Opinion ID: 800677
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Liability of Named Defendants

Text: Wells took numerous actions in this case, none of which are really in dispute. Of greatest relevance are the two acts that may give rise to liability against her: (1) Wells sent a memo to Deputy Warden Shirlee Harry on April 20, 2000 (Wells Memo), to complain about King's behavior, and (2) following communication from Central Office, Wells signed the initial security screen that increased King to a Level III. Wells would be liable for the first action if she intended to punish King for his protected conduct and the security increase was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of her memo. Siggers-El, 412 F.3d at 702. She would be liable for the latter action if, as a subordinate, she knew or should have known that she was implementing an order motivated by a desire to retaliate for participation in protected conduct, Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393, or as a superior if her signature constituted active participation in the unconstitutional act of increasing his security level for retaliatory purposes, Shehee, 199 F.3d at 300.
The Wells Memo was the initial step in a chain of communications that undeniably resulted in King's security increase and transfer to Chippewa. After receiving the Wells Memo, Deputy Warden Harry instructed a subordinate, Chaffee, to email Central Office and request a transfer. There is no evidence on the record of any other information in the possession of Harry or Chaffee that could have motivated their communications to Central Office. Harry testified at trial that aside from the two examples listed in Chaffee's email, the filing of grievances and the complaints to the Warden's Forum, she was not aware of King causing any other problems during his tenure at Brooks. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 120:23-121:1). Chaffee testified that he had no personal knowledge of King's behavior and was told to initiate the transfer because King was instigating other prisoners to file grievances. Id. at 139:9-13. The substance of the complaint in Chaffee's email is also the same as the Wells MemoKing has gained influence over other prisoners and is having them file numerous grievances. Zamiara from Central Office, after being confronted with his own deposition testimony, admitted at trial to having no other information outside of what was in Chaffee's email that could have motivated the decision to increase King's security level. See R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 166:19-167:20). The only reasonable conclusion from the record is that the Wells Memo was a but for cause of the increase in King's security. The Wells Memo was also a proximate cause of the adverse action, because an adverse action, such as increasing King's security, was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of sending the memo. In Siggers-El, we held that a prison guard who fills out a security screen cannot disentangle herself from the resulting adverse action even though it was approved and ordered by other people. Siggers-El, 412 F.3d at 702. Although unforeseeable consequences would not give rise to liability, such as an attack on the prisoner following the transfer, the guard could not absolve herself of liability by arguing that she did not take part in or have control over the adverse action. Id. Here, there are admittedly more steps between Wells's actions and the resulting harm than there were for the defendant in Siggers-El. The Wells Memo was not sent directly to Central Office, but traveled first to Wells's Deputy Warden. Wells nominally asked for a transfer. However, an adverse action was nonetheless a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the allegations in her Memo. [11] Wells's actions are not so attenuated as to absolve her of their reasonably foreseeable consequences. The district court, faced with the same facts, found that Wells was not involved in the increase in King's security level based on the fact that she did not ask specifically for an increase and had no involvement in the decision to increase his security level. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at . As already discussed, however, this applies the wrong legal standard. On de novo review, we conclude that the adverse action taken against King was proximately caused by the Wells Memo. We turn now to whether Wells was motivated by a desire to punish King for his protected conduct. The district court found that Wells was motivated only by concerns over King's power over other prisoners and ability to create unrest through his abuse of the grievance process. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at  (To the extent that Defendants were motivated in transferring King based upon his manipulation of other prisoners to file grievances to achieve King's own goals, they did not retaliate against him on the basis of any protected conduct.). Embedded in this conclusion is both a legal error and a factual one. The legal problem is that the district court, following analysis from this court, already concluded as a matter of law that King's assistance to other prisoners in using the grievance system was protected conduct. R. 153 (Dist. Ct. Mem. Op. & Order at 14). Abusive or manipulative use of a grievance system would not be protected conduct. See Hill v. Lappin, 630 F.3d 468, 472 (6th Cir.2010) (holding no First Amendment right to file frivolous grievances). Therefore, to conclude now that King was in fact manipulating the grievance system would require reversing the prior holdings in the case, which we will not do. That brings us to the factual error. Subjective motivation requires asking whether the individual in question believed the defendant to be abusing the system to create unrest. The district court credited Wells's statements in her Memo that King was becoming increasingly powerful over the prisoners and was therefore a security risk. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at . [T]he preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that King's behavior did not stop [with protected conduct], but also involved agitating other prisoners and attempting to disrupt the delicate balance of authority the MDOC must retain over prisoners in its charge. Id. at . The district court found collectively that none of the defendants, including Wells, had any animus against King or the exercise of his protected conduct. We afford this fact determination substantial deference, but on review we deem this finding to be clear error. The record is void of any evidencelet alone a preponderanceto support Wells's claim that she subjectively believed King was abusing the grievance system or was otherwise disruptive or manipulative in any way that would entitle her to initiate punitive action against him. King was undeniably the litigious type. Aside from his participation in the Cain litigation, he was also involved in the filing of numerous grievances, both his own and assisting others. [12] He was also a member of the Warden's Forum. As a result, King undoubtedly had a certain level of respect and influence among the prisoners. This conductprotected conductmay undoubtedly create disruptions or problems for prison officials. But when that happens, the prison is not restricted from taking any action against the prisoner to minimize the disruption, it just must not take an adverse action against the prisoner. Ward v. Dyke, 58 F.3d 271, 274 (6th Cir.) (holding no constitutional violation for taking action against prisoner whose numerous grievances were disruptive because chosen action did not deter him from exercising his rights), cert. denied, 516 U.S. 991, 116 S.Ct. 524, 133 L.Ed.2d 431 (1995). Prison officials are clearly free to punish inmate conduct that threatens the orderly administration of the prison. But . . . prison rules are not [to be] used as a backdoor means of punishing inmates for exercising their right[s]. Brown v. Crowley, 312 F.3d 782, 791 (6th Cir.2002), cert. denied, 540 U.S. 823, 124 S.Ct. 154, 157 L.Ed.2d 44 (2003) (internal quotation marks omitted). Nor was there any support for Wells's statements that King posed a security risk or was responsible for or even at risk of creating any disturbances or manipulating the other prisoners in any way. The testimony of the disinterested witnesses consistently established the contrary. The Wells Memo references examples of threats by King and purportedly attaches examples, but no such examples are attached. Nor was Deputy Warden Harry, the recipient of the Wells Memo, able to confirm the existence of any problems with King. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 120:23 (testimony that Harry was not aware of King causing any problems other than what he was doing in connection with grievances and complaints to the Warden's Forum)). Warden Berghuis testified that King has a huge ego and was a very difficult to manage prisoner who superimposes his will over the will of the department, but not even she could identify any specific manipulative or disruptive behavior. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 135:10-17; 237:2-238:2). None of the witnesses could identify specific examples, and many even testified that they had no knowledge of King ever manipulating others to create unrest among the other prisoners. See R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 127:14-17) (Harry testimony); id. at 147:10-23 (Chaffee testimony); R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 198:6-15) (Naves testimony); id. at 207:23-25 (Lewis testimony). [13] We do not deny the general need of corrections officers to maintain order in a prison, which may require acting preemptively based on concerns that have not yet materialized. And had the testimony stopped here, a retaliatory motive would have been difficult to substantiate. But the evidence did not stop here. Although the record is silent as to disruptive behavior by King, the record speaks volumes as to repeated attempts by Wells to punish King following his arrival at Brooks as a known participant in the Cain litigation:  Sandra Naves, a corrections officer at Brooks with no incentive to lie, testified that she had no personal knowledge of King ever inciting a demonstration in September 1999, and despite her concerns, was told by Wells to issue King a NOI and what to put in it. No other inmate supposedly involved in that incident was written up. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 197:8-199:5).  In February, Wells herself placed King on toplock, and shortly thereafter he was cited for being in violation of the toplock, despite having no notice that it would start before midnight on the day in question. This ticket was also ultimately thrown out. R. 1-5, Ex. D (Misconduct Hr'g Report).  Bonnie Lewis, another fellow officer at Brooks, issued King a ticket for being disruptive, despite later admitting that he was not disruptive, and conceded that Wells had asked her to write the statement. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 206:1-4). No other prisoners from the supposed group of seven were cited for that incident. Deputy Warden Singleton spoke to Officer Lewis and thereafter conveyed to the hearing officer that she had retracted her statements. R. 130, Ex. 29 (Misconduct Hr'g Report). The hearing officer determined that Lewis's report was not credible and found King not guilty of the ticket. Id.  Three days after Lewis's ticket was thrown out, Wells formally complained to the Deputy Warden for the first time regarding King's behavior, referencing allegations by unnamed officers and purportedly attaching examples that do not appear to have been attached. R. 11-2, Ex. F (Wells Memo). The district court made no mention of any of the above testimony of Sandra Naves, Michael Singleton, and Bonnie Lewis with respect to the purported disturbances created by King, nor did the district court indicate why it found their statements not credible. All three of these witnesses were MDOC employees, two of whom were not defendants when they testified at trial, and at no point was their credibility ever challenged or questioned. The district court also ignored the timing of when Wells sent her Memo to Harrythree days after the ticket Wells had asked Lewis to write was thrown outwhich is also highly suggestive of an intent to retaliate against King. See Paige, 614 F.3d at 283; Muhammad, 379 F.3d at 417-18. Instead, the district court relied on Wells's unsupported assertions at trial and in her Memo that unnamed officials had reported various degrees of unrest and violence by King and her general denial of ever taking action against King in order to retaliate against him. Wells's inability to remember at trial several years later the events in support of her Memo is hardly proof that these events did not happen, but it also does not explain why those officers were never identified in the first place. [14] The district court concluded that Wells was a very credible witness, King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at  6, and we do not overturn that finding lightly. Credibility assessments by the finder of fact in particular are owed even greater deference under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a). Anderson, 470 U.S. at 575, 105 S.Ct. 1504. At the same time, a district court cannot insulate his findings from review by denominating them credibility determinations, because whether a witness is believable depends on more than just her demeanor on the stand. Id. Where [d]ocuments or objective evidence. . . contradict the witness' story; or the story itself [is] so internally inconsistent or implausible on its face that a reasonable factfinder would not credit it[,] . . . the court of appeals may well find clear error even in a finding purportedly based on a credibility determination. Id. The district court here committed clear error when it concluded that the preponderance of the evidence supported Wells's claim that she was motivated by King's disruptiveness despite no substantiation for such disruptiveness and despite repeated contradictory testimony by other MDOC officers that Wells instructed them to write King up for incidents later found not credible by neutral parties. Rare is the case where a defendant testifies on the record that she intended to retaliate against a prisoner for exercising his constitutional rights. Here, however, the district court's finding regarding Wells's motivation was wholly unsupported by the record evidence; more problematically, this finding was specifically contradicted by uncontested documents and testimony from neutral parties establishing Wells's retaliatory motive. We are left with the firm impression that on this evidence the district court committed clear error in finding that Wells's actions were not motivated at least in part by King's protected conduct.
Wells was also involved in the implementation of the adverse action against King. Upon receiving the instructions from Central Office to increase King's security, Chaffee edited the initial screen by hand to replace the II with a III and Wells signed the screen. The only relevant question for this act of implementing the order is whether Wells knew or should she have known that implementing Central Office's orders would violate King's rights. See Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393. Because Wells was the one who put in motion the adverse action in the first place out of a desire to punish King, we have no difficulty concluding that she helped execute the order with knowledge that it was intended to retaliate. We therefore find it unnecessary to consider whether Wells should alternatively be viewed as a superior for this action.
The judgment in favor of Wells must be reversed because the district court committed both an error of law and a clear error of fact. The district court first erred in applying the wrong legal standard to the issue of whether Wells caused the adverse action against King in this case. When the correct legal standard is applied to the facts as determined by the district court, Wells's Memo was the actual and proximate cause of the increase in King's security level. Although we afford the district court's findings substantial deference, we cannot affirm the district court's finding that Wells was not motivated at least in part by King's protected conduct when sending this Memo. This finding is unsupported by the record evidence and directly contradicted by the undisputed record and testimony by neutral parties demonstrating her animus against King's protected activities. See Perkins v. Am. Elec. Power Fuel Supply, Inc., 246 F.3d 593, 601 (6th Cir.) (reversing as clear error finding of fact following bench trial that was unsupported by the record when contradictory evidence was offered in support of the opposite conclusion), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 994, 122 S.Ct. 462, 151 L.Ed.2d 379 (2001). We do not hesitate to conclude that the district court committed clear error with respect to Wells. The district court's judgment in favor of Wells is vacated, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Chaffee's potential involvement in increasing King's security level also came in multiple forms, none of which are factually disputed: (1) he emailed Central Office the information it ultimately relied on in making the decision to increase King's security level, (2) he implemented the decision to increase King's security level by issuing and then editing the initial security screen, and (3) he subsequently edited the screen several months later with a new reason for the increase. Just like Wells, he could be liable for the first action if an increase in security was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of his actions and proximately caused by them, and if he intended to retaliate against King for his protected conduct. Siggers-El, 412 F.3d at 702. Chaffee could be liable for the latter actions if he knew or should have known that implementing his superior's orders would violate King's rights. Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393.
Just like the Wells Memo, Chaffee's email to Central office proximately and actually caused the resulting security increase by Central Office. There is no indication in the forty minutes between Zamiara's receipt of Chaffee's email and Zamiara's reply issuing the security increase that Zamiara received any additional information regarding King. See R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 166:19-167:20). For the same reasons discussed above in addressing the Wells Memo, we disagree with the district court's conclusion that Chaffee was not involved in the increased security level. That conclusion is the result of a misapplication of the correct law to the undisputed facts giving rise to the increase in King's security level. The next inquiry is whether the district court committed clear error in finding that Chaffee was not motivated by King's exercise of his constitutional rights. Compared to Wells, Chaffee appears to have held no specific malice or ill-will toward King. However, the desire to punish someone for protected conduct does not require malice. The record clearly reflected that Chaffee was motivated at least in part by King's protected conduct, even if he did not realize that doing so would constitute retaliation. [15] We therefore take no issue with the district court's finding that Chaffee's testimony was credible, King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at , because Chaffee's statement that he took no action for the purpose of retaliating against Mr. King, R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 154:6-8), says nothing about whether Chaffee understood that the legal definition of retaliation included taking an adverse action against King in response to his protected conduct, which included assisting others in filing grievances. Indeed, if Chaffee is credible, his testimony directly establishes that he was improperly motivated by King's protected conduct. In his email to Zamiara, Chaffee specifically cites King's assistance with filing grievances and participation in the Warden's Forum as examples of the problems King was causing that required him to be transferred: It seems he can instigate them to create problems (grievances, complaints to Warden's Forum, etc.) while he remains uninvolved directly. Currently, he is printing out grievances about various issues and having other prisoners sign them and send them in. R. 130-3, Ex. 18 (Chaffee/Zamiara Email). Chaffee also acknowledged being told that King was being transferred because he was instigating other prisoners to file grievances. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 139:9-12). Chaffee testified that if Harry had told him of other forms of misconduct or manipulative behavior, he would have included it in the email, and that if King had not been involved in the Warden's Forum and had not been assisting other prisoners file grievances, he likely would not have been transferred at all. Id. at 142:13-16. [16] An adverse action, like an increase in security, was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of Chaffee's request, and the record clearly demonstrates that King's assistance in filing grievances motivated Chaffee to comply with his superior's order requesting the transfer. [17]
With respect to implementing the increase in security, Chaffee admits making the change to King's transfer order to increase him to a level III. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 140:3-11). These changes were necessary to effect the transfer and increase in security ordered by Central Office. We have already held that Chaffee is not entitled to qualified immunity, King III, slip op. at 4, and the evidence supports that he knew or should have known that increasing a prisoner's security level in response to protected conduct would be a violation of King's First Amendment rights. The question is therefore whether he knew or should have known the increase was in fact impermissibly motivated by the protected conduct. See Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393. Chaffee could not recall having any discussions with Zamiara outside of his email. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 146:1-5). However, only forty minutes passed between Chaffee's email and Zamiara's response. Chaffee testified that he had no reason to believe Zamiara's response to increase security was for retaliation, and that he assumed that [Zamiara] knew something I didn't know. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 156:18-25). However, this assertion is not factually plausible in light of Chaffee's other statements that are directly contrary. [18] He conceded at trial that absent a few narrow exceptions, increasing a prisoner's security level was a punitive act. Id. at 136:13-137:15. And he conceded at his deposition that he believed Zamiara's response was based entirely on the underlying email that he himself had sent. R. 130, Ex. 7 (Chaffee Dep. at 38:24-39:20). This is consistent with the testimony of Deputy Warden Harry that Central Office would have relied solely on information coming from Brooks regarding what action to take against King. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 122:6-14). The record establishes that Chaffee knew or should have known that Zamiara's rapid response of increasing King's security level was motivated by King's assistance with the grievance process, because the evidence is clear that the increase was the result of Chaffee's email, which was itself motivated by King's assistance with the grievance process.
Chaffee's last relevant action was editing King's security screen to replace the initial notation with the notation that King was manipulative. Here, Chaffee was clearly following the order of a superior, Warden Berghuis, to revise the screen. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 147:24-148:3; 149:7-11). Unlike the forty-minute window we discussed above, the passage of time here was almost a month. Even if Berghuis's action was retaliatory, nothing in the record suggests that at this point Chaffee knew or should have known that Berghuis's order was meant to retaliate and not based on additional information obtained during the course of the intervening month. See Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393 (citing Villanueva, 659 F.2d at 854).
The district court's conclusion with respect to Chaffee suffered from the same legal error regarding proximate causation in a retaliation case as the district court's conclusion with respect to Wells. In light of the overwhelming record evidence demonstrating Chaffee's actions were motivated by King's protected conduct, the district court also clearly erred in finding that Chaffee was not improperly motivated. We therefore hold that the district court erred in entering judgment against King in favor of Chaffee with respect to some, but not all, of his undisputed acts in this case. The judgment in favor of Chaffee is vacated, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Singleton's sole act that could be tied to King's increase in security was approving the backdated security screen created by Chaffee. The district court found that he had no participation in the decision to reclassify King to Level III and was bound by the decision from Central Office. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at . Although we agree that Singleton did nothing to cause the initial decision to increase King's security, this alone does not relieve Singleton of liability. As the individual signing the backdated security screen approving King's transfer to the increased security facility, Singleton cannot escape liability if in following this order he knew or should have known that he was implementing punishment for King's exercise of his rights. Thaddeus-X, 175 F.3d at 393. [19] Here, however, the district court did not find (and the record does not suggest), that Singleton had any knowledge or should have had knowledge that the revised security screen was backdated or that the statement that prisoner manipulates other prisoners to be disruptive/needs higher level of security was in response to any particular activity, let alone King's participation in protected conduct. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 212:2-21) (Singleton's testimony regarding lack of knowledge and general practice not to backdate). Nothing on record suggested that Singleton was aware of any underlying constitutional violation that he could be deemed to have assisted in signing the screen, nor does the screen on its own suggest a constitutional violation is occurring. [20] Singleton also helped resolve in King's favor the February misconduct ticket reported by Bonnie Lewis. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 218:20-24). Nothing suggests that Singleton knew or should have known that the increase in security level was a violation of King's constitutional rights. On this record, we cannot say that the district court's conclusion that Singleton lacked a retaliatory motive was clear error. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment in favor of Singleton.
The district court's findings with respect to Warden Berghuis are somewhat unclear, but the record is again not disputed with respect to what acts she took. Warden Berghuis took two actions that King argues implicate her in the increase in King's security level. First, she signed the transfer order executed by Chaffee stating Prisoner manipulates other prisoners to be disruptive, which led to his transfer to the higher security level facility. R. 130-3, Ex. 26 (Transfer Order). Second, she also instructed Chaffee to create the new screen in June of 2000. R. 130-3, Ex. 20 (Zamiara/Berghuis Email); R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 149:7-11) (Chaffee testimony). As an initial matter, we must evaluate Warden Berghuis under the theory of supervisory liability under § 1983. Liability will not lie absent active unconstitutional behavior; failure to act or passive behavior is insufficient. Salehpour v. Univ. of Tenn., 159 F.3d 199, 206 (6th Cir.1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1115, 119 S.Ct. 1763, 143 L.Ed.2d 793 (1999). Warden Berghuis will be liable for the unconstitutional acts of her subordinates only if she actively participated in the unlawful conduct, such as if she `implicitly authorized, approved or knowingly acquiesced in the unconstitutional conduct of the offending subordinate.' Taylor v. Mich. Dep't of Corr., 69 F.3d 76, 81 (6th Cir.1995) (quoting Bellamy v. Bradley, 729 F.2d 416, 421 (6th Cir.1984)) (emphasis omitted). The evidence presented a trial demonstrated that Berghuis at a minimum had knowledge of King's protected conduct. Berghuis testified at trial that she was not aware that King was involved in Cain, R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 228:13-16), but she did not deny receiving a letter from King, the subject of which was Retaliation/Cain v. MDOC, id. at 228:1-6. Berghuis further admitted that the Cain case was a problematic case for the department. Id. at 228:7-16. She was also aware of King's participation in the Warden's Forum and his assistance to other inmates in filing grievances. Id. at 229:24-230:5. She testified at trial that [n]othing he did in terms of the grievance contacts stood out in my mind ever as being abnormal, unusual. In the forum it didn't either. Id. at 236:10-12. Her distaste for King was evidenced by her statements that King has a huge ego and was a very difficult to manage prisoner who superimposes his will over the will of the department, but, even if she acted out of distaste for a prisoner, that is not the same as unconstitutional retaliation. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 135:10-17; 237:2-238:2). Despite Berghuis's knowledge of King's protected conduct, nothing about the transfer order she signed suggested any potential constitutional violation or retaliation was afoot. The record does not demonstrate any knowledge of the Wells Memo or Chaffee's email to Central Office. Nor did Berghuis speak with anyone at Central Office. Although Berghuis was aware of the protected conduct, she also was aware of the transfer order to Brooks that described King as organizing a protest. R. 130, Ex. 31 (Transfer Order). Without some level of knowledge of the underlying constitutional violationthat the increase was related to his participation in protected conductBerghuis cannot be liable for the acts of her subordinates. Siggers, 652 F.3d at 695 (granting summary judgment for warden who merely approved notices filed against the inmate). By June of 2000, however, Berghuis received additional information that could have made her aware that the decision to increase King's security level was for impermissible purposes. On June 14, 2000, Berghuis received an email from Zamiara expressing concerns over a claim of retaliation. R. 130, Ex. 20 (Zamiara/Berghuis Email). Zamiara also included a copy of the original screen that would have shown the markings from Chaffee that the prisoner had no major misconducts and was manageable in Level II. Rather than causing Berghuis to question the increase in security level, she chewed out Chaffee and instructed him to fix the screen. R. 171 (Trial Tr. I at 133:11-19; 147:24-148:3; 149:7-11). Although this was hardly an exemplary course of conduct, the record does not establish that this fix was necessary to maintain King's security status at the higher level, or had any impact on his security level. As a result, we cannot say that Warden Berghuis's actions constituted active participation in maintaining a constitutional violation. See Taylor, 69 F.3d at 81 (holding triable issue of whether supervisor could be liable for abandoning duties despite actual knowledge of breakdown in proper procedures by department) (citing Hill v. Marshall, 962 F.2d 1209 (6th Cir.1992)). We therefore affirm the district court's judgment in favor of Berghuis.
Chuck Zamiara is the only defendant from Central Office, where the decision to raise King's security was made. Defendant Zamiara claims that Nick Ludwick, the Classification Director, was the one who made the ultimate decision. No one disputes that Ludwick had to sign off on the decision because King was listed as CFA Hold, correctly or not. No one disputes that Zamiara emailed Chaffee with the instructions to raise King's security level and later emailed Berghuis to adjust the initial screen. R. 130-3, Ex. 18 (Chaffee/Zamiara Email); R. 130-3, Ex. 20 (Zamiara/Berghuis Email). The district court did not state specifically whether Zamiara was involved in the decision to increase King's security level as it did with the others, but the district court did note that [n]either Zamiara nor Ludwick could testify with any certainty which of them first recommended that King be transferred to a Level III facility. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at . At trial, Zamiara adamantly maintained that Ludwick made all the decisions with respect to raising King's security level. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 162:14-16) (That would not have been my decision.); id. at 165:12 (That is the message I relayed from Mr. Ludwick.); id. at 166:3-4 (Well, if we use a little logic, we can say it came from Mr. Ludwick.). Zamiara did not dispute, however, that he was the one who received Chaffee's email and responded to it with the instructions to increase King's security level and what to note in the transfer screen. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at -8. Although generally finding all of the witnesses credible, including King, [21] the district court was particularly impressed by Zamiara, id. at , despite Zamiara's frequent sarcasm that is apparent even from the written record, see R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 163:17-24). [22] Zamiara's best efforts aside, however, placing the final decision entirely on Ludwick's shoulders has no bearing on whether Zamiara can be held legally responsible for the resulting adverse action. Thus, Zamiara's credibility on this issue is ultimately not relevant because Zamiara admitted the relevant facts relating to his participation in the increase even if he denied being the decision maker. Zamiara's acts were a proximate cause of the increase in King's security level, even if Ludwick had to approve it. The only question is, therefore, whether Zamiara was motivated by King's protected conduct. The district court found that Zamiara's motivation was not because King was engaging in protected activities, but because he was using his influence over other prisoners to create problems and was undermining the authority of prison officials. King IV, 2009 WL 3424221, at . For all the reasons already discussed, this finding is clear error in light of the fact that the only problems on the record that Zamiara was aware of were protected activitiesassisting others to file grievances and participating in the Warden's Forum. The only information that Zamiara had regarding King was in the email from Chaffee. R. 172 (Trial Tr. II at 166:19-167:20). In that email, Chaffee indicated that King could instigate other prisoners to create problems, listing as examples grievances and complaints to the Warden's Forum. R. 130-3, Ex. 18 (Chaffee/Zamiara Email). Zamiara was unable to identify any other disruptive conduct or source of information other than the email when discussing why he believed an increase in King's security was appropriate. [23] Zamiara's sole information regarding King's behavior appears to have come from Chaffee. [24] Zamiara's motivation was at least in part to punish King for his protected activitieshe did not have to know King personally for this action to be unconstitutional. The district court's finding with respect to Zamiara's motivation was therefore clear error. Zamiara was also involved in the later action of asking Chaffee to edit the security screen. As discussed above with Warden Berghuis, although this was hardly an appropriate reaction to the concerns identified by the state's attorney about potential legal action from the error, there was no evidence presented that the revision to the screen was necessary to maintain or implement the adverse action. Because the relevant adverse action was the initial increase itself, we cannot say that the act of backdating the screen caused the adverse action or even prolonged it, even if it was motivated in part by a continued desire to punish King for the exercise of his constitutional rights. As with defendants Wells and Chaffee, the district court's judgment with respect to Zamiara applied the wrong legal standard and made a key finding of fact unsupported by the record evidence and explicitly contradicted by other undisputed evidence. We therefore vacate the judgment in favor of Zamiara and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.