Opinion ID: 773932
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Allegations Against the Defendants: Applying The Test

Text: 42
43 As the Executive Director of YDC, Liggett has ultimate responsibility for the overall operation of YDC. His duties include managing YDC's daily operation, supervising and training the staff, and formulating and implementing all operational policies, regulations, and practices. The plaintiffs concede that Liggett did not have actual knowledge of Whetzel's abuse of the plaintiffs, nor of the specific risk that Whetzel posed to the plaintiffs, until after the fact. Instead, the plaintiffs level a claim of supervisor liability against Liggett, contending that the policies and procedures that Liggett implemented and approved created an unreasonably unsafe environment at YDC that allowed Whetzel to commit his abuse over an extended period, and that Liggett knew that his policies were deficient in this way. 44 The plaintiffs' allegations of Liggett's policymaking inadequacies fall into three categories: (1) the failure to follow accepted standards for the basic structure and staffing of juvenile residential facilities; (2) the failure to properly train staff to recognize child abuse; and (3) the promulgation of de facto policies and the failure to implement other policies, ultimately leading to the stifling of complaints of abuse and incompetent investigations of the complaints that were made. The plaintiffs' expert, John Cocoros (a consultant with extensive experience in the field of residential facilities for delinquent youths), opined in a written report prepared for the plaintiffs that these deficiencies created a situation in which YDC failed to have basic precepts of institutional management without which no administrator can claim to operate a facility which provides safety and security for its staff and residents, thus unnecessarily placing juveniles at high risk for abuse at the hands of staff  and creating an environment in which eventual abuse was virtually predictable. 45 Regarding the first area of allegedly deficient policymaking by Liggett, the plaintiffs point to five inadequacies with the basic structure of YDC: (1) YDC did not require that a female staff member be present at all times in the female units, in contravention of the American Correctional Association's Standards for Juvenile Training Schools No. 3-JTS-3A-07; (2) there was poor or nonexistent supervision of the staff at night (when Whetzel committed many of his abuses); (3) YDC had no observation or surveillance system (thus ensuring that Whetzel could take female residents to areas where they would be unobserved); (4) YDC permitted private, unsupervised interactions between male staff and female residents; and (5) YDC permitted unsupervised trips off-grounds by female residents solely accompanied by male staff. 46 With respect to the failure of staff training, the plaintiffs contend that, despite rules that required and staff training that emphasized that all allegations of abuse be reported, Liggett allowed staff members to decide on their own whether to report an allegation. Because the allegations against Whetzel were reported to different staff members, many of whom did not report those allegations to Liggett, no one person knew the extent of the allegations against Whetzel. In their brief, the plaintiffs list seven different employees who were aware of different allegations against Whetzel but who did not report these allegations to Liggett. See Pls.' Br. at 24 n.8. The plaintiffs argue that Liggett's failure to have any sort of review procedure in place to determine whether the notification policy was being followed, along with his failure to discipline these employees after this information came out or to train them properly in the first place, were serious policy deficiencies that, according to Cocoros, led to the creation of a staff subculture in which a staff member's abuses could go unaddressed. 47 Finally, the plaintiffs assert that Liggett's policies failed to provide the juveniles under his care with multiple and easily accessible opportunities for them to report abuse. They contend that any reports of abuse that were made were incompetently investigated under Liggett's overall supervision. According to the plaintiffs, Liggett's policies allowed his staff to respond to initial allegations with threats (Robinson, Whetzel) and confrontation (Earnhart). When a report did reach Liggett, he is alleged either to have failed to initiate an investigation (as with Jocheded Good's allegation), 9 or to have initiated inadequate investigations (as with the two Tate allegations, both of which were determined by YDC to be unfounded although the Pennsylvania state police determined them to be true in its investigation). 48 Because we are reviewing the District Court's grant of summary judgment, we take the above allegations to be true and we must now consider whether they are legally sufficient to support a claim of deliberate indifference past the summary judgment stage. More specifically, the relevant issue is whether the above-described policymaking inadequacies raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the four-part test for deliberate indifference from Sample is met. As we noted above, Sample provides two methods of meeting this test: (i) showing that the supervisor failed to adequately respond to a pattern of past occurrences of injuries like the plaintiffs', or (ii) showing that the risk of constitutionally cognizable harm was so great and so obvious that the risk and the failure of supervisory officials to respond will alone support finding that the four-part test is met. Sample v. Diecks, 885 F.2d 1099, 1118 (3d Cir. 1989). 49 We conclude that the plaintiffs have not met their burden of showing the existence of a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Liggett exhibited deliberate indifference in his policymaking. Considering the first method of meeting the Sample test, the plaintiffs have not shown that Liggett was aware of a pattern of sexual assaults being committed by YDC employees. See id. At most, they have alleged that Liggett was aware of Good's allegation and that he was aware of two allegations regarding Tate. Such knowledge cannot benefit Beers-Capitol in her claim against Liggett because the behavior described in the allegations occurred after her abuse, and a successful deliberate indifference claim requires showing that the defendant knew of the risk to the plaintiff before the plaintiff's injury occurred. See Lewis v. Richards, 107 F.3d 549, 553 (7th Cir. 1997) (holding that a plaintiff cannot make out a deliberate indifference claim against prison officials for a prison attack when the plaintiff presented evidence that the defendants knew of the attack afterwards but presented no evidence that defendants knew of the risk to the defendant before the attack). Because Whetzel's abuse of Beers-Capitol occurred approximately eight months before Whetzel's abuse of Tate, some evidence of the defendants' awareness of Whetzel's activities is available to Tate but not Beers-Capitol. 50 Tate could argue that Liggett knew of Good's allegation and her first allegation before her final abuse had occurred, but we do not believe that two allegations constitute a pattern of past occurrences as contemplated by Sample. Furthermore, even if two instances is a pattern, this is not a pattern of known injuries, but a pattern of known allegations, which is quite different; they are known to be injuries now, but it is what Liggett knew at the time, not what he knows now, that is material. 51 The plaintiffs concentrate their argument on the second method of meeting the Sample test--the existence of so great and so obvious a risk, which is alleged to have arisen as a result of deficient policies and practices that were in place before the attacks on Beers-Capitol. To make their argument, the plaintiffs point to Cocoros's conclusion that YDC's administration showed reckless disregard for the safety of residents. This conclusion is suffused with legal considerations, and it is our province to determine whether the factual conclusions in Cocoros's report support the legal conclusion of deliberate indifference. The report shows that YDC did not implement a number of policies that were standard or recommended in the juvenile detention field, and that YDC's policies and procedures could have been better. We note in passing that the report, if accurate, is an indictment of the administration of the YDC by Liggett and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Most importantly, the plaintiffs argue forcefully that Liggett's policymaking created an institutional mindset that allowed Whetzel's abuse to go on for as long as it did. 52 The deliberate indifference standard as set out in Farmer is a high one, however--requiring actual knowledge or awareness on the part of the defendant--and the plaintiffs' evidence here is not sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the above policies and practices created a risk of harm to the plaintiffs that was so great and so obvious that Liggett must have known of the excessive risk but was indifferent to it. Although Cocoros's report does seem to raise a genuine issue as to Liggett's negligence, it is not evidence from which it can be inferred that Liggett knowingly and unreasonably disregarded an objectively intolerable risk of harm. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 846; see also Steele v. Choi, 82 F.3d 175, 179 (7th Cir. 1996) (holding that evidence that a minimally competent doctor would have treated the plaintiff prisoner correctly while the defendant doctor did not is insufficient under Farmer to survive the defendant's motion for summary judgment in a deliberate indifference case). 53 As we have explained, using circumstantial evidence to prove deliberate indifference requires more than evidence that the defendants should have recognized the excessive risk and responded to it; it requires evidence that the defendant must have recognized the excessive risk and ignored it. The plaintiff's evidence may raise an issue of material fact as to the former but it does not for the latter. We therefore will affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment for Liggett.
54 Earnhart was the unit director of Unit 7 during the relevant time period, responsible for the day-to-day operations of Unit 7, which included supervising the staff of the unit and reviewing and evaluating reports and scheduled work. Earnhart directly supervised the unit managers, meeting with these managers daily. 55 The plaintiffs' deliberate indifference claims against Earnhart involve a combination of direct and supervisor liability. First, the plaintiffs assert that Earnhart participated in formulating and implementing the policy that allowed the night shift in the female residents' unit to be without a female staff member, as well as the policy permitting unsupervised male staff to take female residents off-grounds. The analysis of this claim of deliberate indifference proceeds along the same lines as outlined above for Liggett (with the four-part test from Sample), but this supervisory-based claim is weaker than the one against Liggett that we rejected above. As to whether Earnhart was aware of a pattern of past injuries, the facts as alleged only support the conclusion that he knew of Beers-Capitol's allegation, and one incident does not a pattern make. As to the so great and so obvious a risk method of meeting Sample's test, the analysis begins and ends just as it did for Liggett. In fact, because Earnhart's supervisory responsibility at YDC was not as great as Liggett's, there is less evidence that Earnhart's policies created a risk that was so great and so obvious that he must have known of the excessive risk but was indifferent to it. For these reasons, the plaintiffs' claims of deliberate indifference against Earnhart based on supervisor liability cannot survive summary judgment. 56 The plaintiffs also submit that Earnhart directly exhibited deliberate indifference to the plaintiffs' injuries through two other actions: (1) by failing to discipline Robinson for delaying her reporting of Beers-Capitol's allegation of abuse; and (2) by mishandling Beers-Capitol's allegation, in that (a) Earnhart did not report it to Liggett (as required by law); and (b) Earnhart undertook a wholly inadequate investigation, namely, merely calling Beers-Capitol at home and asking her over the phone if the abuse occurred. 10 57 We note first that Beers-Capitol cannot use the above two actions to support her claim that Earnhart was aware of the risk of abuse to her because these actions took place after Beers-Capitol's abuse. In the absence of any other evidence that Earnhart was aware of an excessive risk to Beers-Capitol, Beers-Capitol cannot make out a direct deliberate indifference claim against Earnhart. See Lewis v. Richards, 107 F.3d 549, 553 (7th Cir. 1997). 58 However, Tate can claim that Earnhart's actions surrounding Beers-Capitol's abuse (which occurred before the abuse Tate suffered) are evidence that, by the time of Tate's abuse, Earnhart was aware of but ignored the excessive risk to the female residents posed by Whetzel. We nonetheless conclude that this evidence is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Earnhart was deliberately indifferent. It is not apparent how Earnhart's failure to discipline Robinson for her brief delay in reporting Beers-Capitol's allegation demonstrates that Earnhart was deliberately indifferent to a risk to Tate. Furthermore, although Earnhart probably should have better handled the investigation into Beers-Capitol's allegation, this lapse is not nearly enough to clear the high bar set by Farmer: raising an inference that he knowingly and unreasonably disregarded an objectively intolerable risk of harm. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 846. We therefore will affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment for Earnhart.
59 Flecher was the unit manager for Unit 7 during the relevant time period. Unit managers are responsible for developing, coordinating, and administering program services for their unit; they also directly supervise the cottage supervisors within their unit. As with Earnhart, the plaintiffs' claims of Flecher's deliberate indifference combine direct and supervisor liability. First, the plaintiffs claim that Flecher failed to adequately train the staff under him to recognize abuse. Second (and relatedly), plaintiffs assert that Flecher carried out a de facto policy of failing to notify Liggett of allegations of abuse and of disbelieving such allegations when they were presented to him, because, as Flecher stated to Investigator McLean, these types of accusations occur on a frequent basis when female students become upset or angry with staff members. The plaintiffs also have presented evidence that supports a claim of direct liability against Flecher, namely that, in the time period before Tate's abuse but after Beers-Capitol's, Flecher had notice of, but did not adequately respond to, Whetzel's abusive activities. 11 The evidence is: (1) Flecher's failure to notify Liggett of Beers-Capitol's allegations; (2) Flecher's failure to notify Liggett of Good's allegations; (3) Flecher's failure to notify Liggett of McAfee's allegations; (4) Flecher's failure to make any recording of McAfee's allegations; and (5) Flecher's failure to conduct adequate investigations of Beers-Capitol's, McAfee's, and Good's allegations. 60 Of the three supervisor defendants (Liggett, Earnhart, and Flecher), Flecher appears to be the one who had the most information about what was going on with Whetzel. Furthermore, because he was the manager of Unit 7, Flecher was in a position both to conduct investigations into Whetzel's behavior and to inform Liggett of any problems and allegations regarding Whetzel. The plaintiffs argue that the combination of Flecher's knowledge of the allegations against Whetzel, Flecher's failure to follow YDC procedures and Pennsylvania law in not notifying Liggett of these allegations, and Flecher's own inadequate investigations of the allegations together create a genuine issue of fact as to Flecher's deliberate indifference. Although there is no direct evidence that Flecher was aware of Whetzel's activities, the plaintiffs contend that Flecher had heard enough allegations against Whetzel and knew enough about the inadequate system for addressing those allegations that he must have known of the excessive risk of harm to the plaintiffs. 61 While this issue is a close one, we conclude that the plaintiffs' evidence does not create a genuine issue of fact as to Flecher's deliberate indifference. The plaintiffs have provided evidence that Flecher was aware of three allegations of abuse by Whetzel, but there is no evidence that Flecher believed that these allegations were likely to be true, or that the evidence surrounding the allegations was so strong that he must have believed them likely to be true. In fact, the plaintiffs have presented evidence that Flecher disbelieved the allegations: his statement to McLean that these types of accusations occur on a frequent basis when female students become upset or angry with staff members. See supra note 3. This statement is illuminating of Flecher's subjective mindset of basic skepticism regarding the allegations raised by the female YDC residents; although this mindset does not comport well with YDC's official policies and Pennsylvania law, it is also inconsistent with the subjective knowledge of a risk required for deliberate indifference under Farmer. 62 The plaintiffs here have failed to present the kind of evidence that successful plaintiffs have presented in deliberate indifference cases after Farmer: evidence that directly shows that Flecher either knew of the excessive risk to the plaintiffs or was aware of such overwhelming evidence that he had to know of such a risk. The case is thus different from Hamilton v. Leavy, 117 F.3d 742 (3d Cir. 1997), where we reversed the grant of summary judgment in a deliberate indifference case for a prison official defendant who was in charge of prison transfers. The plaintiff in Hamilton presented evidence that, before the attack, the defendant had received a recommendation that the plaintiff be placed in protective custody because of his risk of being attacked, the defendant knew that the plaintiff was more likely to be attacked because he was a prison informant, and the defendant had approved putting the plaintiff in protective custody on two previous occasions. 12 The plaintiffs' evidence against Flecher falls well below this level. 63 Flecher investigated McAfee's allegation, and either he or Earnhart investigated Beers-Capitol's allegation (the record is not clear what happened with Good's allegation). Although these investigations may have been inadequate, we do not review the adequacy of a defendant's response to an excessive risk to inmate safety in a deliberate indifference case until the plaintiff has established that the defendant knew or was aware of that risk. See Farmer, 511 U.S. at 844. The performance of a less-than-thorough investigation of a risk does not show that the investigator believed that the excessive risk existed--indeed, it may show the opposite. Finally, Flecher's failure to notify Liggett of these allegations is evidence of negligence in the performance of his job, but it does nothing to support the claim that he knew or must have known of the excessive risk to the plaintiffs. 64 The most that the plaintiffs show is that Flecher followed a set of de facto rules and policies that involved his deciding on his own whether and how to investigate certain allegations of abuse, in violation of YDC policy and Pennsylvania law. While this course of action was imprudent, and in fact led to a very regrettable outcome, it does not constitute deliberate indifference as the Supreme Court defined that concept in Farmer. Moreover, the plaintiffs have presented no other evidence that shows that Flecher was subjectively aware of the excessive risk to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have thus failed to raise a genuine issue of fact as to the existence of deliberate indifference on the part of Flecher, and we will affirm the District Court's grant of summary judgment in his favor.
65 Burley worked in Unit 7 as a counselor; her job was to provide security in the unit and monitor resident interactions. The plaintiffs' deliberate indifference claims against Burley center solely on direct liability, as Burley was not a supervisor. The plaintiffs present fairly substantial evidence of Burley's knowledge or awareness of the excessive risk that Whetzel posed to the female residents. Burley testified in a deposition that, while she was at YDC, she had heard general rumors from the residents that Whetzel was having sex with some of the female residents, but she did not investigate these rumors or report them to her supervisors. She did, however, make file notes of these rumors to cover my behind, in case it were true. 66 Burley was also told on a couple of occasions that Guyaux claimed to have a sexual relationship with Whetzel. Burley did not inform her supervisors of this allegation, but instead set up a meeting with Whetzel, Guyaux, and another counselor to ask Guyaux about it. 13 Burley also testified that she knew McAfee had a sexual interest in Whetzel, although she did not report or investigate this. Finally, and most tellingly, Tate testified in her deposition that Burley admitted to her that she kind of knew that [Whetzel] was messing with students when Tate told Burley of Whetzel's assault on her. 14 [1532a, Tate Dep.] 67 We are satisfied that the plaintiffs have presented sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to Burley's deliberate indifference to the excessive risk Whetzel posed to the plaintiffs. Burley's statement to Tate that she kind of knew that Whetzel was messing with students is significant evidence that Burley was aware of facts from which the inference could be drawn that a substantial risk of serious harm existed and that she also drew the inference. Farmer, 511 U.S. at 837. The other evidence about what Burley knew strengthens this conclusion. Moreover, the fact that Burley said to Tate that she did not know that Whetzel was messing with Tate in particular does not constitute a defense to a deliberate indifference claim; Farmer is clear that a defendant need not know that the particular inmate attacked was at risk, as it is enough for deliberate indifference if a defendant knows that inmates in the plaintiff's situation face such a risk. See id. at 843-44. 68 For the purposes of reviewing a grant of summary judgment for the defendants, Burley basically admitted that she had knowledge of Whetzel's abusive activities by the time of Tate's abuse in her statement to Tate. The difficulty for Beers-Capitol is that this admission was made in January 1995, approximately ten months after Beers-Capitol was abused, and Beers-Capitol must show that Burley knew of the risk Whetzel posed before he abused Beers-Capitol. See Lewis v. Richards, 107 F.3d 549, 553 (7th Cir. 1997). However, even though the abuse of Beers-Capitol occurred before Burley made her admission to Tate, we think that the evidence presented by the plaintiffs raises a genuine issue of fact as to what Burley was aware of regarding Whetzel at the time Beers-Capitol was abused. 69 Burley's awareness of Whetzel's activities had to have been based upon some information she received before she made her admission to Tate in January 1995. Burley admitted in her deposition that, during her time at YDC, she heard various rumors that Whetzel was having sex with female residents, and she made file notes of these rumors, to cover my behind, in case it were true. Because we draw all inferences in the non-movant's favor in our review of a summary judgment motion, we conclude that these rumors formed at least part of the basis for her awareness of Whetzel's activities. Burley had started to hear these rumors at least by March 1993 (a full year before Beers-Capitol was abused), when she set up a meeting with Whetzel and Melissa Guyaux to investigate rumors that Whetzel and Guyaux were having sex. Thus, Beers-Capitol has shown that Burley received at least some of the information that formed the basis for her awareness before Beers-Capitol was abused. 70 The short of it is that, drawing all inferences in Beers-Capitol's favor, it is possible that Burley received enough information about Whetzel's activities that she formed her awareness of these activities by March 1994, when Beers-Caitol was abused. This creates a genuine issue of fact as to what Burley knew when, and the evidence presented could support a conclusion by the factfinder that Burley's awareness arose before March 1994. Under this circumstance, the evidence presented regarding Burley is sufficient to get both Tate and Beers-Capitol past summary judgment. We will thus reverse the grant of summary judgment for Burley on both plaintiffs' claims. 15 71
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.