Opinion ID: 2981142
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defendant Doe

Text: In the amended complaint, Broyles sues an unknown medical services supervisor, John Doe, in both his individual and official capacities; however, Broyles makes allegations only on an individual-capacity basis in his amended complaint.1 Broyles alleges that an unknown medical services supervisor “failed to properly supervise, develop, and provide an adequate medical system and staff to respond to medical emergencies.” Broyles asserts this failure to supervise and train allowed nurses and staff to make inadequate and incompetent medical determinations. These general allegations are insufficient to establish liability under § 1983 for failure to supervise. Section 1983 liability “must be based on more than respondeat superior, or the right to control employees.” Shehee v. Luttrell, 199 F.3d 295, 300 (6th Cir. 1999). Thus, in such claims, the plaintiff must allege facts showing the defendant “either encouraged the specific incident of misconduct or in some other 1 Broyles does not allege that Doe was a policymaker involved in the implementation of a policy, practice, or custom that resulted in his injury. Even if Broyles did allege facts relevant to the inquiry of Doe’s liability in his official capacity, this Court has already addressed and rejected this argument in the prior appeal in this case. There, Broyles alleged CMS was liable because it failed to properly train its personnel on written CMS policies, failed to discipline personnel who violated its written policies, and violated its written policies by permitting medical decisions to be made based upon costs. Broyles, 2009 WL 3154241, at  2. This Court held that “Broyles’s bare allegations of a custom or policy, unsupported by any evidence, are insufficient to establish entitlement to relief.” Id. (citation omitted). For the same reasons, even if Broyles had repeated those allegations under an official-capacity theory of liability against Doe, he would have failed to state such a claim here. No. 10-1447 Broyles v. Correctional Medical Services, et al. way directly participated in it. At a minimum a plaintiff must show that the official at least implicitly authorized, approved, or knowingly acquiesced in the unconstitutional conduct of the offending officers.” Id. (citation omitted). To attempt to hold John Doe liable in his individual capacity simply for his alleged failure to adequately train employees “improperly conflates a § 1983 claim of individual supervisor liability with one of municipal liability.” Phillips v. Roane Cnty., Tenn., 534 F.3d 531, 543 (6th Cir. 2008). Because Broyles does not allege that Doe took any deliberate action or otherwise involved himself personally in allegedly unconstitutional acts of others, Broyles’s failure-to-supervise claim fails.