was certainly inappropriate given her responsibilities as a youth development aide, this impropriety is not enough to show deliberate indifference. Furthermore, Robinson did report the allegation to her supervisor, which was a reasonable response. Although Robinson delayed her report somewhat, this minor delay surely had little or no effect on Whetzel's risk to Tate, who was not yet at YDC at the time of Beers-Capitol's allegation. 74 The most that Tate can claim is that Robinson's original response to Beers-Capitol and her delay in reporting the allegation made Beers-Capitol less likely to continue to maintain her allegation when later questioned. As with Flecher, however, such evidence goes to the adequacy of Robinson's response to the risk, and we do not reach that question until we determine that there is a genuine issue of as to Robinson's awareness of the risk. One allegation, later denied, is not sufficient evidence for us to infer that Robinson knew or must have known of the risk to Tate. We therefore affirm the grant of summary judgment for Robinson.