Opinion ID: 1358526
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Commissioner Fraser, Deputy Commissioner Perry, and Unnamed Supervisors

Text: 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.