Opinion ID: 1202209
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Supplemental State Claims

Text: Having disposed of Williams's federal claims, we are left only with his supplemental state claims of malicious prosecution and willful and wanton denial of medical care. As a general matter, when all federal claims have been dismissed prior to trial, the federal court should relinquish jurisdiction over the remaining pendant state claims. Wright v. Associated Ins. Cos., 29 F.3d 1244, 1252 (7th Cir. 1994); Williams Electronics Games, Inc. v. Garrity, 479 F.3d 904, 906-07 (7th Cir. 2007). This rule however, is subject to three recognized exceptions: when the refilling of the state claims is barred by the statute of limitations; where substantial judicial resources have already been expended on the state claims; and when it is clearly apparent how the state claim is to be decided. Wright, 29 F.3d at 1251-52; Williams Electronics Games, 479 F.3d at 906-07. Although discovery in this case has been completed and thus judicial resources have already been expended to some degree, our reasoning with respect to Williams's federal § 1983 claims did not reach issues fully dispositive of Williams's pendant state claims. See Wright, 29 F.3d at 1251 (If the district court, in deciding a federal claim, decides an issue dispositive of a pendent claim, there is no use leaving the latter to the state court.). With respect to Williams's malicious prosecution claim, it is well-established that the existence of probable cause is a complete defense to such a claim. Logan v. Caterpillar, Inc., 246 F.3d 912, 926 (7th Cir.2001) (citing Cervantes v. Jones, 188 F.3d 805, 810-11 (7th Cir. 1999)); Mustafa v. City of Chicago, 442 F.3d 544, 547 (7th Cir.2006). Unlike the district court however, we have disposed of Williams's false arrest claim without needing to address whether probable cause existed to arrest Williams for the offenses for which he was prosecuted. See Bombard v. Fort Wayne Newspapers, Inc., 92 F.3d 560, 562 (7th Cir.1996) (In deciding an appeal, we may affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on a ground other than that relied upon by the district court below, so long as the alternative basis finds adequate support in the record.). Because we have not determined whether Officer Rodriguez lacked probable cause to arrest Williams for driving under the influence or obstruction of traffic, an essential element of an Illinois malicious prosecution claim, see Reynolds v. Menard, Inc., 365 Ill.App.3d 812, 303 Ill.Dec. 26, 850 N.E.2d 831, 837 (2006), we modify the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants on this claim to a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. Williams has also brought a state claim against all defendants for failure to provide him with medical care. Illinois's Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act provides that as a general matter, [n]either a local public entity nor a public employee is liable for injury proximately caused by the failure of the employee to furnish or obtain medical care for a prisoner in his custody. . . . 745 ILL. COMP. STAT. 10/4-105 (2004). This immunity however, does not apply where the employee, acting within the scope of his employment, knows from his observation of conditions that the prisoner is in need of immediate medical care and, through willful and wanton conduct, fails to take reasonable action to summon medical care. Id. This court has held that the willful and wanton [standard] is `remarkably similar' to the deliberate indifference standard. Chapman v. Keltner, 241 F.3d 842, 847 (7th Cir.2001) (citing Payne for Hicks v. Churchich, 161 F.3d 1030, 1041 n. 13 (7th Cir.1998)). With respect to Williams's claim under 745 ILL. COMP. STAT. 10/4-105 against Officer Rodriguez, our decision on Williams's federal deliberate indifference claim is dispositive of this issue. Although Officer Rodriguez did not argue whether he was subjectively deliberately indifferent to Williams's medical need, and thus similarly, does not apparently contest whether he subjectively acted willfully and wantonly, our reasoning that Williams's medical condition was not objectively serious similarly reflects that Officer Rodriguez did not know that Williams was in immediate need of medical care. As discussed above, Williams's statement that he had asthma, couldn't breathe, and needed his medication was made in response to Officer Rodriguez's request that Williams take a breathalyzer test, and thus does not, in context, reflect that Williams needed immediate medical care. Furthermore, Williams never requested at any other time that Officer Rodriguez provide him with his inhaler or take him to a hospital. In addition, although Williams's wife gave Officer Rodriguez Williams's inhaler, she never conveyed that Williams needed his inhaler because he was currently suffering from asthmatic symptoms. In fact, there is no evidence in the record indicating that Williams, aside from his efforts to minimize his talking to control his breathing, was exhibiting any physical symptoms of an asthma attack during processing. We therefore conclude that Officer Rodriguez did not know that Williams was in need of immediate medical care and thus affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment as it relates to Officer Rodriguez on this claim. The City of Chicago's liability under this section is premised on its vicarious liability for the actions of its employees. 745 ILL. COMP. STAT. 10/4-105. Therefore, because we have affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment on this claim for Officer Rodriguez, we similarly affirm summary judgment for the City of Chicago as it relates to its vicarious liability for Officer Rodriguez's conduct. The same however, does not apply to the City of Chicago's vicarious liability for the unnamed and unknown defendant or other City employees. First, for the same reasons we dismissed Williams's deliberate indifference claims against the unnamed and unknown defendant, the district court's grant of summary judgment is similarly modified to dismiss this defendant on this state law claim. Dismissing this unnamed defendant from the suit however, does not necessarily absolve the City of Chicago of liability for that employee's actions. Indeed, the City of Chicago conceded this in its brief to this court. Under Illinois law, it is sufficient for recovery against a public entity to prove that an identified employee would be liable even though that employee is not named a defendant in the action. Gordon v. Degelmann, 29 F.3d 295, 299 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting McCottrell v. Chicago, 135 Ill. App.3d 517, 90 Ill.Dec. 258, 481 N.E.2d 1058, 1060 (1985)). In Gordon, this court surmised that an unnamed officer assisting in an arrest was sufficiently identified for purposes of holding the municipality liable for his actions, before determining that this officer's actions were not willful or wanton. Id. For the same reason, our determination that the unnamed defendant is not himself a properly named defendant in this suit does not negate the City's potential liability for his conduct. Because we have not addressed the merits of Williams's deliberate indifference claim as it relates to his time in lockup, we decline to make this determination with respect to Williams's pendant state claim. We therefore modify the grant of summary judgment for the City of Chicago on this claim to a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction for all but the City's vicarious liability for Officer Rodriguez's conduct, which we affirm as a ruling on summary judgment.